South Shore Tennis Club, Blackpool is creating four indoor padel courts so game loved by Jurgen Klopp can grow

One of the world’s fastest-growing sports could be coming to Blackpool after plans to build padel tennis courts were unveiled.

South Shore Tennis Club on Midgeland Road wants to add four indoor padel courts to its sports facilities in the town.

The club has submitted a planning application for the scheme to construct a building on its site which would contain four padel courts to be used all year round, with changing rooms and a spectator area.

A design statement submitted with the application says: “Padel is a very social sport, with points crafted by strategy rather than won by power and strength.

“The sport is, therefore, popular for players of all ages, skill and fitness levels, with the proposal expected to particularly appeal to younger players as an alternative to tennis.

“Indeed, padel is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with the proposal responding to increasing demand for padel tennis facilities locally on the Fylde coast and across the North West, with many tennis clubs investing in padel facilities to encourage and assist social physical exercise.”

Fans of the sport include several Premiership managers including Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp.

If it gets the go-ahead, the new building would be located alongside the club’s existing indoor tennis court and would mean the loss of croquet lawns.

The submission adds: “The proposals will essentially result in the loss of four outdoor croquet lawns and their replacement by four indoor padel tennis courts.

“In principle, both the existing and proposed uses of the application site comprise sporting activities and there will, therefore, be no net loss of sporting facilities in principle.”

Existing lawn tennis courts are located immediately to the north of the proposed building, with eight hard courts beyond.

The courts would be open for use between 7am to 11pm daily, and it is hoped to create at least three full-time and three part-time jobs through coaching opportunities and the management of the facilities.

Padel courts elsewhere on the Fylde coast include at Lowther Gardens in Lytham.

The application will now go before town hall planners for consideration.

So where and what is Padel tennis?

Padel tennis was invented in Mexico in 1969 and is a mix between tennis and squash.

A padel court is one-third the size of a tennis court and is enclosed to a height of four metres by walls, typically made from a mesh fence, brick/blocks or glass.

The game is usually played in doubles and is scored using the same system as tennis.

The ball is allowed to bounce off any wall but can only hit the ground once before being returned.