How to play padel: rules, scoring and your first match

Padel is famously easy to start: if you can bounce a ball and swing a racket, you can enjoy your first match within minutes. But a few rules — especially around the serve and the walls — are genuinely different from any other racket sport. Here’s the whole game, explained for your first session.

The basics

Padel is doubles only — two teams of two on an enclosed court 20 metres long and 10 metres wide, split by a net. The walls of glass and mesh around the court aren’t out of bounds; they’re part of the game, like squash meeting tennis.

You win points the same way as tennis: hit the ball over the net, let it bounce at most once on your side, and put it somewhere your opponents can’t return from.

The serve

Every point starts with an underarm serve:

1. Stand behind the service line, bounce the ball once on the ground.
2. Strike it at or below waist height.
3. The ball must land diagonally in the opposite service box, like tennis.
4. You get two attempts, and a serve that clips the net but lands in is replayed.

After the bounce in the service box, the ball may hit the glass side wall and stay in play — but if the serve bounces and then hits the mesh fence, it’s a fault.

How the walls work

This is the part that trips up every tennis convert, so learn it as two simple rules:

• Your side’s walls are your friend. If the ball bounces on the floor and then hits the glass, it’s still live — you can (and often should) let it come off the wall and play your shot from the rebound.
• Their walls are out — unless it bounces first. A shot you hit must land on the floor of your opponents’ side before touching their walls. Floor first: good. Wall or fence first: your shot is out.

You can also play the ball off your own back glass to send it back over the net — a defensive lob-like shot that feels bizarre for a week and then becomes your favourite escape.

Scoring

Padel borrows tennis scoring wholesale: 15, 30, 40, game, six games (with two clear) to a set, best of three sets. At 40–40, clubs commonly play a deciding “golden point” instead of advantage — ask your group which they prefer. If a set reaches 6–6, a tiebreak to seven points settles it.

Where to stand

Positioning wins more amateur points than power does:

• Attack from the net. The pair controlling the net wins most points. After a good deep shot, move up together.
• Defend from the back. When you’re pushed deep, stand a step or two off the back glass so balls can come off the wall in front of you, not behind you.
• Move as a pair. Side by side, up together, back together. Big gaps between partners are where points go to die.

Your first session, practically

Book a court for an hour (most UK venues rent rackets for a couple of pounds), bring normal trainers and three friends, and spend the first ten minutes just rallying — letting balls come off the glass until the rebound stops surprising you. Then play games. Nobody warms the bench in padel: with four on court and a small area to cover, you’ll be in every point from the first minute.

Once the wall game clicks, our five back-glass drills are the fastest way to turn defence into attack — and if you’re shopping already, start with the first racket guide before anyone talks you into carbon.

Frequently asked questions

Can you play padel with two players?

Official padel is doubles only — four players. Some venues have smaller single courts for one-on-one play, but standard courts and standard rules assume two pairs.

Is the serve in padel overarm or underarm?

Underarm, always. The ball must be bounced once and struck at or below waist height, diagonally into the opposite service box.

What happens if the ball hits the wall in padel?

On your side, the ball may hit the glass after bouncing and stay in play — you can return it off the wall. But if a shot hits a wall on the opponent’s side before bouncing on the floor, that shot is out.

How long does a padel match last?

A casual best-of-three-sets match typically takes 60 to 90 minutes, which is why most club bookings are for an hour or ninety minutes.