Pay & Play Padel - FAQS

We have a selection of the latest Padel rackets (and balls) to purchase at Hyde Park and The Regent's Park.

If you want to try a demo racket before making your purchase you can now do that for just £25 per racket with our exclusive Park Sports Demo Racket Service! This amount will be deducted from your bill if you decide to subsequently buy the racket from the venue on the day. We do not provide rackets for hire.

No. We are a public facility, and anyone can book a court.

Yes. You just need to set up an online Account - its free, quick and easy.

No. All our sports venues and cafés are now ‘cashless’.

Standard advanced booking rights for tennis, padel and pickleball courts are 7 days. New courts are released every day at 7.00am.

In Central London, at The Royal Parks, we are no longer able to offer new customers the opportunity of purchasing these types of card. This is due to the very high demand for courts at these venues. We have now increased the standard booking window for tennis and padel from 3 days to 7 days.

Existing cardholders at these venues are currently able to renew their cards. 

Padel rackets come in three different shapes – round, drop-shaped and diamond-shaped. They are made out of an EVA foam material, are perforated and are shorter and more compact in shape than a tennis racket.

The LTA suggest starting out with a round bat, as these will offer you the best control if you’re a beginner. Junior bats are also available for kids, which are slightly lighter and have a shorter grip to make them easier to use. 

You should call your local venue to ask, no more than one or two hours prior to the start of your booking.

Our standard T&C's state that those customers who book a court or pitch but don't turn up at the venue, or who fail to cancel a booking with more than 24 hours notice, will not be eligible for a credit or refund. Please refer to our Cancellations and Refund Policy for more details.

A court booking is deemed to have been played if more than 15 minutes has passed since the start time and no credit or refund will be offered. You can opt to continue to play at your own risk.

If the court is unplayable, or your session lasts for less than 15 minutes, we will issue you with a credit for your entire booking.

If the warning is for 'extreme' weather such as heavy snow, strong winds or abnormally high temperatures - at our senior management's sole discretion - we may decide to cancel your booking or choose to remain open to the public. We will try to inform you in good time before your booking starts.

We have a range of tennis rackets to choose from, at competitive prices. At Hyde Park and The Regent's Park we also stock padel rackets. Please contact the venue for more details.

Padel is a sport for anyone and everyone. No matter your age or ability, everyone is welcome on our Padel courts. You don’t have to have played tennis – or any other sport before – just grab a racket, a doubles partner, and away you go!

There’s no dress code on the Padel court – it’s all about wearing what you feel most comfortable in. We’d suggest some kind of sports kit and a comfy pair of trainers are a good place to start.

However, there are specific padel trainers that can better suit the playing surface – if you fancy buying some yourself, we’d recommend talking to one of the Padel coaches.

Just like squash, balls can be played off the walls. However, if the ball hits the wall or fence before it hits the playing field, this counts as a fault and a player loses the point. Only once the ball bounces, may it hit the wall once or more before it goes over the net to the other player.

Padel balls have less pressure in them, compared to tennis balls, so they rebound off the walls slower, which helps give you more time to hit your shots. Padel balls are available to purchase at our Hyde Park and The Regent's Park venues.

Padel is typically played as 'doubles' with the smaller court and the higher speed of the game making it difficult to cover the court when playing on your own.

While there are a small number of courts in the UK designed for singles games, our Hyde Park and The Regent's Park courts are best played in pairs. 

We offer competitive prices on an extensive range of the latest Tennis and Padel rackets, available at four Park Sports venues.

We understand that choosing the best racket for your game involves making individual and important choices, which is why we also offer a unique demo racket service so you can try before you buy.

You can purchase the latest rackets and balls at four of our Park Sports venues, Hyde Park, The Regent’s Park, Lammas Park and Chiswick.