FORMAT

Each team consists of two players. Padel is played exclusively in doubles (men’s doubles, women’s doubles or mixed doubles).

THE LINES/WALLS

• The lines are only relevant during the serve. Whilst the ball is ‘in play’ it can bounce anywhere on the court on the opponent’s side - although not directly into the walls, as the ball is then considered ‘out’.

• Players are permitted to play a ball off any of the walls on their own side of the court when the ball is in play.

• The ball is officially ‘in play’ once the serve has been returned.

SCORING

• A point is won when the opposing team fails to return the ball within the court boundaries, hits the ball out of bounds, or commits a fault.

• Scoring in padel is the same as tennis* (15-30-40, advantage, deuce, game, match and sets)

  *On the first point won “15” will be called, on the second point won “30”, the third point “40” and the fourth “game”. Except, if each pair have won three points, at which time “deuce” will be called. The following point won “advantage” and if the same pair wins the next point, they win the game. If the point is lost the score will return to “deuce”. And so on until one pair of players has won the two consecutive points which are needed to win the game.

• The first pair to win 6 games, always with a minimum advantage of 2, will win the set. The match is the best of three sets. Two out of three sets need to be won in order to win the match.

• In the case of a tie (draw) at 5 games the players will have to play two more games, to win by 7-5, however if there is a tie at 6 games a “tie-break” or sudden death will be applied.

• In the professional circuit, a decisive gold point, also referred to as El Punto de Oro in Spanish. It’s played when the game’s score has reached deuce (40-40), or both teams have earned three points each of a game. Instead of playing the advantage rule where the teams must win two consecutive points, players are only required to play one point to win the game.

SERVE

• You are not allowed to play without securing the safety rope of the racket to your wrist. 

• The choice of ends or sides, who serves first and who receives should be decided by the flip of a coin in a game(winner has a choice of side or serve)

• The pair serving chooses which player will be the first server. The order of the servers must remain the same until the end of the set, including during a tie-break. The order within each pair may only change at the start of each set.

• The returner must be of the same sex as the server in Mixed Doubles.

• Players take it in turns to serve for a whole game. Players must change sides after the 1st, 3rd and every subsequent odd game in the set.

• There are two serve attempts allowed.

• The server changes sides for each point.

• Serve diagonally standing behind service line.

• The serve is underhand. The server must allow the ball to bounce once before hitting it and the ball must be hit at or below waist level.

• The server must keep at least one foot on the ground when hitting the serve and feet may not touch/cross the service line while serving.

• The returner needs to stand diagonally opposite the server but can be in any part of their side of the court, as can their partner and the servers’ partner. It is most common that the returner stands behind the central line to receive the serve.

• It is common in padel that the server’s partner stands close to the net at the serve. 

• Once the ball has been struck, it must not touch anything in its own half of the court (floor, glass, wire fencing, partner or net) before bouncing back into the opponent’s half.

• The ball must bounce in the service box opposite before being hit by returner. The ball cannot be volleyed on the serve.

• If the serve touches the net and doesn't land in the opponent's service box, it is a fault.

• If the ball hits the net during a serve and lands in the opponent’s service box, it's called a let, and the server gets to serve again without penalty.

• If the ball bounces in the service box and strikes the glass side/back wall, it is a valid serve and must be played by the opposing player.

• On a serve, if the ball lands in the service box and hits the wire fencing, it is considered a fault. But once the ball is in play, the ball can touch the wire fence and be played.

BALL IN PLAY

The ball is "in play” once the returner strikes the ball.

• As in tennis, the ball may only bounce once on your side, and it may only be hit once.

• In padel, players can play the ball off the walls in two ways, which adds an interesting dynamic to the game: You can either let the ball bounce and hit the glass or fence wall before hitting it back, or you can hit the ball against the glass wall(fence not allowed) to try and land it on your opponents’ side of the court. Note: These techniques may require a little practice.

• Players can hit the ball in the air before it bounces(except on a serve), known as a volley.

• In a return or when the ball is in play, the ball can touch the net or net posts if it then lands in the opponent’s court.

• If the ball hits the fence or glass wall directly without bouncing, it is considered ‘out’.

• If a player touches the net with the racket, clothes or any part of the body while playing any point, the point is won by the opponent.

• If the ball hits an opponent’s body directly, it is a fault.

• If a ball hits right at the corner between the turf and the glass walls the outcome will be determined by the angle the ball bounces off. If this is higher than 45 degrees the ball is still in play, if the bounce is lower than 45 degrees it is considered a fault.

• As in tennis, side changes occur when the sum of the games played during the set is odd(1,3,5,7,9)

If required, see extended version of rules from the International Padel Federation for official competitions:

https://www.padelfip.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2-game-regulations.pdf