What if the glass walls of padel completely changed a game of table tennis? That's the principle of...  Ping-Pong Padel , a hybrid discipline that  Freedom  now intends to develop it in France. Behind its very playful appearance lies a real racket sport, with its own rules and, above all, a unique feature:  the walls are part of the game .

The concept isn't entirely new. According to Freetness, the " Padel "Pingpong" was born in  Sweden in November 2020 , imagined by  Magnus Willner and Erik Magnarsson The idea: to keep a table and some of the rules of ping-pong, but place the players in a small glass enclosure allowing the exchanges to continue thanks to the rebounds off the walls.

 A mini track of approximately 18 m² 

One of the advantages of the concept lies in its compact size. The structure shown measures approximately  3,05 meters by 6,10 meters , or less than 19 m². A surface area far removed from  200 m² of a traditional padel court measuring 20 x 10 meters .

In the center, there is a table, but the equipment has been adapted. The ball measures  55 mm diameter , compared to 40 mm for a traditional table tennis ball, while the net reaches  21 cm high The rackets also have a particular shape.

This compactness obviously opens up different possibilities for operators: Ping-Pong Padel can be considered as a  complementary activity  in a padel club, but also in a campsite, a leisure centre, a multi-sports complex or an indoor space.

For Freetness, which claims more than  4,500 sports facilities in France since 2011  and also markets several models of padel courts, this new product is part of a range now largely focused on sports equipment and new practices.

 Walls that completely change the game 

This is obviously where the connection with padel becomes interesting. Once the rally has begun,  The glass side walls can be used to keep the ball in play .

The player can also use  its own back wall  to return the ball to the opposing side. In other words, a ball that seems almost lost in table tennis can sometimes be recovered thanks to a bounce off the glass.

The serve is still largely inspired by ping-pong: the ball must bounce in your own court before crossing the net and touching the opponent's side of the table. However, the side walls cannot be used during the serve.

This use of glass necessarily introduces a different interpretation of trajectories and angles, in a particularly small space.

 Sets of 11 points, both singles and doubles 

As for the scoring, no revolution: the rounds are played in  11 points with a two-point lead , in a format usually played best-of-five sets.

The discipline can be practiced in singles, but also in  2 vs. 2 And here again, one rule distinguishes it from traditional table tennis:  The partners are not obliged to hit the ball alternately. A single player can therefore play several consecutive moves if the situation requires it.

A far from insignificant difference in a glass-enclosed arena where rebounds can quickly move players and create unusual trajectories.

 A competitor to padel? Not really. 

It's obviously difficult to imagine Ping-Pong Padel to come and compete directly with padel. The dimensions, the movements, the equipment and the sensations are too different.

His interest might lie elsewhere:  occupy a small space and offer an additional activity related to racket sports .

For a padel club with unused space, this format can serve as a complementary activity without requiring the construction of a new court. The same logic applies to campsites, leisure centers, or indoor complexes looking for activities that are quick to set up.

It remains to be seen whether the concept will manage to move beyond the stage of mere curiosity. The world of racket sports regularly sees the emergence of new hybrid practices, but not all of them manage to establish themselves permanently.

On paper, Ping-Pong Padel However, it has an argument that is immediately understandable to padel players:  Here too, the glass is not an obstacle. It is part of the game. 

On the same subject

Tags