What's the difference?

Padel, Pickle or Smack Back, what's the difference?

The current Padel craze in South Africa has re-juvenated the interest in tennis and other similar games. In the USA Pickleball seems to be the flavour of the month and even past tennis celebrities are trying their hand on the pickle courts. This also motivated us to re-invent Smack Back, a game initiated in South Africa in the 90's. The common thread seems to be the need for simpler games on smaller courts which can be enjoyed by a broader range of skills and fitness levels.

Padel

Padel is played on a hard court with glass end walls and rigid wire netting side walls. The ball is allowed to rebound off these walls after bouncing thus providing a game similar to squash. Court dimensions are 20m x 10m. Bats are made of a composite material and they have no strings. The surface is perforated. The balls are similar to normal tennis balls but with a lower pressure thus providing less bounce. Scoring is as for tennis. There is no "kitchen area" or "no man's land" which are used in Pickleball and Smack Back repsectively. International Padel Federation https://www.padelfip.com/

If you're up the Creek without a Padel ----try Smack Back

Pickleball

Pickelball is played on a hard court with dimensions of 13m x 6.7m. The ball is made from a rigid plastic material and is punctured with holes while the bats or rackets are made of solid material. The court layout has two service courts and an area of "kitchen" 2.13 m each side of the net inside of which the ball cannot be volleyed. Scoring is first to 11 but points are only counted if won by the serving side. USA Pickleball https://usapickleball.org/

If you're all in a Pickle without a court----try Smack Back

Smack Back

Smack Back is played on lawns, driveways, or even the beach. The court area is 9m x 4m. The ball is a 9cm foam mini tennis ball and the bats are wooden. The court layout involves service courts and a 1.5m "no man's land" on either side of the net. Two versions of Smack Back are played depending on the available surface. Reasonable lawns and hard surfaces allow bouncing while for the beach and uneven surfaces use the volley only version.