Padel in Berlin for beginners (2026): where to play and how to start
Padel in Berlin for beginners: where to play (Padel FC, We Are Padel, Padel Lankwitz), the gear and rules, and how to find a partner near you.
Padel in Berlin for beginners comes down to three easy steps: book a court at a club that runs intro sessions, borrow a racket for your first game, and bring three other players — because padel is almost always played in doubles. The fastest way to start is to reserve a beginner slot at a club like Padel FC in Friedrichshain or We Are Padel in Reinickendorf, take a one-hour taster, and line up a regular partner so you actually keep playing. Below are the real Berlin courts by district, what your first session feels like, the gear you need, and how to find someone to play with every week.
Padel only works when you have someone across the net. MITRA lets you send an activity request to people near you, and you meet up with the ones who accept. Get it on Google Play or download on the App Store.
Lena, 27, moved to Friedrichshain in January and spent her first month watching the lit-up glass courts at Padel FC near Ostkreuz on her way home from work. One Wednesday at 19:30 she finally booked the cheapest beginner slot, borrowed a club racket, and walked in not knowing a single rule. Ninety minutes later she had hit her first proper smash off the back wall, laughed more than she had in weeks, and swapped numbers with the three strangers she’d been paired with. That is the thing nobody tells you about padel: it is the easiest racket sport to start badly and still have a brilliant time.
What is padel, and why is it suddenly everywhere in Berlin?
Padel is a doubles racket sport played on an enclosed court roughly a third the size of a tennis court, where the glass walls are part of the game. According to the International Padel Federation (FIP), the sport was invented in 1969 in Acapulco, Mexico, by Enrique Corcuera, who didn’t have room for a full tennis court at his home and instead built a smaller 20-by-10-metre court enclosed by walls; the first set of rules was drafted by his wife, Viviana. The FIP itself was founded in Madrid on 12 July 1991, and the game has spread across Europe ever since.
Germany is now one of padel’s fastest-growing markets, which is why courts seem to be appearing across Berlin almost monthly. The FIP World Padel Report 2025 counted 875 padel courts across 325 facilities in Germany — a number that has climbed sharply year on year. Padel also has a formal home in German sport: since March 2022 the Deutscher Tennis Bund (DTB) has been recognised as the responsible federation for padel in the country. For a beginner, all of that growth means one practical thing: it has never been easier or cheaper to find an open court in Berlin and just try it.
Where to play padel in Berlin for beginners
The best beginner courts in Berlin are the clubs that run dedicated intro sessions and rent rackets, so you can show up with nothing but trainers. Berlin now has venues spread from the north to the southwest, so there is usually one within reach of your district. Here are the ones beginners reach for, by neighbourhood (always check current schedules and prices before you go, as they change):
- Friedrichshain — Padel FC. Billed as Berlin’s first indoor padel club, Padel FC sits right on the Spree near Ostkreuz with five doubles courts and two singles courts, so conditions are good in any weather. Central, easy to reach by S-Bahn, and a natural first stop if you live in the east of the city.
- Reinickendorf — We Are Padel Berlin. One of the largest indoor venues in the city on Königshorster Straße in the Märkisches Viertel, with multiple courts, a coaching programme, racket rental, and a bistro — a comfortable place to spend a whole evening as a beginner.
- Steglitz-Zehlendorf — Padel Lankwitz. Four modern open-air panoramic courts on Leonorenstraße, open daily into the evening, with introductory courses and after-work sessions aimed squarely at newcomers. The best option in the southwest and good for outdoor play in the warmer months.
- Padel-and-pickleball centres. Some Berlin venues, such as the PBC Center, run both padel and pickleball under one roof, which is handy if you want to try a couple of racket sports before committing to one.
To find and reserve a slot, most Berlin clubs use the Playtomic app, which lists open courts, prices, and times across the city — you can book in a couple of minutes. The cheapest way to play is to split a 90-minute court between four people, which is exactly why having a ready group matters so much.
Don’t have three other players yet? Find one steady padel partner near you and build a regular game. Get MITRA on Google Play · App Store.
What your first padel session in Berlin actually feels like
Your first session is far less intimidating than tennis, because the walls keep the ball in play and the court is small enough that rallies last. You don’t need a serve that works or a forehand you trust — the ball bounces off the back glass and comes back to you, so beginners get long, fun rallies within minutes instead of chasing balls into a fence. Most people land their first decent shot in the opening ten minutes.
Expect a relaxed, social ninety minutes. You’ll usually share a court with three others, rotate naturally, and spend as much time laughing at miss-hits as celebrating good ones. The underhand serve is genuinely easy to learn, the scoring is the same as tennis, and the enclosed court means nobody is sprinting after a stray ball for five minutes. If you book a structured taster or intro course at a club like We Are Padel or Padel Lankwitz, a coach walks you through the wall bounces and positioning in the first fifteen minutes, and you play real points after that. Wear normal sports clothes and clean court shoes, bring water, and arrive ten minutes early to pick up a rental racket.
The gear and rules you need to start
You need almost nothing to start padel: court shoes, a borrowed racket, and a tube of balls usually shared by the group. Padel rackets are solid, stringless, and perforated, and every club rents them, so there is no reason to buy one for your first few games. The balls look like slightly lower-pressure tennis balls, and most clubs sell a tube at reception if your court booking doesn’t include them.
The rules are quick to grasp. Padel is played almost entirely as doubles on that enclosed 20-by-10-metre court; the serve is underhand and bounces in the service box before you can use the walls; and after the bounce, the ball can come off the back and side glass and still be in play, which is the part that makes it so beginner-friendly. Scoring follows tennis — 15, 30, 40, game — so if you’ve ever watched a tennis match you already know how a set works. Everything else you’ll pick up by playing two or three times.
If you want to get better faster, a handful of clubs offer a starter pack of one or two coached sessions before you play open games — worth it to fix the most common beginner habit, which is standing too far forward and getting caught out by balls off the back wall. But none of it is required to have fun on day one. Padel rewards turning up.
Why padel is better with a partner — and where MITRA fits
Padel is the rare sport you literally cannot play alone, which makes finding people the real beginner hurdle, not the rules. A singles court exists, but the game is built for doubles: four players, two per side. That is wonderful for the social side and brutal for the logistics — booking a court means rounding up three others who are free on the same evening and roughly your level. For someone new to Berlin, that can feel harder than the sport itself.
This is exactly the gap MITRA is built to close. Instead of posting in a group chat and hoping, you find one activity partner near you who also wants to play padel, agree a court and a time, and the two of you can fill the other slots together or play singles to start. Because the connection is built around the activity, the first message writes itself — you already know you both want to be on a padel court this week. The same approach works whether you’re after activity partners in Berlin generally or a running partner in Berlin on the days you want to be outside.
Stop waiting for a group to come together. Find your padel partner near you, today. Get MITRA on Google Play · App Store.
How to find a padel partner at your level in Berlin
The trick to a partner who lasts is matching availability and level before personality. Lead with three things when you reach out: how new you are (total beginner, played a handful of times, or improving), the district where you’d play, and the evenings you’re free. A partner at roughly your level keeps every game fun — too far apart and the stronger player gets bored while the newer one feels swamped. Most clubs also run beginner-only sessions and “open play” or “americano” social formats where you rotate partners, which are a great place to meet people you can then arrange regular games with.
Open-play formats are the secret weapon here. Many Berlin clubs run “americano” or “mexicano” sessions, where you sign up alone, rotate through different partners game by game, and leave having played with eight people instead of three. They’re scored casually, mixed by level, and designed so nobody is stuck on the sidelines — the single best way to meet other beginners you can then arrange standing games with. Ask your nearest club which evenings they run them, or watch for them on the Playtomic listings; the after-work slots fill fastest.
For a first game with someone new, use ordinary common sense: a padel club is a public, staffed, well-lit place by design, so meeting there is naturally low-risk. Book the court yourself or split it transparently, tell a friend where you’ll be, and treat the first session as a trial — it’s completely normal to decide you’re better as occasional rather than weekly partners. If you’ve just arrived and are rebuilding a whole social circle, padel is a brilliant first thread to pull; our guide on how to make friends in Berlin goes deeper on the rest.
How MITRA helps you find a padel partner near you
MITRA exists for precisely this: meeting one person near you, for an activity you both want to do, soon. You find an activity partner in your own district — someone who wants to try padel at your level, on your evenings — and arrange a real game on a real court. Because the whole thing is built around the activity, there’s no awkward opener and no big group to coordinate; you just agree a court and show up.
It works the same way on the weeks padel isn’t the plan. If you’re settling into a new city, the same app finds partners for other activities too — whether that’s bouldering in Berlin for beginners when it’s raining, or a run when it’s not. And if you’re weighing your options for meeting people at all, here’s our honest roundup of the best apps to meet people in Berlin.
The bottom line
Starting padel in Berlin is simple: pick a beginner-friendly club near you — Padel FC in Friedrichshain, We Are Padel in Reinickendorf, or Padel Lankwitz in the southwest — book a taster slot through Playtomic, and borrow a racket. The sport is built to be fun from your very first rally, so the only real hurdle is people. Sort a regular partner first, and the games take care of themselves. Don’t overthink the gear or the technique — both are easy to borrow and easy to learn on the court. Book a slot for this week, find one person who wants to play, and you’ll be hitting balls off the back glass before you’ve memorised the rules.
Your first padel game is one message away. Download MITRA on Google Play · App Store. Follow MITRA on Instagram for more. Berlin first. Bucharest and more EU cities coming soon.
Want to keep reading?
- How to find activity partners in Berlin
- How to find a running partner in Berlin
- Bouldering in Berlin for beginners
- The best apps to meet people in Berlin
- How to make friends in Berlin
Where can I play padel in Berlin as a beginner?
The most beginner-friendly clubs run intro sessions and rent rackets, so you can turn up with just trainers. Padel FC in Friedrichshain (Berlin’s first indoor club, near Ostkreuz), We Are Padel in Reinickendorf, and Padel Lankwitz in Steglitz-Zehlendorf are the usual first stops. Most courts are listed and bookable through the Playtomic app, so you can find an open slot near your district in a couple of minutes.
Do I need my own racket to start padel?
No. Every padel club in Berlin rents rackets, and padel rackets are solid, stringless and perforated, so there is no reason to buy one for your first few games. Balls are usually shared by the group or sold at reception. Arrive about ten minutes early to pick up a rental racket, wear clean court shoes, and bring water — that is genuinely all you need on day one.
How much does it cost to play padel in Berlin?
Padel is charged per court, not per person, so the cheapest way to play is to split a 90-minute court between four people. Racket rental is a small extra at most clubs, and a tube of balls is cheap if your booking does not include them. Because the cost divides across the group, having a ready partner or a foursome is what keeps each session affordable.
Is padel easy to learn for a complete beginner?
Yes — it is far less intimidating than tennis. The glass walls keep the ball in play and the court is small, so rallies last and beginners get long, fun exchanges within minutes instead of chasing balls into a fence. The serve is underhand and easy, and most people land their first decent shot in the opening ten minutes. Padel genuinely rewards just turning up.
What are the basic rules of padel?
Padel is played almost entirely as doubles on an enclosed 20-by-10-metre court. The serve is underhand and must bounce in the service box; after the bounce, the ball can come off the back and side glass and still be in play, which is what makes it beginner-friendly. Scoring follows tennis — 15, 30, 40, game — so if you have watched a tennis match you already know how a set works.
How do I find people to play padel with in Berlin?
Because padel needs four players, finding people is the real beginner hurdle. An activity-partner app like MITRA lets you send an activity request to someone near you who also wants to play, at your level and on your evenings. Clubs also run beginner sessions and “americano” open-play formats where you rotate partners — a great way to meet players you can then arrange regular games with.
What is an americano or mexicano padel session?
An americano or mexicano is a social, rotating-partner format many Berlin clubs run. You sign up alone, rotate through different partners game by game, and leave having played with eight people instead of three. Games are scored casually and mixed by level so nobody is stuck on the sidelines. It is the single best way to meet other beginners you can then arrange standing games with.
How do I book a padel court in Berlin?
Most Berlin clubs use the Playtomic app, which lists open courts, prices and times across the city; you can reserve a slot in a couple of minutes. After-work evening slots fill fastest, so book a few days ahead if you want a popular time. Many clubs also let you book introductory or taster sessions through the same app or their own website.
What should I wear to play padel?
Normal sports clothes and clean court shoes are all you need — there is no dress code. Court shoes with good grip help on the indoor surfaces, but ordinary trainers are fine to start. Bring a bottle of water, and arrive about ten minutes early to collect a rental racket. You do not need any padel-specific gear for your first few games.
Can I play padel if I have never played tennis?
Absolutely. Padel is built to be more forgiving than tennis: the underhand serve is easy to learn, the enclosed court keeps rallies going, and the walls mean you are not constantly retrieving balls. Plenty of people start padel having never picked up a tennis racket. Book a beginner taster or intro course at a club and a coach will walk you through the basics in the first fifteen minutes.
Sources
- International Padel Federation (FIP) — History (padel invented 1969 in Acapulco, Mexico by Enrique Corcuera; 20×10 m enclosed court; first rules drafted by Viviana Corcuera; FIP founded in Madrid, 12 July 1991). https://www.padelfip.com/history/
- International Padel Federation (FIP) — World Padel Report 2025 (Germany: 875 padel courts across 325 facilities). https://www.padelfip.com/2025/12/online-the-fip-world-padel-report-2025-a-comprehensive-analysis-of-a-sport-in-constant-growth/
- Deutscher Tennis Bund (DTB) — Padel (DTB recognised since March 2022 as the responsible federation for padel in Germany). https://www.tennis.de/spielen/weitere-sportarten/padel.html
