Tennis vs. Padel How long do you actually play, and which of the two sports is more physical? Padel Magazine

In an hour-long match, a tennis player only hits the ball for 10 to 15 minutes on average, compared to nearly 30 minutes in padel — a difference that changes everything in terms of effort, calories burned and fatigue felt.

"Tennis is more physical than padel, isn't it?" This question has been circulating in locker room conversations ever since padel exploded in popularity. But what do the numbers actually say? We've sifted through the scientific studies conducted on both sports—match timing, heart rate measurements, GPS analysis of movements, blood samples to measure muscle fatigue—to provide a clear answer, based on field data rather than impressions.

The result: both sports are demanding, but not in the same way at all. Here's what science really reveals.

1. Actual playing time: the biggest difference between the two sports

When you play an hour of tennis or padel, you feel like you're constantly active. In reality, most of the time is spent… doing nothing: picking up a ball, wiping your racket, walking to your court, waiting for the next point. Researchers call this the actual playing time : the time during which the ball is actually flying from one side of the court to the other.

In tennis: you only play for 10 to 18 minutes… in an hour-long match

Timing studies conducted on tennis matches (Ferrauti et al., 2003) have shown a figure that often surprises even the players themselves: in an hour of play, the ball is only really in play for 10 to 15% of the time on hard surfaces (like the hard courts of the US Open), and 20 to 30% on clay courts (like Roland-Garros, where the rallies are longer).

In practical terms, this means that over 60 minutes spent on the court:

12 to 18 minutes are dedicated to actually exchanging balls.
42 to 48 minutes recovery time includes: walking between points, wiping the racket, picking up balls, and changing sides.

A French sports physician, Dr. Pierre Talbot, even measured this "actual playing time" over a hundred filmed matches in the 1980s. His results showed an enormous variation depending on the surface: on fast grass (Wimbledon, older generation), some very fast matches had only 4 to 5 minutes of actual playing time per hour! On clay, where points drag on, this time could climb to more than 28 minutes per hour.

In summary: in tennis, you spend the majority of the match recovering, not chasing after the ball.

In padel: almost every other ball, the game is really in action

Padel works differently. A benchmark study conducted on national-level players (Sañudo et al., 2008) measured, over a complete game (the famous 15-30-40-game), an average of 71 seconds of actual gameplay followed by a 73-second break — that is, almost identical playing time and recovery time.

In other words, during an hour-long padel match, the ball is in play approximately 45 to 50% of the time That's two to three times longer than in tennis. Each point lasts on average 10 seconds, followed by a break which cannot exceed 20 seconds according to the rules (just like in tennis, by the way).

In other words: in padel, you breathe much less between points. The game is more continuous, with short bursts of effort that follow one another more quickly.

The chart that sums it all up

	Tennis	Padel
Time the ball is actually in play (out of 1 hour)	10 to 18 minutes	27 to 30 minutes
Average duration of a point	Variable, 2 to 10 seconds	About 10 seconds
Recovery time between two points	Up to 20-25 seconds	Up to 20 seconds
Sense of continuity in the game	Lots of breaks, choppy play	More intense gameplay, fewer lulls

2. A racing heart: what do heart rates tell us?

To determine if a sport is "physical", researchers also measure heart rate (the number of heartbeats per minute) during the match.

At the padel , the heart beats on average between 140 and 150 beats per minute , with spikes that can reach up to 180-188 beats per minute This is especially true for top-level players during the most intense rallies. To give you a point of reference: a resting heart typically beats between 60 and 80 times per minute. This means that, on average, we are in a zone of moderate to sustained effort, with peaks close to maximum exertion.
Tennis The figures are very close: between 140 and 180 beats per minute on average in a singles match, with significant variation depending on whether the player is attacking or defending.

Conclusion: on this criterion, the two sports are equal. The heart works in a comparable way, which confirms that padel is not a tranquil "beach sport", contrary to a still widespread misconception.

Tennis vs. Padel How long do you actually play, and which of the two sports is more physical?

3. Muscle fatigue: does padel really make your legs hurt less?

To assess actual physical fatigue, scientists also measure the lactate level in the blood at the end of the match — it is the substance that accumulates in the muscles during intense effort and causes that feeling of heavy legs or muscle burning.

In padel, this rate remains rather moderate at the end of a match (between 2,4 and 3,4 units according to studies, a value that indicates sustained but not exhausting effort). This confirms that padel is primarily an endurance sport, with occasional bursts of intensity during fast rallies—a bit like jogging interspersed with very short sprints.

The players themselves rate their perceived effort at approximately On 5 10 on a scale of perceived fatigue (the Borg scale, widely used in sports) — i.e. a "sustained" level, far from total exhaustion.

4. Who runs the farthest? The battle of distances covered

This is where the two sports diverge most clearly.

Tennis , a singles player on average 3 to 5 kilometers per match , a distance that can climb up to 8 to 10 kilometers during very long high-level matches (five sets on clay, for example). In doubles, the distance drops to 2-3 km, with each player having a smaller portion of the court to cover.
At the padel The distance traveled is shorter: approximately 2 to 3 kilometers per match But be careful, this figure is misleading if we stop there: GPS studies show that approximately 8 out of 10 trips Movements are performed at a speed of less than 6 km/h (barely faster than a brisk walk), with numerous small steps, stops, and changes of direction. Full-speed sprints represent only a tiny fraction of the playing time, although the top speed does reach 14 to 15 km/h over very short distances.

In summary: tennis makes you run further and faster (the court is bigger), while padel makes you change direction much more often over very short distances — a different effort, but just as demanding on the body, especially on the ankles and feet.

5. How many calories do you really burn?

This is THE question everyone asks before choosing a sport to lose weight or stay in shape. Here are the ranges generally accepted by studies and reference organizations (such as the Compendium of Physical Activities, which lists the energy expenditure of hundreds of physical activities):

Sports	Calories burned per hour
Padel	400 to 600 kcal (up to 700-900 kcal over 1.5 hours for an intense match)
Singles tennis	500 to 800 kcal
doubles tennis	Approximately 20 to 25% less than in single

Note: these figures vary considerably depending on the player's weight, skill level, the intensity of the match, and even the outside temperature. They should therefore be considered as approximate values rather than absolute truths—in fact, the only way to obtain an exact figure would be to have an athlete play in a laboratory, connected to respiration monitoring devices, which is obviously meaningless in real match conditions!

In summary: singles tennis remains the most calorie-intensive format, closely followed by padel, which is itself ahead of doubles tennis.

6. The body put to the test: what are the typical injuries in each sport?

Playing time and energy expenditure do not tell the whole story: the way the body copes with the effort also differs greatly between the two disciplines.

Tennis Sudden stops and long lateral movements put particular strain on the knees, especially on hard surfaces. The serve, repeated dozens of times per match, puts enormous stress on the shoulder. And of course, the infamous "tennis elbow" (a painful inflammation of the tendons in the elbow) remains the most emblematic injury in the sport.

At the padel The movements are generally less violent, and the serve—far less decisive than in tennis—is somewhat easier on the shoulder during the initial serve. However, the numerous small steps and changes of direction on a smaller court put considerable strain on the ankles, and the repetition of shots (even less powerful ones) continues to stress the shoulder over time.

This is partly why padel has a reputation for being a "gentler" sport for the body, accessible even when resuming physical activity after 40 or 50 years of age — an idea widely shared in the community, although it still deserves to be confirmed by studies directly comparing the injury rates of the two sports on large populations.

7. The verdict: so, tennis or padel?

There is no absolute winner — only two different effort profiles:

Choose tennis If you want a sport that involves running far, building explosiveness and endurance over time, with game sequences that vary greatly depending on the surface and style of play.
Choose padel if you are looking for a more continuous game, with fewer breaks, a cardiovascular effort comparable to tennis but distributed differently (more small, close efforts), and an impact generally perceived as gentler on the joints.

In any case, both sports put a serious strain on the heart (between 140 and 180 beats per minute on average) and burn a comparable number of calories over an hour of play. The real choice, therefore, lies less in "which is more physically demanding" than in the type of effort you prefer: the endurance and explosiveness of a large court for tennis, or the intensity and responsiveness of close-quarters play for padel.

F.A.Q

Is padel really less painful on the joints than tennis? This is what field observations and sports practitioners report: the movements are less violent and the serve less demanding on the shoulder. However, ankles remain very vulnerable in padel due to the constant changes of direction. Large-scale comparative studies on injuries are still needed to definitively settle the matter.

Do you burn more calories playing padel than playing tennis? Generally, no: singles tennis is still slightly more calorie-intensive (500-800 kcal/h compared to 400-600 kcal/h in padel), mainly because the court is larger and the distances covered are greater. Padel is closer to doubles tennis in this respect.

Why does padel seem more intense even though you run less? Because the actual playing time is much higher (nearly 30 minutes of effective play per hour compared to 10 to 18 minutes in tennis). Therefore, there is less recovery time between points, which gives a feeling of more continuous effort, even if the distances covered are shorter.

Which sport works the heart the most? Both sports put a very similar strain on the heart, with an average heart rate ranging between 140 and 180 beats per minute and peaks close to maximum effort in both disciplines.

Sources and methodology

This article is based on studies in sports physiology and field measurements (GPS, heart rate monitors, blood tests) carried out by researchers and sports physiotherapists, including:

Ferrauti et al. (2003) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) review on effective playing time in tennis.
Sañudo et al. (2008), reference study on actual playing time in padel.
Dr. Pierre Talbot (French Tennis Federation, 1980s), pioneer of "Real Time of Play" measurements.
A field study (GPS and heart rate) conducted by sports physiotherapist Matthieu Lebourgeois with amateur padel players.
A recent systematic review (2025) covering 33 scientific studies devoted to the physiological and physical parameters of padel (Martín-Miguel et al., Sage Journals).
Additional systematic reviews published in Frontiers in Psychology et Frontiers in Sports and Active Living on the physiological demands of racket sports.
The Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al.) for estimates of caloric expenditure.

The figures cited are averages from the scientific literature publicly available to date; they may vary depending on the level of play, age, sex, surface and match conditions.

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.