Quick Answer: Squash is the established indoor sport — a compact, fully-enclosed four-wall box court, a light strung racket, and singles play that delivers one of the hardest cardio workouts in any racket sport. Padel is the newer, social alternative — a larger glass-walled court played almost always as doubles, with a heavier stringless paddle and a much gentler learning curve. Squash has more established US courts (~3,700); padel is growing faster and easier to pick up cold. Starter gear runs $40-90 either way.
Both sports lock you inside walls instead of an open court, and both reward using the walls rather than fearing them — but that’s close to where the resemblance ends. Squash is the fast, physical, singles-first sport that’s been building US clubs for decades. Padel is the newcomer stacking courts at a much faster clip because doubles play and a forgiving paddle make it approachable from session one. Here’s the honest, numbers-first comparison, plus what it costs to start in each.
By the numbers
- Squash remains the far bigger sport in the US: US Squash counts roughly 1.2 million American players and about 3,700 squash courts nationwide, backed by the World Squash Federation’s count of over 20 million players in 185+ countries worldwide.
- Padel is smaller but catching up fast: the 2026 SFIA Topline report (cited by the USPA) puts US padel past 1 million players, up roughly 250% since 2022, with 1,000+ courts across 31 states as of April 2026.
- A squash court is a fully-enclosed box measuring 9.75x6.4 m (32x21 ft), with a 4.57 m front wall stepping down to a 2.13 m back wall (World Squash Federation specs); a padel court is 20x10 m, more than four times the floor area, enclosed to 4 m at the back in glass and mesh (FIP rules — see our padel court dimensions breakdown).
- Rackets sit at opposite ends of the weight scale: a squash racket weighs just 110-170 g (WSF caps it at 255 g max) and is strung like a tennis racket, while a padel racket is a solid, stringless paddle weighing roughly 350-385 g under FIP rules.
- Injury patterns differ by sport: research reviewed across squash studies puts lower-limb injuries at roughly 60% of all squash injuries, with eye injuries showing up in about 33% of clinical case reviews (unsurprising in a sport played inches from your opponent’s swing). Padel’s injury profile is different — a 2026 cross-sectional study of amateur players (PMC/NCBI) found 53.8% had a padel-related injury in the previous six months, led by ankle-foot at 18.5%, not eye trauma, since doubles play keeps you further from your opponent’s racket.
Padel vs squash at a glance
| Padel | Squash | |
|---|---|---|
| Court | 20x10 m, enclosed in glass/mesh, open-air common | 9.75x6.4 m, fully enclosed 4-wall indoor box |
| Ball | Low-pressure felt ball, 6.35-6.77 cm | Hollow rubber ball, dot-coded by speed |
| Racket | Solid, stringless foam-core, ~350-385 g (~$65-$330) | Strung, oval-head racket, ~110-170 g (~$40-$100+) |
| Format | Almost always doubles | Traditionally singles (doubles exists but is niche) |
| Serve | Underhand, off a bounce, below waist height | Underhand off the front wall, above the service line |
| Setting | Outdoor or open-air club courts, growing fast in the US | Indoor, ~3,700 established US courts |
| Learning curve | Easy; rallying within 1-2 sessions | Steep; footwork and wall reads take months |
The court and the game feel
Squash boxes you into a tight, fully-enclosed room where every one of the four walls is live — the ball can come back at you from the front, sides, or behind, and with only one opponent to cover the entire 9.75x6.4 m floor, there’s nowhere to hide. That intensity is exactly why squash is famous as a brutal workout, and why the learning curve is steep: reading angles off three different walls while sprinting takes real time to develop.
Padel is a bigger, shared box. Balls rebound off the back and side glass the way a squash ball rebounds off its walls, but with a partner covering half the court and a net splitting the two sides, rallies develop more like tennis with a safety net built in. New players can keep a ball in play almost immediately, then spend the next few sessions learning to use the walls as a weapon instead of an accident. See our padel rules for beginners guide for exactly how scoring and serving work.
Gear: what you need and what it costs
Squash needs a light, strung racket, a dot-coded rubber ball matched to your level, and non-marking indoor court shoes. Padel needs a heavier, stringless foam-core paddle, a can of low-pressure felt balls, and turf-ready shoes for outdoor sanded courts. Our full beginner racket guide and padel shoe rankings go deep on the padel side; the short version for both sports is below.
| Starter item | Sport | Role | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nox X-One Evo | Padel | Best starter racket | ~$65 |
| Head Padel Pro S+ (can of 3) | Padel | Standard match ball | ~$7 |
| K-Swiss Express Light Padel | Padel | Turf-grip starter shoe | ~$85 |
| HEAD Extreme 135 | Squash | Best-selling entry racket | ~$40-50 |
| Dunlop Progress (3-pack) | Squash | Beginner-speed ball | ~$15 |
| Indoor non-marking court shoe | Squash | Gum-sole starter shoe | ~$70-90 |
Starter picks if you choose padel
Nox X-One Evo
- Forgiving round shape with a soft, arm-friendly core — the default first racket worldwide.
- Durable enough to survive your first season of wall scrapes.
- Cheap enough that upgrading later won't sting.
Whichever sport you pick, you’ll want your gear on hand before the next open court slot — try Amazon Prime free for 30 days and most rackets and balls land in two days flat.
Head Padel Pro S+ balls
- The consistency benchmark — the can most clubs and leagues reach for.
- Legal FIP bounce out of the can, and it lasts 3-4 sessions.
For the full padel checklist beyond these two — shoes, overgrips, a bag, and what each should cost — see our complete padel equipment guide.
Starter picks if you choose squash
HEAD Extreme 135
- Innegra-composite frame absorbs shock better than most rackets at this price.
- Light enough for fast hands, stable enough to forgive off-center hits.
Dunlop Progress squash balls
- Bouncier and more forgiving than tournament dot-coded balls, so rallies stay alive longer.
- The standard recommendation for anyone still building a consistent swing.
Fitness, injuries, and who each sport suits
Workout: squash is the harder cardio session by most measures — one player alone covers the entire 9.75x6.4 m box against a single opponent, with almost no rest between points, and it’s routinely cited among the most calorie-intensive racket sports. Padel’s doubles format means you cover less ground per player and share the rally load with a partner, so a session runs longer but at a gentler per-player intensity.
Injury profile: the two sports fail your body differently. Squash’s tight quarters and singles format put roughly 60% of injuries in the lower limb from explosive lunging and direction changes, and eye injuries show up in about 33% of clinical case reviews since opponents share the same swing space. Padel’s injury profile skews toward ankle-foot (18.5%) from lateral movement on sanded turf — which proper padel shoes largely prevent — with elbow-forearm strain close behind at 15.2%, worth reading about in our padel elbow prevention guide.
Choose squash if you want the toughest solo cardio workout, singles competition, decades of established US club infrastructure, and don’t mind a steep first few months.
Choose padel if you want to be rallying by your first session, a social doubles-only format, and you’re fine with US courts still catching up to demand.
The bottom line
Squash is still the bigger, more established racket-and-wall sport in the US, with far more courts and a brutal reputation for cardio. But padel is the one adding courts and players fastest right now, and its doubles format and forgiving paddle make it the easier on-ramp if you’ve never played a walled racket sport before. Squash players in particular tend to pick up padel quickly — the wall reads transfer, only the racket and the scoring rhythm need relearning. Either way, a $65 starter racket or a $40-50 squash racket is all it takes to find out which one sticks. Curious how padel stacks up against tennis instead? Our padel vs tennis comparison covers that matchup. Ready to go deeper on padel? Our best padel racket guide covers the upgrade path.