Padel balls: pressure, brands, altitude, and why your tube goes dead in a week

A padel ball looks like a tennis ball and is not one. Less pressure, a smaller bounce, and a life of about four games. Here is what the numbers mean and which tubes are worth buying.

Not a tennis ball

Same size, same felt, less pressure: a padel ball is inflated to about 10 to 11 psi against a tennis ball's 14, so it bounces 135 to 145 centimetres from a 2.54 metre drop where a tennis ball reaches 147. That lower bounce is what makes the walls playable. Tennis balls on a padel court fly off the glass and the game turns into a pinball table, which is why clubs ask you not to.

The brands you will actually see

Three tubes cover most clubs in Europe. Head Padel Pro (and the slightly slower Pro S), the tour ball of Premier Padel and the default in Spain. Bullpadel Premium Pro, a touch livelier. Wilson Padel and Dunlop Pro Padel in the UK and the Gulf. The differences are small; buy whatever your club plays with so your feel carries over.

How long they last

A pressurised tube is at its best for one match and playable for three or four; after that the bounce drops below what the walls need and the game slows. On hot outdoor courts they die faster. A pressure-restoring tube (a screw-cap canister that keeps them at 14 psi between games) roughly doubles their life and costs less than two tubes of balls; regular players in Spain all own one. Pressureless training balls last months and are fine for drills, wrong for matches.

Altitude and heat

Above about 1,000 metres (Madrid is 650, Bogotá and Mexico City far higher) balls fly and bounce more; brands sell altitude balls with less pressure for it. In heat over 30 degrees the ball speeds up too; some players open a fresh tube per set in summer tournaments.

Who brings the balls

The player who booked the court, by convention, and the others pay for the drinks after. Open a new tube for a match; use last week's for the warm-up and the drills.