Padel has about a dozen rules that matter and four that cause every argument on court. This page is the complete set, in the order you meet them: how a point starts, how the walls work, how you score, and what counts as a fault.
The rules below follow the Rules of Padel published by the International Padel Federation (FIP), the body that governs the sport worldwide. Where a national federation adds something — the LTA in Britain, for instance, on club play — it is flagged as such.
The 30-second version. Padel is doubles on a 20 × 10 m enclosed court. You serve underarm, after one bounce, diagonally. Scoring is tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game. The ball may bounce off your own walls before you return it, but it must bounce on the floor first. It may not hit your opponents’ walls before it bounces on their floor. That is 90% of the game.
The court and the teams
Padel is played by four players, two a side. Singles padel exists but needs a narrower court and is not what you will find at a club — the standard court is built for doubles. If you have never seen the sport played, start with what is padel.
The court is 20 metres long and 10 metres wide, divided by a net 88 cm high at the centre and 92 cm at the posts. It is enclosed on all four sides: glass walls at the back and part of the sides, metal mesh above and along the rest. The service boxes are marked on the floor by the service line, 6.95 m from the net, and the centre service line.
There is no rule about which side each player takes. In practice the stronger backhand plays the left and the stronger forehand the right, and the pair swaps ends after every odd game.
Serving
The serve is the most rule-bound moment in padel and the one beginners get wrong most often. Five conditions, all of which must hold:
- Behind the service line. At least one foot must be on the ground behind the service line, and neither foot may touch or cross the line at the moment of contact. You also stay inside the imaginary extension of the centre line and the side wall.
- One bounce first. You drop the ball, let it bounce once on the floor, and hit it. You may not hit it out of the air.
- At or below the waist. Contact must be at or below waist height, which the FIP fixes at 1.06 m from the ground. This is what makes padel serves underarm — there is no overhead serve in the sport.
- Diagonally. The ball must land in the service box diagonally opposite, as in tennis.
- Not into the mesh. After bouncing in the correct box, the ball may touch the side glass and stay in play — but if it touches the metal mesh on the receiving side, it is a fault, even after a legal bounce.
You get two serves. A serve that clips the net cord and still lands in the correct box is a let and is replayed, with no penalty. A serve that clips the net cord and then hits the mesh is a fault.
The rule almost nobody knows. A legal serve that bounces in the box and then goes out of the court through the gap in the side fence — where courts have one — is still a good serve. The receiver may go out and play it, if the venue allows. Most club courts in Britain are fully enclosed, so this rarely comes up here; on Spanish courts with side openings it decides points.
The walls: the rule that makes padel padel
Everything about the walls comes down to one principle: the floor comes first on your own side, and the floor comes first on theirs.
On your own side
When the ball crosses the net towards you, it must bounce on your floor once. After that bounce you may let it hit any of your own walls — back glass, side glass, mesh — as many times as it likes, and you may still return it. You have until the ball bounces a second time on the floor.
This is why the back-wall rally is the basic skill in padel and why the sport is nothing like tennis to play. A ball you would chase down and lose in tennis comes back to you off the glass at a comfortable height.
On their side
When you hit the ball over the net, it must bounce on their floor before it touches any of their walls. A shot that flies over the net and hits the back glass on the full, without bouncing, is out — you lose the point.
Off your own walls, on the way over
You may play the ball off your own walls on the way over the net. In practice this means you can rebound the ball off your own back glass and send it over — a legal and occasionally brilliant shot. You may not, however, hit the ball into your own wall and have it go over without touching your racket again, because you already hit it once.
Over the wall and back in
You may hit the ball over the whole structure — outside the court, around the post — and back into your opponents’ side, as long as it lands in. Professionals do this after being pushed wide by a smash. If it lands out, you lose the point, and if you touch the net or the opponents’ structure on the way, likewise.
Scoring
Padel scoring is tennis scoring, with one very common modification.
| Points won | Called |
|---|---|
| 0 | Love |
| 1 | 15 |
| 2 | 30 |
| 3 | 40 |
| 4 | Game — if you are two points clear |
At 40–40 the score is deuce. Traditional scoring then requires two consecutive points — advantage, then game.
The golden point. Most competitive padel, including Premier Padel and the FIP tour, replaces deuce with a single deciding point: at 40–40 the next rally wins the game, and the receiving pair chooses which side receives it. Club leagues in Britain usually adopt it too, because it keeps matches to a bookable hour. Check before you start — it is the single most common source of confusion between two pairs who have never played together.
A set goes to six games with a two-game margin. At 6–6 you play a seven-point tie-break, won by two clear points. A match is the best of three sets. The whole system, including how to call the score and what happens in a deciding set, is in padel scoring.
Every way to lose a point
The full fault list, in the order they occur in a rally:
| Fault | What happened |
|---|---|
| Double fault | Both serves missed the box, or hit the receiving mesh. |
| Foot fault | A foot touched or crossed the service line before contact with the ball. |
| Two bounces | The ball bounced twice on your floor before you returned it. |
| Wall before floor | Your shot hit their glass or mesh before bouncing on their floor. |
| Double hit | The ball touched your racket twice in one stroke, deliberately or not. |
| Touching the net | You, your racket or your clothing touched the net or the posts while the ball was live. |
| Crossing under the net | You entered your opponents’ half, or interfered with them, while the ball was live. |
| Ball on the body | The ball struck you or your partner, anywhere, before bouncing twice. The point goes to the other pair even if it was their shot that hit you. |
| Ball out | Your shot landed outside the court, or hit the mesh or a fitting outside the playing area. |
| Throwing the racket | You let go of the racket to reach a ball. The racket must be in your hand at contact. |
The eight situations that cause arguments
1. The ball hits the light or the roof
On an indoor court, a ball that strikes the roof, a light or a beam is out, and the point goes to the other pair. Some venues have a local rule making it a let on the serve only — ask at reception, because it is not in the FIP rules.
2. A ball rolls onto your court from next door
Stop and replay the point. A ball or any object entering the court is a let, and if it happened on a second serve you get that second serve again, not a first.
3. Your partner’s racket touches you
Nothing. Contact between partners is not a fault. Only contact with the net, the posts, the opponents’ half or the ball itself costs you the point.
4. The ball hits the net post and drops in
During a rally, out. The posts are part of the boundary. Only the net cord on a serve gives you a let.
5. You return the ball before it crosses the net
Fault. You may follow through over the net after contact, but the ball must have crossed the plane of the net before you strike it.
6. The ball bounces and then hits your own mesh, then you return it
Legal. After the bounce on your floor, any surface on your own side is fair game.
7. The serve hits your partner
Point to the serving pair, no matter where the ball would have landed. This is why the receiver’s partner stands to the side.
8. The score is disputed
Without an umpire, the point count agreed by both pairs stands. Where there is no agreement, replay from the last score both pairs accept. In league play the server calls the score aloud before every point precisely to prevent this.
What the rules mean for the racket you use
Two rules constrain the equipment. The racket must be no more than 45.5 cm long, 26 cm wide and 38 mm thick, and it must be attached to your wrist by a cord throughout play. Every racket sold as a padel racket meets the size limits, so in practice the only rule you have to obey yourself is the wrist cord.
Beyond the rules, the racket changes how easy the game is to learn. Shape, weight and core decide how forgiving a frame is when you mishit, and beginners mishit constantly. We cover that in how to choose a padel racket, and the graded ranking is in our best padel rackets list. If you have never held one, start with the round, soft-core frames — the reasons are in how we grade, which explains what the forgiveness score actually measures.
Frequently asked questions
Can you play padel with two people?
Yes, but not on a standard court under the standard rules. Singles padel uses a narrower court, 6 m instead of 10 m wide. Two people on a full doubles court is a perfectly good practice session and not a legal match.
Is padel the same as tennis scoring?
The point values are identical. The difference is deuce: most padel uses the golden point, a single deciding rally at 40–40, where tennis plays advantage.
Can the ball hit the wall on the serve?
After bouncing in the correct service box, the ball may touch the side glass and remain in play. If it touches the metal mesh, it is a fault.
Can you smash the ball out of the court?
Yes, and it wins the point. If the ball leaves the court after bouncing on your opponents’ floor, they must play it back from outside or lose the point.
How long does a padel match last?
Best of three sets with the golden point runs about 60 to 90 minutes. Club bookings are usually 90 minutes for exactly this reason.
Do you have to serve underarm in padel?
Yes. Contact must be at or below waist height after one bounce. There is no legal overhead serve.
Sources. Rules of Padel, International Padel Federation (FIP), consulted 30/08/2026 · LTA Padel, rules and competition regulations, consulted 30/08/2026. Where the FIP text and a national federation differ on club play, both are given above.