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“Let’s Padel Academy was born out of passion & love for padel tennis.” Let’s Padel Academy

The latest sporting craze has arrived in full force in Abu Dhabi. Padel is a fun and fast paced racket sport that’s a hybrid of tennis and squash with a bit of racquetball thrown in.

So what is Padel? Padel is the world’s fastest growing participation sport that originated in Mexico in the late 60’s. Padel, not to be confused with Paddle Tennis, is a really fun game played on an enclosed court that’s about 25% smaller than a regular tennis court. It’s usually played as doubles and follows the same scoring system as regular tennis but the serve is under arm, the rackets are solid with perforations instead of strings and the balls have lower pressure. While the game is very similar to tennis it also has elements of squash with the ball able to bounce off the glass walls (but not the mesh sides) and still remain in play.

Padel is very popular in Dubai and now the capital is following suit with outdoor courts at Abu Dhabi Country Club, ESS Padel Club, Zayed Sports City and ACTIVE. Playing sport outdoors in the August temperatures did not appeal to us so we headed to Abu Dhabi’s first indoor facility, Let’s Padel Academy in the heart of Mussafah. The new indoor air-conditioned venue has four Padel tennis courts, a cafe, well stocked pro-shop and changing facilities. While getting there is a bit of a white knuckle ride it’s worth the driving angst to play at this cool state-of-the-art facility that opened just last month. 

Alongside court bookings the academy offers individual and group coaching, tournaments, ladies only sessions and a membership programme. Let’s Shop is the academy’s indoor pro shop selling padel rackets, balls and accessories. Let’s Cafe offers coffee, cold beverages and food options. Racket hire is also available and balls can be purchased, both can be reserved when booking courts via the Playtonic app. It’s not the most affordable activity with our game costing AED 500 for an hour’s court hire, four hire rackets and a tube of three balls.

Our first experience of Padel was great and something we will definitely play again, I can see why people find it addictive. It’s an easy game to pick up and ideal for players of all ages and abilities. We played mixed doubles which was fun and good exercise too, I’m looking forward to playing outside in cooler weather.

Let’s Padel Academy

Location: 16th Street, M-44, Mussafah, Abu Dhabi.

Telephone: +971 (0)50 661 4646 

Email: info@letspadelacademy.com

Website: letspadelacademy.com

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Courts and coaching sessions can be booked via the Playtonic app HERE

All the experiences and views are my own. Unless otherwise stated, all photos on this page © Jo Brett 2021. All rights reserved.