Pickleball too easy? There's a new racquet sport bouncing onto the courts of L.A.

The shot pops up successful the aerial and soars into an arc, drifting against the bluish sky, past comes down with a plunk connected the solid partition down Jon Guerra. Out.

“Your plaything is excessively hard,” Guerra says to me.

Guerra, who goes by Coach Jon, is sending lobs crossed the nett toward maine and 3 different students astatine the Padel Courts, a hideaway conscionable disconnected Sunset Boulevard successful Little Armenia. We’re learning padel, a racquet athletics played with foam paddle rackets connected a tennis-like tribunal surrounded by tempered solid walls. And it’s proving to beryllium rather a challenge.

“Don’t spell toward the ball, fto it bounce to you,” Guerra says aft a shot boomerangs disconnected the partition toward maine and I miss it completely.

Coach Jon Guerra, the caput manager astatine the Padel Courts.

(Chiara Alexa / For The Times)

A athletics that began successful the 1960s successful Mexico, padel has already exploded crossed Europe and South America, and fans are hopeful it volition bash the aforesaid successful the U.S. It’s been steadily gaining traction successful Los Angeles, with caller padel centers cropping up astir the county: There’s Padel Up astatine Westfield Century City, Pura Padel L.A. successful Sherman Oaks and astatine the courts astatine L.A. Galaxy Park successful Carson. This summer, the Los Angeles Padel Club, co-founded by L.A. existent property developer Steve Shpilsky, volition unfastened a padel clubhouse successful a restored Hollywood-era mansion successful Culver City. Later, the King of Padel, an indoor padel and pickleball club, volition articulation San Pedro’s West Harbor development.

The Padel Courts, wherever I’m trying the sport, resembles a Thumbelina-sized state club. It has a cozy vibe — there’s a fireplace successful the clubhouse and a grounds subordinate with Tyler, the Creator’s “Igor” medium connected it, alongside a partition afloat of trypophobia-inducing fiberglass-and-foam padel rackets.

Guerra, who reached a ranking of No. 13 successful the U.S. successful 2023, started the day’s session by explaining the quality betwixt padel and tennis — the evident 1 being the playable walls surrounding the court. You tin either volley, play disconnected a bounce oregon fto the shot ricochet disconnected tempered solid walls earlier you deed it. If your instrumentality hits the partition first, it’s out.

The fuzzy shot looks similar a tennis shot but has a somewhat little PSI, meaning it’s a small flatter and little bouncy. Serves are underhanded and aces are slow, intricately placed shots that bounce astatine an space disconnected the broadside glass. It’s a crippled of mistakes, Guerra tells his students — you’re waiting connected your hostile to misfire a shot successful a mode that allows you to marque a changeable they can’t return.

Padel balls person a somewhat little PSI than a tennis ball, meaning they’re a small flatter and little bouncy.

(Chiara Alexa / For The Times)

And there’s an important rule: Padel is played doubles. Always. Much of the crippled involves strategizing successful tandem.

“Move up with your partner,” says Guerra arsenic helium sends balls toward the beforehand of the nett for america to volley. “Partners determination successful to volley unneurotic and backmost to the baseline together.”

I played tennis competitively successful precocious schoolhouse — not precise well, but I held my ain successful immoderate matches. But connected this time I americium struggling to deed immoderate bully shots whatsoever. The crippled feels a small slower, much reliant connected cautious lobs than power; it reminds maine a small of billiards, though squash is astir apt padel’s closest relative.

Guerra tells maine to twist my assemblage into a closed presumption that feels counterintuitive to the unfastened changeable of a tennis swing. Padel swings are abbreviated and precise — and highly awkward. I cognize I look anserine arsenic I smack a instrumentality into the net.

“I person friends who are older radical successful the state nine wherever they commencement playing that person tennis acquisition that find it hard to larn aft you are bonded to your ideas,” Guerra aboriginal tells maine successful the clubhouse aft the clinic. “It each depends connected however overmuch you are capable to forget.”

Padel began successful Acapulco, Mexico, successful 1969.

(Chiara Alexa / For The Times)

The athletics began successful 1969 erstwhile Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera modified the squash tribunal astatine his vacation location successful Acapulco. He initially named the crippled “Paddle Corcuera.”

In 1974, Corcuera’s person Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a Spanish prince and hotelier who dated Ava Gardner and Kim Novak, imported the crippled to his tony Marbella Club Hotel successful Marbella, Spain. It rapidly dispersed arsenic a state nine athletics owed to its foursome quality — galore liken its companionship prime to golf. Today, Spain has much than 16,000 padel courts, making it the 2nd most-played athletics successful the state down soccer.

Despite its state nine roots, padel is competitive. It’s much dynamic than pickleball, and the curve to larn it is simply a small steeper. By the clip I yet punch a backhand onto the different side, it’s been a fewer tries. I bash consciousness triumphant. The adjacent volley pongs disconnected my racket and lands conscionable successful beforehand of the basal of the solid wall, making it hard for my hostile to return.

“Perfect shot,” says Guerra. I americium overjoyed. My teammate and I interaction rackets to observe arsenic if we’re Agustin Tapia and Arturo Coello (the co-No. 1 players successful the world).

Padel is inactive astir fashionable successful Spain, wherever Guerra is from, arsenic good arsenic Argentina, but it’s surging successful the States. There were less than 20 courts successful the U.S. successful 2019 — present determination are astir 500. Houston and Miami are hotbeds. Floridian rapper Daddy Yankee opened the 10by20 Padel Club (courts are 10 meters wide by 20 meters long) and owns a pro team, the Orlando Florida Goats.

L.A. is simply a small slower connected the uptake but that is definite to alteration arsenic padel’s popularity grows. There’s a nonrecreational squad called the Los Angeles Beat successful the Pro Padel League (PPL), the American circuit, that is mostly made up of internationally ranked Spanish and Argentine players. And the Los Angeles Padel Club’s caller Culver City determination volition beryllium the location of the archetypal younker improvement academy connected the West Coast.

“Los Angeles has the cleanable ingredients to involvement its assertion arsenic 1 of the astir important cities successful the satellite for padel with its beardown tennis and racquet sports heritage, perfect weather, planetary assemblage and accent connected wellness and societal interactions,” says Christ Ishoo, co-owner of Los Angeles Beat, which besides volition beryllium housed astatine the Los Angeles Padel Club clubhouse.

Still, the thought that padel volition travel the way of pickleball is questionable. The athletics doesn’t person the aforesaid accessibility arsenic tennis and pickleball, which tin beryllium played for escaped connected the galore municipal courts successful the city. Time astatine the Padel Courts is $100 per hr (which isn’t excessively atrocious erstwhile divided 4 ways) and should beryllium reserved astir a week successful advance.

(Chiara Alexa / For The Times)

Yet Guerra sees large promise. “I consciousness with pickleball, it’s similar erstwhile you spot an entrepreneur that becomes a billionaire,” helium says. “You don’t spot the 20 years that helium had to conflict to hustle.”

There was chatter that padel mightiness go a competitory athletics for the 2028 L.A. Olympics, but that effort fell abbreviated (it volition beryllium a objection sport). Yet there’s inactive anticipation that it volition beryllium accepted for the 2032 Summer Olympics successful Brisbane, Australia.

Most importantly, padel is challenging and fun. During a demo, my spouse and I are making a fewer bully shots and getting into a groove. I instrumentality a ricochet successful a mode that surprises adjacent me. I enactment up a sweat. And I consciousness similar I’ve made a small progress.

Maybe an aged tennis subordinate tin larn immoderate caller padel tricks. Guerra points his racquet astatine maine and looks pleased. “The earlier you suffer fearfulness and you forget, and you are little alert of however you look, the earlier you halt feeling stupid, the better,” helium says.