The Changeover: Your May 2026 U.S. Padel Recap
Here's (almost) everything you need to know...
Dear Padel Nation,
I was lucky enough to both start and end May with padel trips around the Eastern half of the U.S., (re)visiting two clubs in Virginia to kick off the month and then checking out two new ones this past weekend in Ohio to close it out.
(Plus, I also got to play padel last month at both Kiawah and the Daniel Island Club here in South Carolina for the first time ever — which underscores a growing U.S. padel trend I explored in a recent article).
After having been among the first players to ever set foot on the three stunning courts at the Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville, VA, last May for a grassroots padel (and squash) event known as the Wahoo Invitational, I somehow managed to get invited back for the sophomore edition this year — and the experience was every bit as exceptional the second time around (the photo above will help to explain why).
From there I immediately headed to Richmond, VA, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite U.S. cities, and Padel Plant, which is easily among my favorite padel clubs in the entire country due to its ultra-unique setting (in a former hydroelectric power plant)… its incredibly lob-friendly ceiling heights… its inviting stay-after-you-play vibe (complete with local craft beers and delicious wood-fired pizzas)… and its rockstar staff (great to see Alex again and meet Blanca for the first time!).
After a few weeks at home, this past weekend saw me and a group of racquet-sports-obsessed friends traveling to Cincinnati, OH, to celebrate the birthday of the living legend who first brought padel to South Carolina by playing the sport at two very impressive new clubs:
Cincinnati Open Sporting Club — which is home to two pristine outdoor padel courts along with dozens of tennis courts (which are used for the ATP/WTP 1000-level pro-tennis tournament they host each August) and some of the most luxe lounge, dining, bar, co-working, and (Midwest-Tennis-branded) pro-shop areas you’ll likely find anywhere in the racquets world.
Club Padel Newtown — a soon-to-open club we profiled several months back that will initially open with four outdoor courts, a delightfully funky craft beer store (inside a retro gas station), a BBQ restaurant, plenty of indoor/outdoor lounge and event space, and a private dog park (among many other offerings) before adding an additional ten indoor courts at a later date.
Speaking of traveling to play padel, the padel tourism trend is obviously starting to gain major traction, as evidenced by the fact that last month Travel + Leisure ran a feature article on the new Privé Passport offering from the team behind Privé Padel (which I have covered numerous times since launching Padel Nation in January).
What’s more, Lee Witham (whose company Padel+ is responsible for building a majority of the courts I played on in May) penned a guest article for us last month exploring why one of the U.S.’s biggest tourist destinations may also be one of its most-overlooked padel paradises.
While I don’t currently have any padel trips planned for June, I am set to do my first international padel trip to Spain in July to attend the Premier Padel P1 in Málaga.
In the meantime, I’ll be covering (almost) everything you need to know about what’s happening in the U.S. padel world in June after recapping (almost) everything you need to know from May — which you can read about directly below.
As always, thanks for reading — and play up!
- ae
««« Nine New U.S. Padel Clubs to Visit Soon »»»
The ever-growing list of padel clubs around the U.S. got even longer in May thanks to these nine soon-to-open clubs, which will be bringing 67 new padel courts to six states including California, Colorado, Florida, Texas, Ohio, and Washington (in fact, Seattle will finally get its very first padel courts this morning!).
««« Padel Haus Expands Its U.S. Empire Again »»»
In addition to the nine clubs mentioned above, leading U.S. padel club operator Padel Haus opened not just one, but two, brand-new (and very eagerly awaited clubs) in the month of May. You can get the full details on both of them here.
««« Wait, You Can Play Padel in ________?!? »»»
While operators like Padel Haus tend to get a lot of attention and publicity when they open new clubs in “tier-one” cities like Denver and New York City, plenty of other clubs continue to open in second- and third-tier cities around the U.S. with relatively little fanfare.
We tried to help right this wrong last month by highlighting a few off-the-beaten-path clubs you should know about in Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Vermont, and West Virginia.
««« When Will the U.S. Hit Peak Padel? »»»
While I’m admittedly no math whiz, a few recent events (including all the clubs mentioned above opening) did lead me to dig into some hard data last month in an effort to get some sense of what might end up being the U.S. padel market’s saturation point in terms of total number of courts. Here’s where I landed.
««« Legendary U.S. Tennis Club Adds Padel »»»
For padel to get anywhere near its saturation point in the U.S., one helluva lot of tennis facilities around the country will need to start adding courts. And this iconic U.S. tennis venue finally installing one may well signal that a lot more dominoes are about to fall.
««« U.S. Padel Moves Closer to Center Stage »»»
Yes, ultra-traditional tennis clubs in the northeast are finally coming around to padel, — but so are ultra-hip cultural events like Coachella in the American southwest.
In fact, as Scott Matulis explored in this guest piece for us last month, a recent padel pop-up in the California desert could help catapult U.S. padel towards its biggest stage yet.
… and that’s a wrap — until next month, at least!
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Oh, and one other thing… I’ve actually got a full-blown padel book coming out in July. So, if you enjoy the work I’m doing in the U.S. padel space, you can support me by pre-ordering a copy (or two!) online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Many thanks in advance!
Thank you, Austin, for your kind words and for everything you do for padel!