Review: Epic Padel Brings Padel Tennis to Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs
You’ve no doubt seen it on your Instagram stories feed — everyone seems to be playing padel. It’s the new social sport everyone is talking about, and it’s taking the world by storm. An exciting spin on tennis and squash, padel is a ‘racquet’ sport typically played in doubles on an enclosed court roughly 25% smaller than the size of a tennis court. Scoring is the same as normal tennis and the balls used are similar but a little lighter weight-wise. It’s a fast-paced, no strings attached game that is super easy to learn, even for those who have never played a racquet sport before.
Every month there seems to be a new padel location cropping up in Cape Town, but up until now, most of the courts seem to be located in and around the Atlantic Seaboard. Forunately for padel enthusiasts in the northern suburbs, one padel brand is on a mission to make the sport accessible to everyone. With new courts just opened in Pinehurst, Epic Padel is the first padel brand to branch out to the suburbs, choosing to move away from the ‘cool crowd’ of influencers and socialites with whom the sport has become synonymous with in Cape Town.
Located at the popular Fives Football venue in Pinehurst, Epic Padel’s latest venue offers 3 padel courts, a padel pro shop, as well as a restaurant and bar providing delicious Portuguese-inspired eats and drinks. I popped into the new venue with a group of friends to give what everyone is calling the “world’s fastest-growing sport” a try.
Tried and tested: Padel for beginners
I’ve never been a big fan of jumping on the bandwagon of a trend, but playing padel for the first time, it’s easy to see why it’s become so popular, so quickly. I come from a family of keen tennis players, but the bug never seemed to bite me. The last time I picked up a tennis racquet was over 18 years ago when I attempted to play the odd game of social tennis.
Tennis has always been a little complicated and intimidating for me. But padel — with its down-sized court, lighter balls, and fibreglass ‘racquet’ that resembles a beach bat — is a whole other ball game. It’s a lot more accessible, and having the fenced-in area and glass backboard means that the ball is almost always in play.
Another plus for padel is that it doesn’t need to be quite so intense, especially for beginners who aren’t an ace at the game. You can easily play at your own pace and even the most intimidating part of tennis, serving, is switched out for an underhanded serving approach. Even though padel can be a lot more fast-paced than tennis, simply hitting very hard won’t necessarily score you points the way it would in tennis or squash.
Each court is fenced off with hinged gates to let you in or out, and they’re walled in on either end by reinforced plexiglass. The back walls and side fences are included in gameplay (like squash). The ball is allowed to bounce twice: once on the ground, once off the wall, and then it’s free to be launched back into the opponent’s side. If the ball bounces twice on the opponent’s side, you score. Similarly, if the ball bounces into the net or goes out of court, then you lose a point.
While the scoring system is the same as tennis, the gameplay of padel is slightly different. Each match is played in pairs, with a match made up of three or five sets. You win a set when you win six games. Serving is done at hip height and must be bounced on the ground before hitting it underhand diagonally towards the opponent on the opposite side of the court.
It’s an incredibly fun game and even if you don’t know all the rules right off the bat, then you can still have fun and get a good workout in while playing. You don’t need to be super fit to play the game, as long as the people you’re playing with are relatively evenly matched in terms of fitness levels. Our group had the best time playing for the first time and after our game, we were immediately planning our next visit.
Epic Padel in Pinehurst
Epic Padel’s new courts in Pinehurst offer a great place to take up the sport. The soft padded court (made up of 3G artificial turf with rubber infills) is easy on the knees and the venue is an ideal place to gather with friends and family. They’ve thought of everything when it comes to creating a club-like feel: you’ll find benches at each court for your bags and kit and shaded tables overlooking the courts for a post-game coffee and a chat, or for spectators to eat and watch. After the game, players can cool off at the bar and grab a quick bite at the restaurant, which offers delicious and affordable grub that will have you coming back for more.
If you don’t have all the gear you need for a game of padel, don’t stress, as Epic Padel has you covered with balls and bats for hire when you arrive. With limited courts available at the moment, booking is essential if you’re hoping to score a game time and court on the weekends and weekday evenings. Bookings for Epic Padel Pinehurst can be made on the Playtomic app and website.
Booking a court costs R400 for a 60-minute session or R600 for a 90-minute session. Hiring the bats costs R50 per bat.
Find Epic Padel Pinehurst on the corner of Pinehurst Drive and Sirocco Drive, Pinehurst, Cape Town. For more information on Epic Padel, visit the Epic Padel website. The brand also has courts at The Glen Country Club in Camps Bay and in Joburg at Huddle Park with more venues coming soon.
