Padel rules explained: everything you actually need on court
The full rulebook is long and most of it never comes up. These are the rules that decide real points, in the order you will meet them.
The court and the scoring
A padel court is 20 metres long and 10 metres wide, enclosed in glass and mesh, and split by a net that is 0.88 m high in the middle and 0.92 m at the posts. Service lines run across the court 3 metres in from each back wall, and a centre line divides each service area into two boxes.
Scoring is exactly tennis: 15, 30, 40, game; six games with a two-game margin takes the set; a tie-break at 6–6. Most tournaments now play a golden point: at 40–40 there is no advantage, one point decides the game, and the receiving pair choose which of them takes it.
The serve
The serve is the most rule-heavy shot in the game, and the one club players get wrong most often. To be legal it must be:
- Underarm, with contact at or below waist height.
- Bounced first. You drop the ball on the floor behind the service line and hit it after it bounces.
- Struck with at least one foot on the ground, behind the service line and inside the imaginary extension of the centre line and the side wall.
- Landed in the diagonal service box.
After the bounce, the ball may hit the side glass and the serve is still good. If it touches the metal mesh after bouncing, it is a fault. You get two serves, and a serve that clips the net and still lands in the correct box is a let, replayed.
One rule catches everybody out at least once: the receiver must let the serve bounce. It is the only ball in padel you are not allowed to volley.
The walls: the part that makes it padel
Once the ball has bounced once on your side of the court, it may hit your back glass, your side glass, or both, and it is still in play. The point ends only when it bounces on the floor a second time. This is why deep balls are not winners in padel and why learning wall play is worth more than learning power.
What you may not do is use your own walls on the way out. Your shot has to go over the net and land in the opponents' court first: hitting your own glass before the ball crosses the net loses the point. Once your ball has landed in their court, it may hit their walls as much as it likes.
The ball may also touch the mesh on your own side after the bounce and stay alive. On the other hand, a ball that hits the mesh, a post or any fitting before bouncing in the opponents' court is out.
Out, in, and going outside the court
The ball is out when it bounces outside the lines, hits the mesh or a wall on the far side before bouncing, or touches the roof or lights. If your shot bounces in their court and then flies out of the enclosure: the famous smash por tres through the side opening or por cuatro over the back fence. The point is yours.
On courts built with side openings, a player may leave the court to chase a ball that has gone out through them, and hit it back over the net, provided it has not bounced twice. It is completely legal and it is the best thing in the sport.
Faults you can call on yourself
- Touching the net, a post or the opponents' side with your racket or body while the ball is in play.
- Hitting the ball twice, or both partners touching it on the same shot.
- Being hit by the ball, anywhere on your body. The point goes to the other pair.
- Hitting the ball before it crosses to your side of the net.
You may play the ball around the net post and outside it, at any height, as long as it lands in. Rare, legal, and a great way to end a friendship.
What people argue about
Almost every club argument is one of three things: whether the serve touched the mesh, whether the second bounce happened before the wall, and whether a ball that came off the glass had already bounced twice. None of them are refereeing subtleties. They are just hard to see. Call your own side honestly, replay the point when neither pair is sure, and get on with it.