Padel racket shops: where to buy and how to choose a racket

A padel racket has no strings. It is a solid foam core inside a carbon or fibreglass shell, drilled with holes. Under the official rules it can be at most 45.5 cm long, 26 cm wide and 38 mm thick, and it must have a wrist cord that you wear while you play. You will also see it called a padel tennis racket.

Padel racket types

Rackets come in three main shapes:

• Round: the sweet spot sits low and in the middle, so the racket is easy to control. This is the best padel racket for beginners.
• Teardrop: a balance of control and power, and a common choice for intermediate players.
• Diamond: the weight sits towards the top, which adds power to smashes but shrinks the sweet spot. Made for advanced players.

If you are new to padel, start with a round racket and a soft core. You can move to a teardrop once your technique is steady. Some shops help you choose: PadelUSA has a racket finder quiz, and Zona de Padel has a racket recommender.

Padel racket vs pickleball paddle

A pickleball paddle has a solid face with no holes, no wrist cord and a thinner build, and it is played with a light plastic ball. A padel racket is thicker, perforated and used with a pressurised ball, much like a tennis ball. The two are not interchangeable.

Padel racket prices

At the shops below, single rackets start at around €45 to €50 and top models cost up to about €390. Limited editions go higher: Padel Market lists rackets up to €900, and PadelUSA up to $650. Beginner rackets sit at the lower end of that range.

For a padel racket sale, check the sale and outlet sections. Every shop below has a sale section, an outlet or both, and last season's models drop in price when new ones arrive.

The same brands appear at all five shops: Adidas, Babolat, Bullpadel, Head, Nox, Siux and Wilson.

Where to buy a padel racket

Padel Nuestro

Padel Nuestro is a Spanish retailer with over 900 listings in its racket section and a flagship store in Madrid. Selected stores, including Madrid and Malaga, have a test zone and let you try a racket for a week.

Padel Market

Padel Market is based in Madrid and lists over 350 rackets, from entry-level models to limited editions. It ships across Europe and to many countries beyond, including the UK and the US, and it runs an outlet store near Madrid.

Zona de Padel

Zona de Padel has a shop in Valencia and ships to every EU country. Its test service lets you pay the racket price as a deposit, play with it for 7 days, then keep it or send it back.

Padel-Point

Padel-Point is a German online shop with about 50 brands. You can rent up to three test rackets for 10 days at €15 each before you buy.

PadelUSA

PadelUSA lists over 230 rackets that you can filter by level, shape and price. It ships free on orders over $99 and matches prices from authorised US retailers.

All five also sell padel racket bags, balls and shoes. For more shops by country, see our padel shop directory.

Run a padel shop? Add it to the list.