The first in a series of four articles concerning the noise implications of padel in the UK, geared towards those who are developing or assessing padel courts. In this article, we will explore everything you need to know about noise generated from padel in comparison to tennis.
Before we start, it’s worth explaining the language we can describe noise. If you try to describe your favourite song in writing without quoting lyrics, you will start to understand the limitations. As an industry, we will talk about average and peak sound levels, even spectral data, but that data looks quite alien to most of us – sometimes a comparison works better.
Is padel noisier than tennis?
Yes, albeit the noise from padel is different than tennis and is louder depending on where you stand in relation to the court, but more about that later. Fundamentally, though, because you can fit nearly two padel courts on the same space as a tennis court, it’s possible to nearly double the sound output over tennis. Additionally, padel is designed to be fast-moving and encourage vocals in a way that is difficult on a tennis court, which adds to the noise levels.
How is padel noise different to tennis?
The noise created by both sports are largely constructed of a collection of intermittent impact and vocal noises.
In tennis the main impact noises are racquet-ball strikes; our research showed that these occur on average every 6.5 seconds at club standard.
In padel, the main impact noise is also racquet-ball strike occurring every four seconds at club level. The enclosed court in padel keeps the ball in play for longer, with rally lengths in padel averaging 14 compared to five in tennis, so the impact noises are grouped together more in padel. Additionally, there are more infrequent but equally as noisy wall-ball strikes and mesh-ball strikes which are very noticeable due to their different character. You can download a number of research papers on this.
How do the impact noises in padel compare to tennis?
Interestingly when we measured the racquet-ball strikes in tennis they had more sound energy than in padel, however as the strings on a tennis racquet have a dampening effect on the strike and spread the impact noise which has an effect of making it appear quieter. The padel racquet-ball impact hits a hard plastic face and makes a sharper sound. Padel also has impacts on the wall which creates a low frequency bang, and impacts on the mesh which creates a higher frequency ringing. We measured that both of the latter noises occur on average every 30 seconds in club level. Interestingly, we found that with increased player skill level, both the frequency and loudness of some of these impact noises changed, meaning that skill level is one of the factors in defining the court noise. This means that the noise from the padel courts will likely change as it becomes more established and players gain greater skill level.
How does the sound travel away from the court?
In both sports, the major noise sources are the players on the court. In tennis the sound would travel outwards from each player who strikes a ball or shouts. This is true in padel also; however, the walls which partially enclose the court act as sound barriers, restricting the sound traveling out of the ends and reflecting it back in the court. The padel court is noisiest along the sides as sound escapes through the mesh.
Our research showed that on average it was twice as loud if you stood outside a padel court 5m from the net line than if you stood 5m from the wall. Interestingly, in comparison to tennis, both sports have the same average noise level at a point 5m from the end of the court due to the wall acting as a barrier.
Does the sound travel up from the court?
Yes, it does. In fact, it can reflect off the ground and travel up and over the barriers, which can be an issue if the courts are situated adjacent to high rise buildings. This has been a subject of some high-profile appeals. Theoretically, placing a roof structure on the court should reduce the noise travelling up; however, this is very difficult to measure, so we rely on calculations and manufacturers testing data to predict this. It is very possible however, that placing a roof on a padel court will concentrate the noise in the court to a greater degree and this can have increase the noise levels coming out of the sides and this may cause issues to local residences. We will explore this in a later article on noise mitigation.
So why does all of this matter?
Firstly, knowing how the sound moves away from the court will help you to design new sites to efficiently minimise noise and drastically improve your chances of getting planning permission. Secondly is important to be aware of how sound leaves padel courts if you ever need to understand a noise impact assessment (NIA). Most NIAs make calculations based on readings of existing courts, but do not know where they have taken them from. Given that the noise can get twice as loud as you move around the outside of the court, this means that calculations will be wildly inaccurate.
We will cover NIAs in detail in the next article. You will be able to view all of the article and padel noise-related content here.
About the Author
May Walters Acoustic Consultants (MW Acoustics) specialise in delivering noise assessments for padel and sporting facilities.
In 2024 we independently researched and published a comprehensive noise assessment for outdoor padel courts, incorporating nearly 50 hours of measurements taken from padel and tennis courts to enable an effective comparison. The study demonstrated the direction of noise travel from the court but also revealed the content and frequency of impact noises created during play and indicated trends as to how noise will change with player skill level as padel courts become more established.
The research was presented to the IOA (Institute of Acoustics) and the CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health), where it is now been incorporated into their training content. The research has allowed construction of a model which enables noise propagation from a padel court to be accurately predicted, an essential step in helping developers gain consent for new courts in line with current UK planning guidance.
www.maywaltersacoustics.co.uk
