Padel and tennis share a scoring system and the broad idea of hitting a ball over a net, but they're meaningfully different sports — different equipment, different court, different tactics, and different player demographics.
The court
A padel court is roughly a quarter the size of a tennis court (20m × 10m vs 23.77m × 10.97m for singles), enclosed by glass and mesh walls, and almost always played in doubles. The walls are part of the game.
The equipment
Padel uses a solid, perforated bat (no strings) and a slightly depressurised tennis-style ball. The bat is shorter and easier to control than a tennis racquet, which is one reason the learning curve is so much gentler — most beginners can rally within a single session.
The tactics
Tennis rewards big serves and aggressive baseline play. Padel rewards positioning, patience, and the ability to read angles off the walls. The points are longer, the rallies are more cooperative, and outright winners are rarer.
Why operators of both sports care
Padel attracts a meaningfully different demographic than tennis on average — more social players, more mixed groups, and a higher proportion of newcomers to racquet sport. Tennis clubs that add padel courts often find the new players are additive to membership rather than cannibalising existing tennis play.