Yes, two people can play padel. Officially it is played on a singles court — same 20 m length, same walls, narrowed from 10 m to 6 m wide. In practice you will almost certainly be on a normal doubles court, and there are three sensible ways to make that work.
The singles court
| Measurement | Singles | Doubles |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 20 m | 20 m |
| Width | 6 m | 10 m |
| Playing area | 120 m² | 200 m² |
| Net height, centre | 88 cm | 88 cm |
| Walls | Identical structure | Identical structure |
| Service line | 6.95 m from net | 6.95 m from net |
Everything except the width is unchanged. The rules are the same too: underarm serve, tennis scoring, the walls in play, the floor before the wall. All of it is in padel rules, and the rest of the measurements in padel court dimensions.
Why you will struggle to find one
Three reasons, and they compound:
- Padel is a doubles sport by design and by culture. The demand for singles courts is a small fraction of the demand for doubles.
- A doubles court can host singles; a singles court cannot host doubles. A club with one court to build will always build the one that serves four people.
- Revenue per hour. A doubles court takes a booking from four players. Singles takes two. The economics of a British club decide this before anyone considers the sport.
The result is that singles courts exist mainly in Spain, in a handful of large multi-court venues, and as a novelty offering elsewhere. If your club has one, it is unusual.
Three ways to play singles on a doubles court
This is what actually happens, so it is worth doing properly. A 10 m court between two people is a lot of ground, and playing it as a shrunken doubles match produces an hour of chasing.
1. Cross-court only
Both players stand on the same diagonal and play everything cross-court. Anything down the line is out by agreement.
Why it works: it halves the ground each player covers, keeps rallies long, and it is the pattern most padel points actually follow. It is also the best practice drill in the sport — most of what you hit in a real match is cross-court.
Best for: practice, warm-ups, two players of similar level.
2. Agreed narrow court
Pick a visual boundary — often the line of the service box extended to the back wall — and treat everything outside it as out. You have effectively drawn a 6 m singles court on a 10 m surface.
Why it works: closest to a real singles match, and the walls still play normally on your side.
Watch out for: disputes. Without a line on the floor, every close ball is a negotiation. Agree the reference point before the first serve.
3. Full court, no restrictions
Play the whole 10 m each.
Why it works: as conditioning. It is brutal, and thirty minutes of it is worth an hour of anything else.
Why it does not: as a game, it degenerates. The winning tactic is simply to hit away from your opponent, which teaches you nothing about padel.
What singles does to your game
What it improves. Court awareness, because nobody covers for you. Shot selection, because every loose ball is punished. Fitness, obviously. And the back-wall rally, since you get far more repetitions per hour than in doubles.
What it teaches you wrong. Positioning. Doubles padel is won by two players moving as a unit and holding the net together, and singles has no equivalent of that. Players who train mostly in singles tend to drift out of position in doubles and leave the diagonal gap open.
The honest summary: singles is an excellent drill and a poor substitute for the game. Use it deliberately, not as your default. What the doubles positions are and why they matter is in how to play padel.
Scoring and serving in singles
Unchanged. Tennis scoring, two serves, diagonal underarm delivery, alternating sides each point. The one practical difference is that you serve every game rather than every fourth, so a singles hour involves four times as much serving — worth knowing if your shoulder is the thing that complains. The system is in padel scoring and the serve conditions in padel serve rules.
Does the racket choice change for singles?
Slightly, and in the direction most people would not guess. Singles asks for more running and more defensive shots off the glass, which favours a lighter, rounder, more forgiving frame — the same profile we recommend to beginners for a different reason. A heavy diamond racket that rewards a set-up smash is the wrong tool when you are arriving at the ball late every time.
If that is what you are playing, the shortlist in best padel rackets for beginners is the right shape of frame regardless of your level.
Frequently asked questions
Can you play padel with 2 people?
Yes. Officially on a singles court, 20 × 6 m. In practice, on a normal doubles court with an agreed restriction — cross-court only is the usual arrangement and the most useful.
What size is a singles padel court?
20 metres long by 6 metres wide, 120 m² of playing area. Same length, same walls and same net height as a doubles court; only the width changes.
Is singles padel an official format?
Yes, the International Padel Federation specifies the singles court. It is simply rare: almost all competitive padel, professional included, is doubles.
Can you play singles padel on a doubles court?
Yes, and most people do. Agree a restriction first — cross-court only, or a narrowed court with an agreed boundary — because playing the full 10 m each turns into a chase rather than a game.
Is singles padel harder than doubles?
Physically, much. Tactically, less: doubles positioning as a pair is the harder skill, and singles does not teach it.
Sources. Singles court specification and rules: Rules of Padel, International Padel Federation (FIP), consulted 30/08/2026 · LTA Padel, club formats, consulted 30/08/2026.