A 4 minute read, written in October 2026
Who serves first in padel? The toss, the order and the swap
A toss, usually a racket spin or a coin, decides which pair gets first choice before a match starts, and the winning pair can choose to serve, to receive, or to pick an end instead. After that first game the serve simply passes to the next player in rotation, and ends change after every odd numbered game.
The toss
A spin of the racket or a coin decides which pair gets first choice before a match starts, and the pair that wins it can choose to serve, to receive, or to pick which end they start at, handing the remaining choice to the other pair. Most club pairs take serve automatically, though choosing an end first is occasionally worth it if the sun or the wind is doing something one side of the court really does not want to deal with for the first game.
It is a small decision that gets made quickly and rarely gets discussed again once the match is under way, but it is worth actually thinking about rather than defaulting to serve out of habit every single time. A pair that returns well and struggles a little on serve can sometimes do worse taking first serve than they would starting the match at the end that suits them.
The serving order inside a pair
Each pair decides between themselves who serves the first game and who serves the third, and that order holds for the whole set. It can only change at the start of the next set, not mid way through because someone is having a rough service game.
The same idea applies to who receives on which side: a pair settles into a deuce side and an advantage side player early on, and switching mid set is legal but rare, mostly because it undoes whatever rhythm the return of serve had built up.
Most pairs sort this out in about ten seconds before the first point and never revisit it, which is usually the right call. Constantly rearranging who serves when a set is not going well tends to unsettle both players rather than fix whatever the actual problem was.
Changing ends
Ends change after every odd numbered game, first, third, fifth and so on, keeping the sun, wind or lighting from favouring one pair for an entire set. It is easy to lose count deep into a close set, so most pairs just glance at the total games played and change whenever that number is odd.
Your call
The serve is floating slowly towards you and you could easily step in and volley it out of the air. Are you allowed?
The return of serve must bounce. It is the one ball in padel you are not allowed to volley.
The whole reasoning, at every level
Forgetting to change ends does not usually get noticed until someone is squinting straight into a floodlight they were not squinting into a minute ago. If it happens, just swap at the next natural break rather than trying to unpick which games were played on which side.
The tie-break serving order
At six games all, the player next due to serve starts the tie-break by serving one point from the right hand box. After that, the serve passes to the opposing pair for two points, then back for two, alternating in twos all the way to the finish, with ends changing every six points. It is the one stretch of a set where the serving order genuinely does need watching, because it changes far more often than a normal game does. It also does not have to follow the same order the pair used in the set itself: some pairs deliberately lead with their stronger server in the breaker, since a mishandled tie-break serve is worth more than a mishandled one at 3 all in an ordinary game.
Serving out of turn
If a player serves when it was not their turn, the fix is simple: whoever notices points it out, the correct player takes over from that point, and anything already played stays on the scoreboard. Nobody goes back and replays points because of who happened to be holding the racket.
It happens most often straight after a change of ends, when a pair loses track of whose service game is next. Catching it after one point costs nothing. Catching it three games later is more awkward, but the fix is exactly the same: correct it, keep the score as it stands, and carry on.
None of this needs a scoreboard or an app to manage. A pair that simply says the order out loud at the start of each set, "you, then me", stops almost every mix up before it happens, and it takes about two seconds to do.
The same goes for the receiving order. Club players occasionally swap which box they stand in from game to game without meaning to, usually because they walked to the wrong side after a change of ends. It is not against any rule to fix it mid set once you notice, since the receiving order is a courtesy the pair sets for themselves, not something either rulebook enforces point by point.
The full rules of padel cover what happens once the serve actually lands, and the rules referee is worth keeping open on your phone during a close set. If you are running a day of matches, get the order right from game one, because a tournament bracket full of confused serving orders eats far more time than the matches themselves do.