The Observatory of Padel The 2025 study reveals a precise snapshot of the profile of French tennis players. Their relationship with tennis, their other sports practiced, their level of involvement… The study, conducted with 5,520 players, provides a better understanding the place of padel in the current sporting landscape.

Nearly three out of four players have a connection to tennis

Padel remains marked by the legacy of the yellow ball: 62% of players have already played tennis.

The distribution is very balanced:

  • 38% have never played tennis.
  • 36% are former players, including:
    • 31% had stopped playing padel for several years before starting.
    • 5% who stopped playing tennis to dedicate themselves to padel
  • 25% still play tennis today (16% recreationally, 9% competitively)

These figures highlight both opening up padel to new audiencesand the marked interest of former tennis players in this more accessible discipline.

A very sporty audience: padel as a complementary activity

The participants are distinguished by a high level of sporting activity:

  • 85% players combine padel with at least one other sport
  • They practice on average 2,7 additional sports
  • 41% play another racket sport (tennis, squash, badminton, table tennis, pickleball)

Padel is therefore not an isolated practice, but an element of a diversified sporting lifestyle.

What other sports do the players practice besides padel?

The ranking of the most cited disciplines shows a strong complementarity:

  1. Running / trail running — 35%
  2. Tennis — 26%
  3. Bicycle / Mountain Bike — 22%
  4. Football — 20%
  5. Weight training — 18%
  6. Walking/hiking — 17%
  7. 5-a-side football — 15%
  8. Skiing — 14%
  9. Fitness — 10%
  10. Badminton — 9%
  11. Swimming — 9%
  12. Golf — 7%
  13. Pétanque — 7%
  14. Paddleboarding — 6%
  15. Yoga / Pilates / relaxation — 6%
  16. Table tennis — 6%
  17. Squash — 6%
  18. CrossFit — 3%
  19. Basketball — 3%
  20. Surf — 3%

This data confirms that padel integrates perfectly into a multisport practice, with a core audience that is very physically active.

Padel: a main activity for half of the players

The trend is accelerating.
In 2025:

  • 50% some players consider padel as their main sporting activity
  • 50% they practice it as secondary activity

This shift marks a significant evolution (+10 points compared to 2023). Padel is gradually becoming a central sport in the sporting routine of a growing segment of the public.

Conclusion: a sport that brings people together and is establishing itself for the long term.

The profile of participants in 2025 shows a sport:

  • openthanks to the presence of many players who had never played tennis,
  • attractive to former tennis players,
  • practiced by intensive athletes,
  • increasingly considered a primary sport.

This diversity largely explains the current dynamics of padel in France, driven by diverse audiences but united by the same search: an accessible, fun and physically engaging activity.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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