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If you like pickleball, get ready to up the ante with padel. We know what you’re thinking: first, how do you pronounce it? And second, is padel the same as pickleball? For starters, it’s pronounced PAD-el, not to be confused with its homophone paddle, which is a different sport. And no, padel isn’t the same as pickleball — but it’s just as fun.

Padel is the fastest-growing racket sport in the world, while pickleball is “only” the fastest-growing sport in the United States, says Julian Wortelboer, executive VP and chief padel officer of Ultra Club Miami, the largest padel club in the world, and co-host of the Padel Smash Academy podcast with Cesar Caceres. Wortelboer’s Ultra Club Miami has 28 courts, and Wortelboer says the club is at capacity for its full operating hours – 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.– more days than not. Padel will be an invitational sport in the Paris Olympics, and a full Olympic sport for the 2028 Olympics held in Los Angeles.

In other words, padel is a big deal, and it’s only getting bigger. Want to get in on the fun? In addition to Wortelboer, PS tapped padel pros Scott Colebourne, former board member of the United States Padel Association and Victor Perez, one of the top ten padel coaches worldwide, for a padel primer, including how to play padel, tips for beginners, and a break down of padel vs. pickleball.

Experts Featured in This Article:

Julien Wortelboer, is the executive VP and chief padel officer of Ultra Club Miami.

Scott Colebourne, is a former board member for the United States Padel Association.

Victor Perez is one of the top ten padel coaches worldwide.

What Is Padel, Exactly?

“Padel is a form of tennis that is easy to play, fun and extremely sociable,” says Perez. Colebourne describes padel as a blend of tennis and squash that involve lots of strategic, fast-paced play. “Padel is typically played in doubles on an enclosed court that’s roughly 25 percent smaller than a tennis court,” he says, and balls can be played off the court’s walls in a similar way to squash.

Where Did Padel Begin?

Padel has a fascinating origin story. The sport began in Mexico in 1969, says Colebourne, when Enrique Corcuera set up the first court in the backyard of his summer house. According to Wortelboer, Corcuera had limited backyard space, so he created a smaller-sized tennis court, enclosed on either side by the walls of his neighbor’s houses, and started playing a version of tennis that allowed playing the ball off the walls.

When he shared the game with two of his high-society friends from Spain and Argentina, they loved it, and quickly brought it home to their respective countries, says Wortelboer. The sport exploded in Argentina and Spain in the early 1980s, and spread to global popularity from there. According to Wortelboer, major growth happened in 2018 and 2019, and now there are 30 million padel players worldwide. Spain is currently hosting the Seniors World Padel Championships, with over 35 countries participating.

How to Play Padel

Padel is played on a court with enclosed walls 20 meters (about 66 feet) long and 10 meters (about 33 feet) wide, which is larger than a squash court, but smaller than a tennis court. The court is completely enclosed by walls, typically made of concrete, glass, or wire mesh, and a net similar to a tennis net divides the court in half, says Perez. Court surfaces vary, but common materials include artificial grass, carpet, or concrete.

Padel is always played in doubles, and uses the same scoring system as tennis, says Wortelboer. Games are typically played to six points and need to be won by two points, says Perez. Like tennis, players serve into the opposite box, with the ball required to bounce once on the floor and a key rule is that the serve must be underhand, says Colebourne. The ball can only bounce on the ground once, says Perez, but it can bounce on the walls more than once. Once the ball is in play, you can play it off the ground or wall.

What Gear Do You Need to Play Padel?

Like tennis, you’ll need the basics: balls and rackets. Padel balls are slightly smaller than tennis balls, and less pressurized, which results in a slower bounce, says Perez. Padel rackets are like tennis rackets but smaller, with a perforated face instead of strings, and a shorter handle for better two-handled play.

Perez also recommends padel shoes, which offer the best traction on the specific court surface, but says that tennis shoes can work in a pinch. And of course, comfortable athletic clothing that you can break a sweat in.

Benefits of Padel

According to Wortelboer, padel can give you more exercise per minute than other racket sports. “When you play 60 minutes of tennis with two intermediate players, you’re only actually exercising and hitting the ball for about 15-17 minutes, because the rallies are so short,” he says. “In contrast, playing the same amount of padel with the same level of players gives you 43 to 48 minutes of that concentrated exercise.” Padel gives you more exercise in the same amount of time, in part because you’re enclosed in a box, so you aren’t wasting your workout time picking up the ball. Depending on the intensity, says Perez, playing an hour of padel can burn up to 700 calories.

According to Colebourne, padel is also easier to learn than tennis, and offers a great cardiovascular workout, improving agility, reflexes, and muscle tone. One study demonstrated that it can improve fitness and body composition in middle-aged women, and a systematic review has shown its benefits for improving physical fitness and overall health. And since padel is played in doubles, Perez adds that it’s also a great way to socialize with friends and meet new people.

Is Padel the Same as Pickleball?

From a structural standpoint, pickleball uses a perforated plastic ball, similar to a wiffle ball, and composite or wooden paddles without strings, says Colebourne. It’s played on a badminton-size court, with a net that’s slightly lower than a tennis net, and the court is not enclosed by walls that you can play off of. In contrast, padel uses a solid racket, rubber ball, and playing the ball off the walls is a key part of the game, he says. Pickleball can also be played as a singles game, adds Perez, whereas padel must be played with a partner.

In addition to the rules, there are differences in gameplay, too. “Padel requires a lot of focus on the force used and knowing how to control the bounce of the ball off the walls to keep the game dynamic,” says Perez.

Wortelboer puts it succinctly (despite the warning that he might piss off diehard pickleball fans!): “Pickleball is a game; padel is a sport.” For pickleball, you have between six and eight easy shots you need to learn, he says. “In padel there are 39 different shots to master, so it’s a little more complex.”

Wortelboer adds that as padel is traditionally played on texturized fake grass, like turf, it can also be lower-impact and safer on your joints.

Padel Tips for Beginners

“Just get onto the court, start hitting a few balls, and you will fall in love with it,” says Wortelboer. In terms of strategy, Colebourne recommends focusing on control, rather than raw power; learning to play the ball off the wall effectively; working on your footwork; and playing with different partners to improve your all-around game.

Perez echoes the above, and also highly recommends practicing volleys as well as communication with your partner. Most importantly, he says, padel is a social sport, so remember to have fun!

Kaley Rohlinger is a freelance writer for POPSUGAR who focuses on health, fitness, food, and lifestyle content. She has a background in the marketing and communications industry and has written for POPSUGAR for over four years.

Scientists have tracked the scope of “PM 2.5” pollution over decades. PM 2.5 is a size of “particulate matter” that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter. But less information was available about its even tinier cousin, described as “submicron” or “PM 1” particulate matter, which is less than 1 micron in diameter. Why does that matter? Because the “little guys” might be the source of worse health effects.

With a study now published in The Lancet Planetary Health, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have quantified the amount of PM 1 over the United States from the past 25 years.

“This measurement serves as a starting point to understand which pollutants regulators could target to make the most effective health impact,” said Randall Martin, the Raymond R. Tucker Distinguished Professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering. “This effort builds upon WashU’s strengths in satellite remote sensing and modeling atmospheric aerosols that were leveraged in this study,” he added.

Chi Li, research assistant professor in Martin’s atmospheric composition analysis group, is the first author of the work. Li said these estimates will enable further investigation into both the health and environmental effects of submicron particles.

Li said the very small particles quantified in this study generally come from direct air emissions, such as the black carbon particles released by diesel engines or the smoke from wildfires. Sometimes PM 1 can also form through secondary processes when sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides are spit out through fuel combustion and burning coal.

It makes intuitive sense that smaller particles of air pollution could do more damage to the human body because they are able to slip past the body’s innate defenses. These submicron particles are at least 6 times smaller than blood cells.

Air particles are not always one single thing, but mixtures of other materials stacked together.

The larger sizes of particles are critically more dominated by components that are not easily modifiable like mineral dust, noted Li.

The researchers were able to calculate their submicron estimates based on the known ratios of what makes up PM 2.5 particles, which include seven main components such as sulfate, nitrate and mineral dust.

“Putting the seven species together, we can calculate the total PM 1 concentration over the country,” Li said.

This research sets the stage for further analysis of where, how and why certain types of particles congregate, and how they can affect the environment and human body.

“When EPA first promulgated a fine PM air quality standard in 1997, there was considerable discussion about regulating PM 1 or PM2.5,” said Jay Turner, the James McKelvey Professor of Engineering Education and co-author on the study. “For numerous reasons, including but not limited to the lack of health impacts studies for PM 1 compared to studies for PM 2.5, the latter was chosen. This study provides a comprehensive, nationwide dataset to examine PM1 impacts on health.”

A next step will involve working with epidemiologists to assess the association of PM 1 with health outcomes.

The new dataset revealed another notable fact: pollution regulation does help. Across the contiguous U.S., average PM 1 levels in the air people breathe dropped sharply from 1998 to 2022, thanks to decades of environmental regulations like the Clean Air Act. However, this progress has slowed since 2010, mainly because of rising wildfire activity. Future pollution controls will need to address emerging, non-fossil fuel sources, study authors said.

Other countries like China have a head start tracking nationwide PM 1, but now the U.S. can quickly catch up.

“This dataset offers unprecedented information for the United States about an important pollutant for which few other measurements exist,” Martin said.

Funding from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health.

By MATTHEW HOLT

If health policy wonks believe anything it’s that primary care is a good thing. In theory we should all have strong relationships with our primary care doctors. They should navigate us around the health system and be arriving on our doorsteps like Marcus Welby MD when needed. Wonks like me believe that if you introduce such a relationship patients will receive preventative care, will get on the right meds and take them, will avoid the emergency room, and have fewer hospital admissions—as well as costing a whole lot less. That’s in large the theory behind HMOs and their latter-day descendants, value-based care and ACOs

Of course there are decent examples of primary care-based systems like the UK NHS or even Kaiser Permanente or the Alaskan Artic Slope Native Health Association. But for most Americans that is fantasy land. Instead, we have a system where primary care is the ugly stepchild. It’s being slowly throttled and picked apart. Even the wealth of Walmart couldn’t make it work.

There are at least 3 types of primary care that have emerged over recent decades. And none of them are really successful in making that “primary care as the lynchpin of population health” idea work.

The first is the primary care doctor purchased by and/or working for the big system. The point of these practices is to make sure that referrals for the expensive stuff go into the correct hospital system. For a long time those primary care doctors have been losing their employers money—Bob Kocher said $150-250k a  year per doctor in the late 2000s. So why are they kept around by the bigger systems? Because the patients that they do admit to the hospital are insanely profitable. Consider this NC system which ended up suing the big hospital system Atrium because they only wanted the referrals. As you might expect the “cost saving” benefits of primary care are tough to find among those systems. (If you have time watch Eric Bricker’s video on Atrium & Troyon/Mecklenberg)

The second is urgent care. Urgent care has replaced primary care in much of America. The number of urgent care centers doubled in the last decade or so. While it has taken some pressure off emergency rooms, Urgent care has replaced primary care because it’s convenient and you can easily get appointments. But it’s not doing population health and care management. And often the urgent care centers are owned either by hospital systems that are using them to generate referrals, or private equity pirates that are trying to boost costs not control them.

Thirdly telehealth, especially attached to pharmacies, has enabled lots of people to get access to medications in a cheaper and more convenient fashion. Of course, this isn’t really complete primary care but HIMS & HERS and their many, many competitors are enabling access to common antibiotics for UTIs, contraceptive pills, and also mental health medications, as well as those boner and baldness pills.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been attempts to build new types of primary care

Oak Street, ChenMed and Iora (now part of One Medical) were built with the idea of bumping up the primary care services given to seniors in Medicare Advantage, with the idea that–like Kaiser and its competitors–they can take financial risk for specialty and hospital care. The theory, as Iora’s founder Rushika Fernandopulle always said, was “double the spending on primary care and reduce overall costs by 30%.” It’s not too clear if they ever got there.

Of course like everything else in American health care Oak Street and Iora were repeats of earlier efforts by Mullikin, Friendly Hills, HealthPartners and many more to manage overall care costs by taking primary care capitated risk. None of these experiments were left alone by the finance bros long enough to see what would have happened if they played out. The stock market of the 1990s and the 2020s are full of graveyards of publicly traded primary care groups that all had very promising starts. Had they been left alone long enough to grow organically it’s possible that we would see a different future. We might even see that future if Included Health, Transcarent and others manage to build out their primary care/telehealth/navigation/Centers of Excellence offering. But it’s going to take a while

Overall, risk-bearing primary care remains a lonely business despite it being the preferred policy wonk solution since Sydney Garfield started taking prepayment from workers on the Grand Coulee Dam in 1933

Of course this being America you can still get excellent primary care, it is just going to cost ya.

Silicon Valley multi-millionaires pay Jordan Shlain’s Private Medical $40k a year plus for white glove service. At the other end of the scale, One Medical collects $80-200 a year from patients paying for access to next day appointments, NPs who actually answer emails and a free telehealth service for urgent care. In between is a whole host of doctors who have opted out of the hassle of billing insurers and are charging between $500 and $5000 a year for concierge care. Then there are a ton of primary care based services using telehealth, home visits and NPs, often combined with onsite clinics at workplaces

Which means that the number of those providing genuine Marcus Welby MD style primary care in the community continues to fall.

And it’s not too hard to figure out why. The average primary doctor makes a whole lot less than their specialty counterparts.

The fees for primary care are low. They’re set that way deliberately by the RUC (the Relative value scale update committee) which is dominated by specialists and essentially sets Medicare fees, which are then followed by most private insurers. So most doctors tend to look at the top end of this chart rather than the bottom they are choosing their residency slots. American health care is expensive because we have too many specialists doing marginally useful care, and too many hospitals (and pharma and device companies) making bank off them. And it’s all related to that chart.

There was a rather odd count by KFF  saying that nearly  50% of American doctors were in primary care, but that counted a whole lot of doctors are “primary care” who don’t deliver traditional primary care. This is of course wrong but it gives a hint for the solution.

There are 340 million Americans. We can give everyone a PCP and put them in a panel of 600 people (as opposed to the 2-3,000 typical PCP panel. That number happens to be what MDVIP and other concierge services offer. That would require 570 thousand PCPs. Which is about 60% of doctors post-residency in America.

So if we converted all those currently licensed PCPs and added NPs, we could give EVERYONE in America concierge style care. Those doctors would be immediately available and help their patients navigate the system.

Its proponents believe that concierge medicine is not only better but also tends to be much cheaper than regular care. MDVIP claims that it saves $2500 per patient  even after paying its doctors more, which is about 20% of health spending.  My contention is that we could give each PCP $2k per patient (or $1.2m per 600 patient panel), of which they could use (my guess) $300-500k to run their practice, and they could keep $700K to pay themselves.

So my proposal is we give everyone really high-end primary care, pay primary care docs really well and save a boatload of money. And apparently we have nearly enough primary care docs to do it. For sure if they were paid $700K a year we’d soon find plenty more of them.

Matthew Holt is the Publisher of THCB

It’s really common to have a baby shower for new parents. And while baby shower gifts and a new baby are always exciting, let’s not forget about the mom to be either! A postpartum gift basket is a great way to show a new mama (or seasoned mama) some love.

If you don’t have the time/money to do a large new mom gift basket, even just an item or two can show you care. Postpartum recovery can be tough, both physically and emotionally. And if the new mama is breastfeeding or had a C-section, those come with their own challenges. A postpartum care package is a great way for moms to get a little self-care and pampering.

Gifts like a journal to process postpartum emotions, a comfy robe, or nursing-friendly pajamas are all great ideas. Throw a water bottle or even a gift card in there too! I have lots of ideas in this postpartum essentials post.

DIY Postpartum Gift Basket Ideas

Some of the most affordable and thoughtful gifts are homemade ones. And if you’ve been a reader for very long, you know I love a good natural DIY recipe! The following DIY postpartum gift basket ideas are simple to make and make a great gift for any new mom and her little one.

Some of the recipes serve double duty and are great for other family members, not just moms.

Note: Be sure to double check before adding essential oils to any of the recipes, like lotion. For example, oils like peppermint can decrease breastmilk supply. Here’s a thorough list of which essential oils breastfeeding moms should avoid.

Soothing Postpartum Home Remedies

Pregnancy is an impressive accomplishment, but it can come with stretch marks, C-section scars, and other struggles. Here are some DIY postpartum gift ideas to help mom heal faster and soothe the aches that come with postpartum life.

• Soothing Postpartum Spray – Helps calm inflammation, relieve pain, and restore damaged tissue in the peri area.
• After Birth Sitz Bath – This soothing mix of herbs helps to make mama’s sore bottom less sore. The dry mix can be brewed as a tea and added to a sitz bath or a peri bottle.
• After Birth Bath Fizzies – These bath bombs feature nourishing herbs instead of essential oils for soothing relief.
• After Birth Tincture – As any seasoned mom knows, after birth contractions can be as painful (or more) than labor itself. Soothe the after birth pains with this homemade tincture.
• Rice Heat Packs – These reusable heating pads are a lifesaver when it comes to postpartum discomfort. Customize them with your favorite fabric and add lavender for added relaxation.
• Padsicles – These are a great way to relieve pain and inflammation in the peri area. It’s basically herbal tea frozen onto a pad.

Nourishing Foods

Building a baby takes a lot out of a mom, so it’s important to focus on good nutrition. And if they’re breastfeeding, they’re burning an extra 500-700 calories a day! Traditional cultures made sure new moms were getting plenty of nutrient dense, warming, and animal-based foods.

• Pregnancy Tea – I drank herbal tea when I was expecting, but many of the same nourishing herbs are also great for postpartum. They increase the nutritional value of breastmilk and help restore mom’s nutrient stores.
• Soups and Stews – Slip a jar of some homemade soup into their gift basket (for the freezer) or drop it off on their doorstep after baby arrives. Soups and stews can be a nourishing way to replenish vitamins and minerals.
• Sauerkraut – Keep things moving in the bathroom with some homemade sauerkraut! Great for the gut microbiome and offers a big probiotic boost.
• Bone Broth – Nourishing bone broth is a staple in our home and also great for postpartum moms.

DIY Bodycare

Making homemade skincare products is a great way to opt for clean, non-toxic ingredients. Plus, they’re fun to make! Many of these recipes use essential oils, so be sure to opt for breastfeeding safe ones or omit them.

• Homemade lotion – Soothing shea butter and coconut oil combine to make this luxurious lotion. Infuse the oils with herbs like calendula and chamomile for a gentle version.
• Whipped Body Butter – Similar to a lotion but even more moisturizing. This whipped body butter features cocoa butter, shea butter, and coconut oil.
• Lotion Bars – Another one for team lotion. These portable lotion bars have all of the benefits of homemade lotion with less mess.
• Rosehip Facial Moisturizer – Pregnancy can cause skin changes, including melasma (dark patches) on the face. A face moisturizer can be a great way to help their skin bounce back better.
• Hair Growth Oil – Postpartum hair loss can be intense. Help moms take care of their locks and support stronger hair and hair growth with this DIY hair growth oil.
• Tallow Lip Balm – Tallow closely mimics our skin’s natural oils, making it a great option for moisturizing. And this tallow lip balm is simple with only 4 ingredients!
• Homemade Lip Balm – Want a more traditional Chapstick recipe? This hydrating lip balm is a great option for parched lips.

Nursing Moms Postpartum Gift Basket Ideas

If the new mom is breastfeeding, here are a few recipes to help her out. These are great whether she’s a first-time mom or a seasoned pro.

• Nursing Balm Nipple Cream – No one prepared me for how much breastfeeding could actually hurt at first! This nipple cream is safe for baby and helps soothe sore or damaged nipples.
• Nursing Mom Tea – This blend of herbs helps provide much needed nutrition and boost breastmilk supply. Plus it tastes pretty good too! Give her a jar full of dried tea mix along with a new thermos to keep it warm!
• Lactation Cookies – While nursing tea is certainly nice, who doesn’t like cookies? These lactation cookies are delicious and are a great way to naturally increase breastmilk.

Sweet, Sweet Sleep

Any mom with a newborn knows that sleep can be elusive (and sometimes non-existent). Helping baby stay healthy and supporting their nervous system (like through pediatric chiropractic care) can go a long way towards helping baby sleep at night. While a full night’s sleep isn’t always guaranteed, the following can help mom have a little more rest and relaxation.

• Relaxing Pillow Spray – This pillow spray uses calming and stress relieving essential oils like lavender and bergamot. While all of the essential oils used here are considered safe to diffuse around babies, use caution if using directly near co-sleeping babies sleep space.
• Sleep Lotion – Help relax and calm with soothing lavender and cedarwood lotion.
• Magnesium Body Butter – Most of us are magnesium deficient, and magnesium lotion can be a great way to relax and soothe tired muscles. I like applying this on the legs and bottoms of my feet before bed.
• Buckwheat Eye Mask – Make a DIY buckwheat pillow eye mask with added herbs.

What are some of your favorite items to have on hand postpartum? Leave a comment and let us know!