Padel in Denmark
Denmark has been part of the padel wave for many years, and in recent years the sport has almost exploded here.
In Denmark, former professional sports stars such as ex-national team player in football, Thomas Gravesen, and ex-national team players in handball, Jesper Nøddesbo and Lars Krogh Jeppesen, have also built padel centres, of high quality and good facilities.
The professional World Padel Tour has given the Danish padel sport a boost and increased visibility. All the best players from around the world compete here. In 2022 and 2023 it was held in the Royal Stage Hillerød, called the Danish Padel Open and it pushed further development of the sport of Padel in Denmark.
There are now quite a few centers and padel courts in Denmark. So you can easily find a course and a club near you.
The first padel court in Denmark
The first padel court in Denmark was built on the old gasworks grounds in Fredericia in 2007, where they had a far-sighted vision to inspire new forms of play and informal sports.
The court was imported from Spain and the game was initially called BATTLE TENNIS and was described as a mixture of tennis and squash. However, the pitch had glass all around instead of nets and glass as you see them today.
Even then, padel was predicted to become very popular, but something indicated that the Danes were not quite ready. The track was rarely used and fell into disrepair. During the corona era, the court was put in place, and is today in good condition and built according to the current standards for padel.
In 2010, another track was added in Græsted. It was 3 Danish golf friends who, after a golf trip to Spain, were so hooked on padel that they built a padel-like court on one of their fathers' fields. They made their own rules and most likely have tons of fun hours on their homemade course.
The official lanes
The first courses that meet the current official requirements came in 2012. Copenhagen municipality built 2 indoor courts in Grøndal Multicenter followed by a court in Tåsinge Tennis Club, AGF Tennis Club. Grøndal Multicenter will also get 2 outdoor courts later this year. After this, more courts are slowly coming up around Denmark, but it really takes off after the corona crisis, when the many large padel centers appear around the bigger cities. From 2021 to now, the number of padel players and courts has exploded and padel is now the fastest growing sport ever - also in Denmark.
It is difficult to get a completely correct picture of the number of players as most centers are commercial in contrast to other sports which are typically run by associations. The official figures are taken from members of the Danish Padel Federation, but many also just have a membership in a centre. So it is assumed that there are many more players than are currently registered in the Danish Padel Federation.
Feel good. Play better.
