With padel being the biggest and fastest growing sport in SA and the world, Parys will proudly be opening two double padel courts at the beginning of September on the Parys Golf & Country Estate. On the banks of the Vaal River, this brand-new facility is sure to attract tourists and residents alike, says co-owners and sisters, Claire Woods and Aimee Miller.

Described as a mixture of squash and tennis, the sport was found in the late 1960’s by a Mexican, Enrique Corcuera. He built a court to play a racket-based ball game at his home in Acapulco. The court was smaller than a tennis court due to property constraints. He found that if tennis balls were overhit, they would go all over the place, so he surrounded the court with walls on all sides.

From this humble beginning the sport, now known as padel, is considered an outdoor social sport, played like squash in an enclosed court sharing similarities with tennis. Players must pass the ball over the net into the opponent’s side by hitting it with a racket, smaller than a tennis racket and not strung.

Players are allowed to hit the ball after it bounces off a wall/fence to keep the ball in play. Serving is underarm, and not overhead like in tennis.

Padel is mostly played by four people in a game of doubles, but can be played individually. SA’s first two padel courts were built in 2020. As of this year, players have a choice of 400 courts all over the country. Within the next three years, South Africa is anticipated to have 2 500 courts.

The nice part of padel is that anyone can play – from young to old, says Woods and Miller. All you will need is non marking shoes with a good grip as the artificial grass surface can be slippery.

Rackets will be available for hire at the kiosk at the Parys padel courts and children under 16 should be accompanied by an adult.

Players can book the Parys padel courts online on the Playtomic app, or join the WhatsApp group Hello, Padel. The courts will be open Mondays to Sundays 07:00-19:00.

The Parys courts were built by Tau Pelo – who was responsible for building over 100 padel courts in SA, including the courts at Sun International.

With golf, squash, tennis and padel, as well as numerous other outdoor activities, a variety of restaurants and a unique shopping experience in Parys, this is sure to boost tourism numbers. Accommodation facilities are available on the estate as well as at a variety of guest houses in and around town. All the more reason to book a weekend of fun for the whole family.