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Where Did Padel Originate? Mexico, 1969
Padel began in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1969. See who invented it, why the first court was enclosed, and how it reached Spain and Argentina.
Padel originated in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1969. The International Padel Federation (FIP) credits Enrique Corcuera with inventing the sport at his home in Las Brisas—not in Spain or Argentina, which became important centres of its later development. FIP’s official history identifies his enclosed backyard court as the first padel court.
Who invented padel—and why?
According to FIP, Corcuera was a tennis enthusiast who lacked enough space for a full-size tennis court. He instead built a 20 × 10-metre court, with a tennis net in the centre and three-metre walls around it. FIP also credits his wife, Viviana, with drafting the first rules and presenting them to him as a birthday gift. Source: FIP history
The enclosure was central to the new game: walls were not simply a boundary around a smaller tennis court, but became part of play. An account published by the BNL Italy Major describes Corcuera combining ideas from pelota and paddle tennis, using walls to keep the ball from escaping into a neighbour’s grounds. Source: BNL Italy Major, May 2022
Those accounts differ in the detail of what prompted the construction, but agree on the essential origin: Corcuera, Acapulco, 1969. For today’s court specifications, our guide to padel court dimensions separates the playing area from the space needed around it.
How did padel reach Spain and Argentina?
Spain was an early destination for padel, not its birthplace. Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe encountered the game at Corcuera’s home and subsequently built courts at the Marbella Club Hotel in Andalusia. FIP places that introduction in the early 1970s; the BNL Italy Major account places the Marbella step five years after the invention, meaning 1974. FIP history · BNL Italy Major
FIP credits Julio Menditeguy, an Argentine member of Alfonso’s tennis club in Marbella, with taking the sport to Argentina around the same period. Its history names Club Tortugas and Mar del Plata Ocean Club among the earliest Argentine court locations. Source: FIP history
The distinction matters: Mexico supplied the original game, while Spain and Argentina helped carry it beyond a private backyard and develop its international structure.
When did it become an internationally organised sport?
Padel’s invention and its formal international organisation happened decades apart. FIP was founded in Madrid on 12 July 1991 by the Argentine, Spanish and Uruguayan padel associations. The first World Padel Championships followed in 1992, in Madrid and Seville. Source: FIP history
So 1991 is the federation’s founding year—not padel’s birth year.