where did padel originate

Padel originated in Acapulco, Mexico, in the late 1960s, created by Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera at his home.

Quick Scoop

• Birthplace: Acapulco, Mexico, where Corcuera adapted a small walled area on his property into a 10×20 m court surrounded by walls and fencing so the ball wouldn’t escape.

• Inventor: Enrique Corcuera, who set up the first recognised padel court around 1968–1969 and originally called the game “Paddle Corcuera” or “Paddle Tennis.”

• Inspiration: Mixed elements of tennis, squash, Basque pelota and platform tennis, using walls as part of the rally instead of just court lines.

How it spread

• A Spanish friend, Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe, discovered the sport at Corcuera’s home and brought it to Marbella, Spain, in the mid‑1970s, building the first European padel courts.

• From Spain it took off along the Costa del Sol, then spread to Argentina in the late 1970s and 1980s, where thousands of courts were built and the sport exploded in popularity.

Today’s global padel

• Padel is now played in over 90 countries and is considered one of the fastest‑growing racket sports worldwide, especially in Spain, Argentina, Italy, Sweden and the UK.

• The International Padel Federation, founded in 1991, oversees international competition and has helped turn Corcuera’s backyard experiment into a global sport.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.