Glassbox Padel Brings the World’s Fastest-Growing Sport to College Park

A mashup of tennis and squash that has become quickly popular is now in College Park.

Located at 4928 College Ave., near the airport, Glassbox Padel is one of only a handful of places in the greater D.C. area where you can play padel.

Invented in 1969 in Mexico, padel is played on a glass-enclosed court that is roughly a third the size of a tennis court, and, as in squash, you can let the ball hit the walls as a strategy. Instead of a tennis racket, you use a smaller modified paddle.

The sport has become popular because you don’t need as much practice as tennis, but it’s faster-paced and more strategic than pickleball, another fast-growing offshoot of tennis. Padel is almost always played as a doubles game, which makes it very social as well.

You can rent one of Glassbox’s four padel courts for $60 an hour at off-peak times, which is typically split among the four players. The club also offers introductory classes for $10 to $25 and an $80 monthly membership that offers discounts on court bookings and merchandise.

The club is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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