The development of  padel in France  is spectacular. But the recent scientific study of  ScienceDirect  highlights a still little-known reality:  Thousands of residents now live in the immediate vicinity of padel courts .

Here is what the  first analysis on the subject .

With help by EchoPadel  et  ScienceDirect Let's take a closer look at a topic that sometimes causes a stir…

878 padel sites analyzed in France

The researchers studied  878 padel facilities spread across the entire French territory .

Each site was analyzed according to several criteria:

  • distance from dwellings
  • population density around the land
  • compliance with the implementation recommendations.

Result: a significant portion of the land is located  in areas where the risk of noise pollution is real .

271 sites considered “at risk”

Among  878 sites studied The researchers identified:

 271 padel sites considered potentially problematic , is :

  •  31% of the installations analyzed 

These sites generally exhibit one of the following characteristics:

  • immediate proximity to dwellings
  • absence of acoustic barriers
  • location in dense residential areas.

17,000 potentially exposed residents

The study estimates that  17,000 French people now live in the immediate vicinity of a padel court. , in configurations where noise pollution could be significant.

Cela correspond à :

  •  several thousand homes located within a critical radius of the slopes 

In some cases, the dwellings are located  within 50 meters of the grounds .

A key distance: 100 meters

Urban planning recommendations generally suggest  a minimum distance of 100 meters between a padel court and dwellings .

This distance allows for a significant reduction in:

  • the propagation of noise
  • the perception of ball impacts
  • the inconvenience for local residents.

However, the study shows that  many plots of land are located much closer to the housing. .

A peculiar noise: up to more than 100 dB

Padel generates a  characteristic impulsive noise  :

  • ball/racket impact
  • Ball impact / glass
  • ball impact / metal mesh.

Acoustic measurements indicate:

  •  89 to 91 dB on average on a track 
  •  sound levels can exceed 100 dB during the strongest impacts 

This type of noise is particularly noticeable to nearby residents.

A phenomenon that could intensify

The number of padel courts continues to grow rapidly.

In France :

  • several  Hundreds of clubs have opened in recent years 
  • the French Tennis Federation plans  several thousand leads in the medium term .

This rapid expansion could mechanically increase  the number of inhabitants living near the sites .

An urban planning issue

The study highlights an important point:

The problem is not padel itself, but  the way in which the land is situated in urban areas .

Several solutions exist to limit the nuisances:

  • minimum distances
  • acoustic screens
  • covered grounds
  • preliminary sound studies.

A challenge for the padel of tomorrow

Padel is today  one of the most dynamic sports in Europe .

But its development now raises a crucial question:

 How can we reconcile the growth of sport with the quality of life of local residents? 

The challenge for the coming years will be to  better integrate padel infrastructure into the urban environment , in order to prevent this sporting success from turning into a source of local conflicts.

 Source  

Dufour JC., Bonnet C. (2026)
Managing padel-court siting near housing: guideline adherence shortfalls and populations at risk – national evidence from France
City and Environment Interactions.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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