Hold onto your plastic paddles: A new niche racquet sport has arrived in the Washington area. Padel Up, the first facility dedicated to the sport of padel in the area, opened in Sterling on Monday. The hope is to grow awareness for the game in the US while offering a community meeting space complete with four enclosed courts and a lounge with a smoothie and coffee bar.
Padel is best described as a combination between squash and tennis—where your goal is to volley over a net and win points, but the court is fully enclosed, which allows players to hit off the sides.
The sport originated in Mexico and has become popular in Europe, particularly Spain, where more than five million people play, as a social, low-impact sport similar to pickleball. It became more popular during the pandemic as an outdoor activity that let players keep a distance from others, and has begun to pop up in the US in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.
Padel enthusiasts prefer the sport to tennis or pickleball for a variety of reasons. For one, due to a lower net and ability to play off the back wall, players are less likely to botch a serve or hit out of bounds. The smaller courts—almost 25 percent smaller than a standard tennis court—allow people with all different ability levels to play with relative ease, much like pickleball. Plus, padel culture, where the sport is typically played in doubles and there is often a courtside DJ spinning music for players, establishes it as a unique social experience.
For those looking to try padel, Padel Up in Sterling is open from 3 PM to 11 PM on weekdays and 7 AM to 11 PM on weekends. Court reservations cost $30 per person per hour and can be made on the facility’s website.
