The world’s gone padel-mad. Everyone’s either playing padel or posting on social media about playing padel or talking about how they want to try playing padel. Dubai, as always, is at the front of the line when it comes to adopting a viral fad. Even if it’s a sport, we’d added our own extravagant Dubai twist, naturally, and the result is a spectacular floating padel court.
Padelx, a Swedish sports company, are the brains behind this floating padel court in JLT. Perched firmly atop the Jumeirah Lake Towers lake, the Padelx club is made up of two courts that can be rented by the hour. Racquets and tennis balls are provided at the court and are inclusive of the hourly court rental price – AED 200. Walled in by transparent glass on all four sides and an open roof, this alfresco padel court ensures you can soak up the sun and lake views without you, or the balls, tumbling headfirst into the water.
Picture-perfect location
Smashing powerful forehand shots comes with smashing Instagram shots at this stunning floating court both day and night. After sunset, Padelx comes alive with a strip of LED blue lights that run around the edges of the floating court. During Ramadan, you can enjoy late-night matches from 8pm-12am and get in a post-iftar workout.
In between matches with your pals, you can catch your breath and unwind in the grassy lounge in between both courts. It’s fitted out with wicker sun loungers and floor cushions shielded by an umbrella that makes it an ideal spot for cheering on your friends from the lap of comfort while they dart around the court lobbing tennis balls.
What is Padel?
In a nutshell, this racquet sport is a cross between tennis and squash. Players get to smash the ball against glass walls like with squash and the scoring system followed is the same as tennis. The game’s less technical than tennis is and padel courts are smaller than tennis courts making it a fast-paced and exciting, yet simpler sport. That former professional football players Christian Wilhelmsson and Sami Al-Jaber are partners of Padelx should clue you into how intense the sport of padel tennis is.