Is this new paddle sport going to displace pickleball? Courts proposed for downtown Oceanside

Move over, pickleball. There’s a new paddle sport coming to town.

Two racket sports enthusiasts plan to open North County’s first padel courts this summer on South Coast Highway in Oceanside.

Padel is a relatively new sport similar to pickleball, racketball and squash. Players use perforated, hard-plastic paddles and a ball like a tennis ball, but slightly heavier and with less pressure.

The court is less than half the size of a tennis court. It is divided by a 3-foot-high net and is enclosed by 16-foot-high glass walls that can rebound the ball during the game. The playing surface is a thin layer of sand spread on artificial grass.

“It’s easy to play, but hard to master,” said James Bragg, a professional pickleball player and former collegiate tennis player. He and his business partner, Amir Palmen, plan to open a pair of courts on the vacant site of a former used car lot in the 200 block of South Coast Highway.

“It’s really great for all ages,” Bragg said in a May 8 presentation to the Oceanside Planning Commission, which approved the project 7-0. “We’re starting with programming for all levels.”

The courts will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Online reservations will be required, and rental equipment will be available.

Padel was invented in Mexico in 1969 and now has millions of players in Latin America and Europe, but it is relatively new to the United States. The only public courts in San Diego County are at the Barnes Tennis Center, a nonprofit for students in Ocean Beach, where most of the courts are for tennis and a few for pickleball.

Marta Morga, 28, took a break from her padel game Thursday to talk at the Barnes center. Formerly a collegiate and professional tennis player, and still a tennis coach, she learned tennis age 7 and has been playing the game ever since. She took up padel less than a year ago, but has fallen for her new sport hard.

“This is way more fun,” she said. “It’s more social, not as physically demanding as tennis. You are always with a partner, and if you have good chemistry with your partner that makes it more fun. I have made so many friends playing padel.”

Playing the ball off the walls adds variety and excitement to the game, Morga said, and there can be a surprise on every point.

The padel courts at Barnes are managed by Ryan Redondo, CEO of Taktika Padel. Taktika opened the first three courts there in 2021 and later added four more. The padel courts are all at one end of the center on ground that was formerly empty, so there’s no competition for space with paddleball or tennis.

Taktika also has three courts in Carson and plans to open as many as 200 across California in the near future, Redondo said.

Pickleball may be the fastest-growing sport in the United States, but padel is the fastest-growing sport worldwide, he said. The U.S. is on track to have 30,000 courts by 2029 and the sport could be in the Olympics for the first time in 2032.

About 500 padel players use the Barnes courts, he said. The center hosts several leagues that play regular tournaments and recently formed a professional team called the San Diego Stingrays now in its first year of competition.

The courts at Barnes are packed every day from mid-afternoon until the center closes at 9 p.m., Redondo said.

He was happy about the new courts coming to Oceanside, he said, adding, “We need the competition.”

Oceanside’s planning commissioners had a few questions about the proposed facilities, the noise, and staffing, but quickly warmed to the proposal.

“It’s exciting, another outdoor opportunity for the community,” said Commission Chair Tom Rosales.

“I wish you guys the best of luck,” said Commissioner Louise Balma.

Pickleball players in the United States in 2022 increased by 85.7 percent from the previous year and by 158.6 percent over three years, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

Cities and private communities across San Diego County have been adding pickleball courts for several years. In some places, the pickleball courts have replaced tennis courts, which at times has led to conflicts with die-hard tennis fans.

Most racket sports enthusiasts believe there’s room for all three games, and statistics from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association back that up.

Tennis participation in this country grew by 1 million players in 2022 to more than 23.6 million people, the third consecutive year that the sport has seen an increase, according to the U.S. Tennis Association.

Court games in general go hand-in-hand with a healthier life, according to the Tennis Association, a fact that may help to boost their popularity.

Studies show participation in racket sports, including tennis, reduce the risk of cardiovascular-related death by 56 percent.