Author Spotlight
Christopher Long
Calling all racket sports fans. Mark your calendars and book a court at La Casa Del Padel.
I recently visited La Casa Del Padel — the first padel club in Kansas City — for the first time. It has two of the 300 padel courts in the US. After opening on Aug. 5, it’s safe to say the club was an immediate success. All of the courts were booked. In order to actually play, I had to book a court four days in advance for $40 per hour, plus the cost of renting rackets and purchasing balls.
Padel, unlike most racket sports, is played on an artificial grass court surrounded by glass walls.
Doubles are played more often than singles, even professionally, adding to the game’s uniqueness.
While it originated in 1967, it gained traction in 2023 due to its reputation as a social sport in Europe. Since then it’s become the fastest-growing racket sport — surpassing even pickleball. The International Padel Federation currently recognizes around 25 million active players worldwide.
When I arrived at the establishment, I instantly appreciated the stunning facilities. The courts were surrounded by pine wood accents with muted colors and plush couches giving a certain desert-like feel. It had a welcoming atmosphere similar to an open floor plan in a modern apartment.
Beside the courts, they have simple outdoor seating and two large, lush sectionals with a fantastic view of the courts for those who prefer watching. Forest green artificial grass covers the courts — both of which have lights and speakers blaring reggaeton.
The sport itself definitely caught me by surprise. It took an immense level of foresight; in order to succeed, you had to predict the spin, velocity and height of the ball when it ricocheted off of the glass walls surrounding the court.
And for my slice-happy tennis players out there, slicing is the main shot you hit in padel.
With overheads slamming off of the glass walls that surround the court and balls bouncing with such backspin, you can’t tell which way the ball is going, this sport is unbelievable no matter what level you are. It’s the fast pace of pickleball mixed with the classy nature of tennis.
I was shocked to see how much longer the rallies went on compared to other racket sports. Playing the ball off of the wall lengthens the rallies, adding a piece of endurance in addition to a grind mentality to the sport.
Overall, my favorite aspect of La Casa Del Padel was the design. It emphasized the view of the courts just as much as being on the courts themselves.
Most racket sport facilities squeeze out as many courts as possible within the limited space they have, often resulting in 4-6 court facilities with viewing on one side, creating a harrowing experience for spectators.
This facility only has two courts. However, space-wise, there could have been three. This results in the viewer’s perspective being valued more than the turnover rate of an extra court, which is rarely an ideology used in a racket sport business.
Unfortunately, this means that scheduling a court ahead of time is extremely important. The trade-off is that you get premium viewing of the courts.
Padel is similar to racquetball as both are played on courts enclosed with glass walls. However, while aiming for the wall in racquetball is considered standard, aiming for the wall in padel could seriously annoy your partner.
While the entire court is technically open, the player still has to hit the ball well enough to keep it from hitting the wall out of the air.
Adjusting to the serve in padel was another unexpected challenge. The ball must bounce before you hit it underhand — similar to pickleball. The difference is, in padel the player is allowed to add spin to their serve, which is considered illegal in pickleball.
The best part about this rule is that you can add unfathomable amounts of sidespin to make your opponent’s life miserable.
In addition to having glass walls, a padel court has wire cages next to the service boxes that bear a similarity to a tightly woven, chain link fence. This rule debunks the strategy of running your opponent into the cage off of your serve. If the serve hits the wire cage, you lose the point.
Padel is essentially platform tennis on fake grass with a paddle that has more holes in it than a sponge. But as long as you’ve seen tennis scoring at some point during your lifetime, you’ll catch on fairly quickly.
La Casa Del Padel hit like an overhead smash. It was outstanding, not only due to the rarity of padel courts in the surrounding area, but also that they offered the most luxurious yet simplistic racket sport experience I have ever had. Bar none.
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