Step Aside, Pickleball! NJ Embraces Padel, the World’s Fastest-Growing Racquet Sport

This hybrid of tennis and squash is all the rage. Here's where you can play in New Jersey.

Woman holds a padel racquet and ball
Padel, the newest racquet-sport craze, is finding fans in New Jersey. Photo: Courtesy of Eddie Larios of Cure Companies

Move over, pickleball. Another racquet sport, called padel, is hitting the Garden State. Pronounced either “paddle” or “pa-DELL,” this hybrid of tennis and squash is the fastest-growing racquet sport worldwide.

There are now three padel clubs in New Jersey, with more on the way. Padel United Sports Club in Cresskill, with six indoor courts, opened last June. And Padel, a new club in Oakland, has 40-foot ceilings and is led by Ashraf Yassin, a coach of the U.S. national squash team. In Morristown, Centercourt Club and Sports, which has three indoor courts, just added three outdoor courts.

Padel is a doubles game played on a court resembling a small turf tennis court enclosed by glass walls. Players use a fiberglass racquet with holes instead of strings. The ball—like a tennis ball, but somewhat depressurized—can be played off any of the four walls.

Invented in Mexico in the 1960s and eventually brought to Spain, padel is now the second most played sport there behind soccer. Its fast pace and long volleys, along with its laid-back vibe, with music usually played on the court, is attracting fans worldwide.

Too much padel? Padel United also has a gym with a saltwater pool, cold and hot plunges, a dry sauna that fits 45, and a sensory-deprivation tank.

[RELATED: Tired of Dating Apps? Want to Meet New Friends? Join an NJ Running Club]


No one knows New Jersey like we do. Sign up for one of our free newsletters here. Want a print magazine mailed to you? Purchase an issue from our online store.

Read more News, Things to Do articles.