Easy and Fun!

If you haven’t played paddle tennis, you might want to give it a try. It’s great for people of all ages and skill levels. Most find it easy to learn, and it is less physically demanding than other racquet sports, such as squash and regular tennis — with fewer chances of sustaining an injury, particularly to the rotator cuff (shoulder).

How it differs from tennis

Paddle tennis is similar to traditional tennis but varies in some significant ways…

  • The court is smaller — 20 feet by 50 feet versus 36 feet by 78 feet. That means less running around, making it easier for out-of-shape or less agile players.
  • Paddle. Unlike strung tennis racquets, paddles have solid heads, with small, aerodynamically drilled holes. Paddles also are smaller than tennis racquets — 9.5 inches wide by 18 inches long. Once all wood, paddles now are made of high-tech composite materials that are lighter and give more power.
  • Ball. One standard tennis ball, which you puncture to reduce the bounce, is used for each set.
  • Serve. Unlike with tennis, there is one underhanded serve per point, and players cannot begin the serve higher than 33 inches or lower than 31 inches from the ground. The server can strike the ball directly or let it bounce first before striking it, but he/she cannot change methods of serving during a set.
  • Scoring. The same as tennis (four points to win a game), but matches generally tend to be shorter, with sets often played in only 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Platform Tennis

    There is a variation of paddle tennis, called platform tennis, which is played on a court that is about one-quarter the size of a tennis court and enclosed by a tensioned fence that looks like chicken wire. The ball remains in play even when it is hit off the fence on a bounce.

    Platform tennis offers the benefit of yearlong play. The court is on a raised foundation — which makes it easier to have a heated floor to melt snow and ice in the winter. Platform tennis is particularly popular in the Northeast for tennis players who want to play outside during winter months.

    More Info

    There are a growing number of public and private paddle and platform tennis courts in the US. For information on paddle tennis, go to www.TheUSPTA.com. For information on platform tennis, go to www.PlatformTennis.org.

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