Padel rules in 5 minutes
By the Poteau Team · updated
IN SHORT
Padel is played two against two, on an enclosed court 20 m by 10 m (about 66 by 33 feet). Scoring is the same as tennis. You serve underhand, after a bounce, diagonally. The ball has to hit the ground on the other side before any wall. After that, it can bounce off the glass and stays in play.
The court
20 m by 10 m, split by a net 88 cm (just under 3 feet) high in the middle. At each end, glass topped with wire fencing. Along the sides, glass near the ends and fencing in the middle.
It's doubles. The racket is solid, no strings, with a strap you wear around your wrist.
Scoring
Just like tennis: 15, 30, 40, game. A set goes to 6 games, won by two. At 6-6, tiebreak. Best of three sets.
At 40-40, there are three ways to go. Play advantage, like tennis. Play a golden point: one point decides the game, and the receiving team picks the side. Or, on the pro tour since 2026, the "star point": two advantages, and if it's still 40-40, a golden point.
With friends, agree on it before you start.
The serve
Stand behind the service line, without stepping on it, one foot on the ground.
Bounce the ball once, behind the line.
Hit it at waist height or below. No overhead serves.
Send it diagonally, into the service box across the net.
Two tries, like tennis. And the receiver has to let it bounce before hitting it.
The serve and the walls
After bouncing in the box, the ball hits the glass, back or side? Good serve. It hits the fence? Fault.
It clips the net and lands in the right box? Replay the serve. Unless it then runs into the fence: that's a fault.
During the rally
The rule that matters: the ball must hit the ground on the other side first. If it goes straight into their glass or fence, you lose the point.
After that bounce, anything goes. One wall, two walls, the fence. As long as it hasn't hit the ground a second time, it's in play.
You can also play the ball against your own glass so it goes back over the net. Not against your own fence, though: that's your point lost. And you can volley, except on the return of serve.
The fence, the rule that catches people
On the serve: ball hits the fence after the bounce, it's a fault.
During a rally: after the bounce, it's still in play. But fence bounces are unpredictable, unlike glass.
Ball stuck in the fence, or through it: if it bounced on the other side first, the point goes to whoever hit it.
Faults people forget
Touching the net, with your body or racket: point lost.
Getting hit by the ball: point lost.
Hitting the ball twice: point lost.
Coming from soccer
A soccer player's instinct is to attack the ball right away. In padel, let it go by. The back glass sends it back, and you have more time than you think.
For a first game, the real question is level. On Poteau, a padel level quiz gives you a level from 1 to 10. And two in three player-run padel games welcome levels 1 to 4.
The Poteau Team