Padel rules explained

The basics in 60 seconds

Padel is played in pairs, on a 20 by 10 metre enclosed court, with a solid perforated racket and a ball that looks like a tennis ball. If you already know tennis scoring you know padel scoring. The differences that matter are all about the serve and the walls.

Scoring and the golden point

Points run 15, 30, 40, game. At 40-40 (deuce) there are two systems, and you should agree which one you are using before you start:

• Advantage: the traditional tennis method. Win a point from deuce for advantage, win the next to take the game, lose it and you are back to deuce.
• Golden point: one deciding point at deuce. The receiving pair chooses which player receives, and the winner of that single point wins the game. This is the rule on the professional tours and in most UK leagues and box leagues.

Games make sets. The first pair to six games with a two-game margin wins the set, and at 6-6 a tie-break is played to seven points (also with a two-point margin). Matches are best of three sets. Some tournaments replace a third set with a ten-point "super tie-break", which is worth knowing if you enter a club event.

Pairs change ends after every odd-numbered game (after the first, third, fifth game and so on) and every six points in a tie-break.

Try the scoring

Click the buttons to award points and watch the score, deuce and golden point play out.

Serving

1. Stand behind the service line, between the centre line and the side wall, with both feet behind the line. You may not touch or cross the line until you have hit the ball, and at least one foot must stay on the ground.
2. Bounce the ball once on the floor behind the service line.
3. Hit it at or below waist height, underarm. Contact above the waist is a fault.
4. Serve diagonally into the service box across the net. The ball must bounce inside the box (lines count as in). After bouncing it may hit the side glass and still be good, but if it hits the mesh fence it is a fault.
5. Two attempts. A second fault loses the point. Serves alternate boxes, starting from the right (the deuce side), and the same player serves for a whole game.

The receiver must let the serve bounce before playing it. Their partner can stand anywhere, and the server's partner can too, though in practice the server's partner is already at the net.

Walls, glass and mesh

This is the part that does not exist in tennis, and it works differently on each side of the net.

On your own side

Once the ball has bounced on your floor, it can hit your back glass, your side glass, or your mesh, in any combination, and you can still return it, as long as it does not touch the floor a second time. You can also play the ball into your own back glass on purpose so it rebounds over the net, which is a standard defensive shot.

On the opponents' side

Your shot must land on their floor before it touches anything else on their side. If it hits their glass or mesh before bouncing, you lose the point. After the bounce anything goes: off the glass, off the mesh, out over the walls.

Over the walls

A ball that bounces on the opponents' floor and then flies out of the court over the walls is a winner for you (unless the court's openings let them chase it). This is the famous "por tres" and "por cuatro" of professional padel: a smash that clears the 3 metre side glass or the 4 metre back wall.

The net and posts

The ball can touch the net during a rally and stay in play. Hitting the net posts or the net itself with your racket or body while the ball is in play loses the point, as does reaching over the net to hit the ball (following through over it after contact is fine).

How you lose a point

You lose the point if:

• the ball bounces twice on your side;
• your shot hits the net and does not go over, or goes directly into the opponents' glass or mesh, or out of the court without bouncing on their floor first;
• the ball hits you, your partner or anything you are wearing;
• you hit the ball twice, or both you and your partner hit it;
• you touch the net, posts or the opponents' side of the court with your racket, body or clothing while the ball is in play;
• you hit the ball before it has crossed the net to your side;
• you serve two faults, or the receiver volleys the serve;
• the ball hits the ceiling, lights or any fixture above the court (indoor venues sometimes have local rules for this).

Lets and replays

A let is a replayed point. The common cases are a serve that clips the net and lands in the box (replay the serve, not the whole point), a ball from another court rolling in, or a player being obstructed by something outside their control. If a serve touches the net and then hits the mesh, that is a fault rather than a let.

There is no let for a ball that goes through the side opening and comes back into play. It is simply in play.

Ball and racket rules

For the court itself, including line positions and wall heights, see padel court dimensions. For how to actually hit the ball, see how to play padel.