WANT TO KNOW A LITTLE MORE?
The five-minute version gets you on court. Here's what comes next.
RULES
Every point starts with a serve. The ball must cross the net and land in the opponent's court. During the rally, play it before the second bounce. The walls can be used, but only after the ball has bounced on the floor of your court: if it hits the glass or the fence before bouncing, the point is lost.
SCORING
Padel uses the familiar 15 · 30 · 40 · game system. At deuce you can play advantages or a golden point: a single point decides the game, and the receiving pair chooses which of the two receives it. Which system applies depends on the competition or the match format.
SERVE
Start behind the service line. Bounce the ball before hitting it, make contact at or below waist height, and send it diagonally into the opposite service box. If it lands in the right box it's good; if it then hits the glass it's still good; if it hits the metal fence it's a fault. The receiver can stand anywhere, but must let the ball bounce before returning it. If the first serve is a fault, you get a second.
GLASS
The glass isn't just a boundary. Once the ball has bounced on the floor of your court, you can let it rebound off the glass or the fence and play it before the second bounce. Learning not to panic when the ball reaches the wall is part of learning padel. It works the other way too: after hitting, you can send the ball onto your own back glass and from there into the opponents' court — that's the contrapared. Not off the fence: that's a fault.
RACKET
A padel racket is called a pala: no strings, solid, and almost always with a perforated surface. It must be used with the safety cord around the wrist, which is compulsory. For your first matches, control and comfort matter much more than buying the most powerful pala.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do you serve in padel?
Bounce the ball first, hit it at or below waist height and send it diagonally into the opposite service box.
How many times can the ball bounce?
Once. If it bounces a second time before you return it, you lose the point.
Can I use the glass?
Yes. If the ball bounces on the floor of your court first, it can hit the glass or the fence and remain in play.
Can I send the ball over using my own glass?
Yes, and the shot has a name: the contrapared. After hitting, you can bounce the ball off your own back glass and from there send it into the opponents' court. Not off the fence, though: that's a fault. It's a defensive shot, for when you have no other way to keep the ball in play.
Can I use the metal fence during a rally?
Yes. Once the rally is under way, if the ball has already bounced on the floor of your court it can hit any wall — glass or fence — and stay in play. The exception is the serve: there, the fence is a fault.
Can I return a serve before it bounces?
No. The receiver can stand anywhere, but must let the serve bounce before returning it.
Can I volley during a rally?
Yes. Once the rally has started, you can hit the ball before it bounces. The important exception is the return of serve.
Do I get two serves?
Yes. If your first serve is a fault, you have a second attempt.
What if the serve clips the net cord?
If the ball still lands in the correct box it's a let: the serve is replayed and you don't lose the attempt. If it lands outside the box, or hits the fence before the second bounce, it's a fault.
Can the serve hit the glass?
Yes. If it first lands correctly in the service box, it can then hit the glass and remain a valid serve.
What if the serve hits the metal fence?
If it lands correctly and then hits the metal fence before the second bounce, the serve is a fault.
Can I touch the net?
Not while the point is live. Touching the net with your body, racket or equipment means losing the point.
Is padel always played 2 vs 2?
Standard padel is a doubles game: four players, two on each side.
How big is a padel court?
A standard padel court is 10 metres wide and 20 metres long.
How does scoring work?
The basic score is 15, 30, 40, game. Different match formats can use advantage scoring or a deciding point at deuce.
What is the golden point?
It's the quick way to settle deuce: instead of advantages a single point is played, and it decides the game. The receiving pair chooses which of the two receives it.
Do I need a special padel racket?
Yes. In padel it's called a pala: solid, no strings, almost always with a perforated surface. The safety cord around the wrist is compulsory.
Are padel balls different from tennis balls?
They look very similar, but padel has its own official specifications. Always use balls sold specifically for padel.
Where should I stand?
Don't think of padel as four players standing in four fixed spots. Move with your partner: defend together and, when possible, take the net together.