The official rules of padel, in plain English

The official rules of padel are simpler than they look on paper. If you know tennis scoring you are halfway there — the differences are the underarm serve, the walls, and a few court-specific faults. This is the complete ruleset you need for a proper match, in plain English.

The serve

Every point starts with an underarm serve. Stand behind the service line, drop the ball and let it bounce once, then hit it at or below waist height, diagonally into the opposite service box. The serve must not touch the net post or side wall before bouncing. A served ball that clips the net and lands in is a let and is replayed — unless it then touches the mesh before bouncing, which is a fault. Two faults lose the point, as in tennis.

The walls — the heart of padel

Once the rally starts, the walls are live — but only in one direction. The ball must always bounce on your opponent’s side before it touches any wall; hit the ball straight into their glass or mesh without a bounce and you lose the point. On your own side, the ball may bounce and then hit any combination of walls, and you can play it off the rebound. That single rule creates the long, tactical rallies padel is known for.

Scoring

Identical to tennis: 15, 30, 40, game, with deuce at 40–40 (many events now play a sudden-death "golden point" at deuce — agree it before you start). Six games with a two-game margin wins a set; at 6–6 a tiebreak is played to 7 points with a two-point margin. Matches are best of three sets, with a 10-point match tiebreak often replacing the third set in social and league play.

Faults you will actually encounter

• The ball bounces twice on your side.
• You hit the ball into your opponents’ walls before it bounces.
• You touch the net or the posts while the ball is live.
• The ball hits you or your partner instead of the racket.
• You volley the serve return (the return must bounce first).

Master the serve, the bounce-before-walls rule, and the scoring and you can play a fully legal match today. For the fine detail — lets, dead balls, leaving the court — browse the rest of our rules guides.