Your first padel session: what to bring

Short answer: sneakers, normal sports clothes, and a bottle of water. Everything else is here. This post is for anyone who has booked a first session and wants to know exactly what happens.

What to wear

Any sports clothes you’d wear to a gym. Shorts or leggings, a t-shirt, and that’s it. There’s no dress code and nobody is going to look at your kit.

Shoes matter slightly more. Bring clean sneakers with a flat sole and decent grip. Running shoes are fine to start with, though they wear out faster on court because padel involves a lot of sideways movement. Proper padel or clay court shoes are worth it once you know you’re staying, not before.

Don’t bring shoes you’ve been walking outside in all day. Indoor courts stay in good condition because people change into clean soles, and grit on the turf is what wrecks them.

What we provide

• Rackets. Ask at the desk. They’re free to borrow, every session and not only your first, so you don’t need to own one.
• Balls. Included with the court.
• Changing rooms and showers.
• Sauna and recovery lounge, if you want to stay a while after.
• Water and drinks at the bar.

What to actually bring

• Clean indoor sneakers
• A water bottle
• A towel if you want one for the shower
• Three other people, or nobody at all

That last point deserves explaining.

You don’t need to bring three friends

Padel is doubles, so a court needs four players. That puts a lot of beginners off, because rounding up three other people who are all free at the same time is harder than it sounds.

You don’t have to. Join the player group on WhatsApp, where people post the slot they’ve booked and look for a fourth most days of the week. Or come to the Sunday Americano at 19:00, where partners rotate through the evening and everyone plays with and against everyone.

Turning up alone is normal here. It’s most of how people end up with a regular group.

How long a session takes

Book 90 minutes for a first session. An hour is enough for the game itself, but the first fifteen minutes go on rackets, grip, and someone showing you where to stand, and you’ll want a few minutes at the end to sit down.

What the first fifteen minutes look like

You come in, give your name at the desk, and someone points you at your court. If you’ve never held a padel racket, say so. Whoever is on the desk will show you the grip, the underarm serve and the one thing beginners always need explained, which is that the ball stays in play after it comes off the back wall.

Then you play. The first few games will be scrappy, and that’s normal.

After the match

Most people don’t leave straight away. There’s a sauna looking onto the courts, a bar, and a recovery lounge with compression boots.

Before you come

Eight indoor courts, open every day from 11:30 to 23:30, with free parking at the door. Directions and contact details are on the visit page.

If you’d rather understand the game before you arrive, read what padel is and the beginner rules. Neither is required. Plenty of people learn both in their first hour on court.