IT’s tennis but not as you know it... and now you can play padel in Swindon.

Wiltshire’s first dedicated courts have opened at the Padel4All centre in Hay Lane.
The sport is played on a smaller court, often in doubles, with the same scoring method as tennis.

And today Padel4All is hosting a ‘Kids’ Takeover’ day for youngsters to give it a go.
The newly-appointed centre manager and padel coaches have already started engaging with local groups to provide inclusive opportunities for people to play this highly entertaining sport. 

Basset Down’s general manager Rosie Nutland said: “We are really pleased that padel tennis is part of our offering here at Basset 
Down. 

“The centre will be a welcome addition to our clubhouse extension and new facilities, and we look forward to working closely with the Padel4all team in making Basset Down a first-class venue for the local and wider community.”

In the final term of the last academic year, the Padel4all programme proved a big hit with over 200 pupils already involved. 

The programme introduced the basics of the game, teachings specific technique and demonstrating more advanced tactics and matchplay.

Head of physical education at Great Western Academy Holly Alabidi said: “GWA have loved having Padel4all run a series of sessions through our student enrichment programme. 

“Padel has been a huge success and it’s fantastic to offer our pupils a new and exciting sport which is great fun to play. 

“The autumn follow-on sessions are already fully subscribed, such has been its popularity, and we look forward to welcoming the team back in September.”

Chris Wilkinson, Padel4all founder and CEO said: “We have reached a significant milestone in opening our first Padel4all centre and I am proud of the team’s hard work in getting us to this point. 

“Now, the focus shifts to making sure we fulfil the needs of our centre’s community and continuing to develop the sport of padel in the area.”

Padel is fast-growing sport across Europe and is increasingly popular in countries like Spain and Sweden.

It is a mixture of tennis and squash, as the court has walls that the balls can be played off of and a solid stringless bat is used instead of a tennis racket. 

Today’s Kids Takeover is for children aged between six and 14. For more go to padel4all.com.