Padel rules for beginners: everything you need for your first match

Padel is always played as doubles, two against two, on an enclosed court of 20 × 10 metres split by a net. The back walls and part of the side walls are glass or solid wall, and the rest of the sides are wire mesh. Those walls are what make padel different: the ball stays in play after it hits them.

You play with a solid, perforated racket — no strings — and a ball that looks like a tennis ball but runs at slightly lower pressure, so rallies are longer and easier to control. If you are buying your first racket, our beginner rackets are the place to start.

The serve is underhand. Stand behind the service line, bounce the ball once and hit it at or below waist height. It must go diagonally over the net and bounce inside the opponent's service box.

After that bounce the ball may hit the glass behind the receiver, which is fine, but if it hits the mesh before the receiver plays it, it is a fault. Like tennis, you get a second serve if the first one is a fault, and a serve that clips the net and still lands in the box is replayed.

This is the part new players love. Once the ball has bounced on your side, it can hit any wall and you can still return it. You may also hit the ball against your own walls to get it back over the net — a useful escape when you are pinned at the back.

What you cannot do is let the ball hit a wall on your side before it bounces on the ground, or hit it so that it strikes the opponents' wall or mesh before landing in their court. In both cases the point is lost.

Padel uses tennis scoring: points go 15, 30, 40 and game. Six games win a set — with a two-game margin, or a tie-break at 6–6 — and matches are usually best of three sets.

At 40–40 many clubs and leagues play a golden point: one deciding point, with the receiving pair choosing who returns. Others play advantage as in tennis. Agree which one before you start, and you will avoid the most common argument in amateur padel.

Most lost points in a first match come from the same handful of mistakes. Knowing them is half the battle.

A forgiving racket, a can of balls and proper court shoes are all you need. Choose a round or teardrop racket under about 365 g — our guide on choosing a padel racket explains why — and shoes with a herringbone or clay sole for grip on sand-filled turf. Our shoe guide covers that in detail.

Balls lose pressure quickly once a can is opened, so a fresh can for each match or two makes a real difference. The padel ball guide explains when to replace them.