“There will be over 200 new courts this year—just in Jakarta!” said Zar Lasahido, a tennis player-turned-padel coach based in the city. “In the Jalan Panjang area alone [in West Jakarta], you’ll likely find a padel court within a one-kilometre radius. The growth is explosive.”
Growing up in Amsterdam playing tennis, Zar only made the jump to padel three-and-a-half-years ago when the Mexico-originated racket sport became one of the popular leisure activities that took off during the COVID-19 pandemic. It quickly spread to Spain, where it became the second most popular sport after football. Soon to Sweden, the Netherlands, the U.S., and the Middle East. In Indonesia, Bali had the first taste of the sweeping sport before it made waves in the capital.
“Padel didn’t interest me at first,” confessed Zar, who has 15 years of coaching experience and moved to Indonesia last year to teach padel. “But I decided to give it a shot and instantly loved it. Much of it has to do with it being similar to tennis—it can be quite competitive. But it’s also beginner-friendly. You would see people who never played sports before play padel two times a day.”
At first sight, padel does look very much like tennis—but there are notable differences. The court is smaller than regular tennis courts. It is also surrounded by glass walls, where balls ricochet off them and become part of the overall gameplay. The padel racket, usually made of foam, carbon fibre and fibreglass, is shorter and relatively lighter than tennis rackets, with holes in them instead of strings. And unlike tennis, padel is usually played in doubles.
At Ace Padel Club, one of the newer padel courts in the city where Zar is the exclusive guest coach, the five indoor courts in the spacious, high-ceilinged facility attract a crowd of players from 20 to 40 years old. Set with a second-floor viewing area offering a complete view of the courts, as well as cold plunge and sauna facilities, the courts would already be buzzing throughout the morning with people enjoying a one-hour game or fitting in a training session before starting their workday.
“Padel is fun, but it’s also about the social and lifestyle aspect of it,” Zar Lasahido, tennis player-turned-padel coach.
Players usually come in pairs or small groups, straddling with them their padel rackets in stylish apparel, with the anticipated ease that one is coming to play a lively game rather than a technique-driven sport. Between the courts, a lounge area offers a spot to unwind and enjoy refreshments after a match or practice session.“Padel is fun, but it’s also about the social and lifestyle aspect of it,” said Zar. “You grab a drink after you play—maybe some coffee or fresh coconut—chat with friends, hang out, and watch others play. That’s how the padel community grows here in Jakarta.”
This particular ease to padel is also emphasised by Karina Herbowo, who started playing padel in 2022, back when the sport was still in quiet hype. She discovered Ràcquet Padel Club (RPC), the first padel club established in Jakarta, and quickly got involved. “There was a time when a lot of local celebrities started playing padel, so I joined along with my friends,” recounted Karina, who now serves as RPC’s Marketing & Operations officer. “I have no background in tennis, so I had to start from zero. But it is simpler than tennis, it is more low impact and there’s the support of a partner playing beside you. More importantly, the padel community here is very welcoming.”
As one of the first known padel communities in Jakarta, Ràcquet Padel Club had anticipated the rise of padel when the Jakarta and Bali-based founders Dimitri Burge and Philip Schäferdieck first observed its growth in Dubai and Bali. “When we started building RPC in early 2022, there was no club in the country and our goal was to bring this sport that we enjoy so much to Indonesia. But we didn’t expect padel to grow as fast as it did in 2024 and this year,” said the founders. “It’s a very social and inclusive sport; people of different ages and fitness levels can play padel together and have a great time.”
But padel isn’t exactly the most cost-friendly sport, at least in Jakarta. Court rentals can be costly, with an average of IDR 400,000 per hour. Rackets can go from 1 million to a staggering 7 million, while private lessons depending on the rate of the coaches can differ between locals and internationals.
“How expensive padel is depends a lot on what your expectations and goals are,” argued Dimitri and Philip. “But you can always rent a racket for your first game, and many clubs, like ours, provide that. While the court rental price may seem expensive, if you consider that padel is played with four players, the price wouldn’t be so much different. That said, we try to find solutions to make padel available to everyone, starting from offering an affordable introduction class to adjusting rental prices during non-peak hours.”
As of 2024, Indonesia has a total of 133 padel courts across seven provinces, with Jakarta home to 27 courts. A popular hotspot is Padel Pro in Kemang, a Dubai-based franchise known for hosting tournaments between local clubs and special events featuring international coaches. Another exciting addition to the scene is House of Padel, located on the 55th floor of Agora Mall. In West Jakarta, the soon-to-open Avion on Jalan Panjang is set to offer padel courts alongside a mini soccer field and badminton facility.
“How expensive padel is depends a lot on what your expectations and goals are,” argued Dimitri Burge and Philip Schäferdieck, founders of Ràcquet Padel Club.
“If you look at Sweden and the Netherlands, they went through something similar to what’s happening in Jakarta right now—suddenly, there are a ton of new padel courts opening up all over the city. It’s kind of the same vibe,” observed Toshiki Jahja, co-founder of Agena Sports, a sporting goods store that offers rental service for tennis and padel rackets. At Agena, Toshiki offers a curated lineup of padel rackets, featuring well-known brands like Wilson, and niche options like Skull Padel from the Netherlands and NOX from Spain—selections that are still hard to find in the city’s mainstream sports stores.
Frustrated by the lack of proper service when shopping for sports gear in Jakarta, Toshiki sought to create something different through Agena. His goal is to establish an open, educational space where newcomers to padel can easily access information and find the right equipment. Starting with the essential, yet often overlooked, step of choosing the perfect racket.
“Our store isn’t fully finished yet, but we plan to offer detailed information on padel rackets—like their shape, weight, and foam hardness—and help customers find the right fit for them,” said Toshiki. “We’re also planning to have an ‘Education Wall’ to guide beginners on which rackets to start with, so they know exactly what they’re buying. Plus, we encourage our staff to play padel every week to stay up-to-date. It’s a challenging process to educate, but we’re committed to it.”
So, will padel last? Many believe so, even when there’s the acknowledgement that things will slow down. As the Indonesian Padel Association (PBIP or Perkumpulan Besar Padel Indonesia) is set to push further for padel’s development this year, from kickstarting the process of certifying coaches and courts in accordance to the standard of the International Padel Federation, to preparing a ranking system for padel athletes, the prospect is bright for the country’s padel scene.
“Everyone wants to get in on it, but once all the courts are built, I think it’ll plateau,” said Toshiki, offering his two cents. “The courts built just to break even—those without a strong community base or owner involvement—will close fast, and the ones with a solid foundation will stick around and keep growing.” He added, “I do believe that padel is here to stay. Right now, a lot of millennials are still dominating the scene, but the other day [at Ace Padel], I saw a little kid and his grandma, probably in her 70s, playing padel together. That’s very interesting to see.”
