Padel Rules
Padel borrows its scoring from tennis and its walls from squash. If you already play either, most of this will feel familiar within a game or two — the part that catches everyone out is the walls.
This page covers the rules you actually need on court: scoring, serving, how the walls come into play, and the specific ways a point ends.
Scoring is the same as tennis
Points run 15, 30, 40, game. At 40–40 you play deuce and advantage, exactly as in tennis. Six games wins a set, and you must win by two; at 6–6 a tiebreak decides it. Matches are usually best of three sets.
Many clubs and most professional events now use the golden point: at 40–40 a single point decides the game, and the receiving pair chooses which side receives it. It keeps matches to a predictable length, which is why leagues like it.
The serve is underarm, and it must bounce first
There is no overhead serve in padel. The server bounces the ball on the floor behind the service line, then strikes it at or below waist height. Contact above the waist is a fault.
- The ball must land in the service box diagonally opposite.
- You get two attempts, as in tennis.
- Your feet stay behind the service line and must not touch it while you serve.
- After landing in the correct box, the ball may hit the back glass and still be good.
- If it hits the side fencing or mesh after bouncing in the box, it is a fault.
- The receiver must let the serve bounce — you cannot volley a serve.
The walls are part of the court
This is the rule that makes padel its own sport. A ball that has bounced on your side of the floor may then come off your walls, and you can still play it — often the shot is easier after the rebound than before it.
The order matters in both directions. On your side, the floor comes first, then the walls. On your opponents' side, your shot must also bounce on their floor before it touches any of their walls.
- Ball bounces on your floor, then off your glass: playable.
- Ball comes straight off your glass without bouncing: you have already lost the point.
- Your return hits their glass before their floor: point against you.
- You may play the ball off your own walls deliberately to get it back over the net.
How a point is lost
A rally ends the moment one of these happens:
- The ball bounces twice on your side of the floor.
- You hit the ball into the net, or it fails to cross.
- Your shot reaches the opponents' walls without bouncing on their floor first.
- The ball hits you or your partner, or anything you are wearing.
- You or your partner touch the net while the ball is live.
- You hit the ball twice, or both partners hit the same ball.
Padel is a doubles game
Padel is played almost exclusively as doubles — two against two on a court sized for four people. Singles exists and some clubs have narrower singles courts, but it is a minority format and most venues do not offer it.
Partners may hit in any order during a rally; there is no alternating requirement as there is in table tennis doubles. Serving order, however, is fixed for the set.
Out of court
If the ball leaves the enclosure after bouncing in your opponents' court, the point is yours. In some formats a player may run out through the court's side opening and play the ball back from outside — it is legal at professional level and spectacular to watch, but it depends on the venue having the space, and most club courts do not.
FAQ
- Can you volley in padel?
- Yes, anywhere in the rally except on the return of serve, which must bounce first.
- Can the ball hit the wall on a serve?
- It can hit the back glass after bouncing in the correct service box, and the serve stands. If it strikes the side mesh or fencing after the bounce, it is a fault.
- What is a golden point?
- A single deciding point played at 40–40 instead of deuce and advantage. The receiving pair picks which side takes it.
- Do you need to win a set by two games?
- Yes. Six games wins a set only with a two-game margin; at 6–6 a tiebreak settles it.