How to play padel

By Ruzgar Yesil. Updated 19 September 2026.

You can play a real padel point within ten minutes of walking onto a court. That is the whole appeal. The serve is underarm, the court is small, the walls keep the ball alive, and rallies happen from the first game instead of the fifth session. This guide covers what you need for your first booking and what will actually happen once you are on court.

What padel is

Padel is a doubles racket sport played on an enclosed court 20 metres long and 10 metres wide. A net crosses the middle. Glass and metal mesh close in all four sides, and those surfaces are part of the game: the ball rebounds off them and stays in play.

The racket is solid, with holes drilled through it and no strings. It is shorter than a tennis racket and much easier to control. The ball looks like a tennis ball and is slightly softer, so it comes off the racket a little slower.

Points are short, rallies are long, and almost nobody is out of position for long because the court is small. It is a sport where a first-timer and a regular can play the same game together, which is why clubs fill their courts with mixed groups.

How padel differs from tennis

If you have played any tennis, four differences matter on day one.

The scoring is identical, so a tennis player already knows 15, 30, 40. The habit that costs tennis players points is hitting too hard. On a padel court a heavy shot rebounds off the back glass and comes straight back to the opponent at a comfortable height. Power is often a gift.

What to bring to your first session

• Trainers with grip. Padel courts are artificial grass with sand. Running shoes are fine for a first go. Clay court tennis shoes are ideal if you own a pair.
• A racket. Almost every club hires them for a few pounds. Do not buy one before you have played. If you do borrow one, ask for a round-shaped racket: the sweet spot is bigger and more forgiving.
• Balls. Clubs usually sell or lend a tube. Three balls is a normal set.
• Water and normal sports clothing. Nothing specialist.

Use the wrist cord on the racket. It is not optional in the rules, and it exists because a flying racket cracks glass and breaks fingers.

The court, in sixty seconds

Stand at the net and look at your half. It is a 10 metre square. There are only three lines that matter.

• The service line, 6.95 metres back from the net, running across the court.
• The centre service line, splitting the area between the net and the service line into two boxes.
• The net itself, 0.88 metres high in the centre and 0.92 metres at the posts.

There are no side lines. The glass and the mesh are the edge of the court. Behind you, the back wall is 3 metres of glass with a metre of mesh above it.

Learn the difference between the two surfaces early. Glass gives a clean, fast, predictable rebound, and you can play off it all day. Mesh deadens the ball and throws it off at a random angle. When a ball is heading for the mesh, move first and take it before it arrives.

How a point starts and ends

Every point begins with a serve.

1. The server stands behind the service line, on the right side for the first point of a game.
2. They bounce the ball on the ground once.
3. They hit it at or below waist height, keeping at least one foot on the ground.
4. The ball must land in the service box diagonally opposite.
5. The receiver must let it bounce before hitting it back.

The server gets two attempts, as in tennis. After each point the server switches to the other side of the court.

Once the return is in, the ball is live and anyone can hit it, from anywhere on their half. You may take the ball in the air or after one bounce. The point ends when the ball bounces twice, goes into the net, lands outside the opposing court, or hits a wall it should not have hit. The full list is on the padel rules page.

The walls: the part that feels strange

Two rules cover almost everything about the walls, and once they click the game makes sense.

Rule one: on your side, the ball has to bounce on the floor before it touches any wall. If an opponent's shot flies straight into your back glass without bouncing first, the point is theirs. You cannot play it.

Rule two: once it has bounced on the floor, the walls are yours. Let the ball hit the back glass, wait for it to come off, and hit it then. This is the shot beginners find hardest and it is also the one that turns padel from frantic to calm.

Three practical points for your first session:

• Do not chase the ball to the back glass. Move back with it, let it pass you, and let it come off the wall towards you. If you follow it, the rebound arrives behind your body.
• Your return has to cross the net without touching anything on your own side. Playing the ball into your own wall to get it over the net is a lost point.
• Your shot must bounce on the opponents' floor before it touches their walls. Smashing directly into their back glass is out.

A hard smash often bounces on their floor, hits the back glass and flies out over the fence. If the court has side openings, a player is allowed to run outside and play it back in. That is legal, it is spectacular, and it is not something you need in week one.

Scoring, the version you need today

Padel uses tennis scoring. Points inside a game go 15, 30, 40, game. Zero is called love.

At 40-40 the game is decided one of two ways. Some groups play deuce and advantage, where you must win two points in a row. Most clubs and all professional matches play a golden point: a single deciding point at 40-40, with the receiving pair choosing which of them takes it. Ask before you start which one your group uses.

Six games win a set, and you need to be two games clear. At 6-6 you play a tie-break to 7 points. Most matches are the best of three sets.

The server calls the score before every point, their own score first. The full detail, including a worked example of a whole game, is on the padel scoring page.

The four shots a beginner actually needs

Ignore the trick shots. Four strokes will get you through every rally in your first month.

1. The serve

Underarm, bounced once, struck below the waist. Aim for depth and consistency, not power. A serve that lands deep in the box and kicks into the side glass is already a good serve. Getting the first one in matters far more than pace.

2. The return of serve

Let it bounce, then hit it back deep and cross-court. Your only job is to give your pair time to move up to the net. A slow, high, deep return is a fine return.

3. The lob

This is the most valuable shot in beginner padel and nobody tells new players that. If both opponents are at the net, lift the ball high over them to the back of the court. They must retreat, you move forward, and you have taken the net. Practise a deep, high lob over anything else.

4. The bandeja, eventually

When they lob you, the safe answer is not a full smash. It is a controlled overhead played with a slice, hit flat and deep, which keeps you at the net. The Spanish name is bandeja, meaning tray. Learn it in month two. In week one, just let a high lob bounce and play it off the back glass.

Notice what is missing: the smash. A big smash from a beginner usually goes straight into the glass and gives the point away. Leave it.

Where to stand

Padel positioning is simple to describe and hard to hold. Two ideas cover it.

Move as a pair, side by side. You and your partner should be roughly level with each other and about 3 metres apart, covering the width of the court together. If one of you is at the net and the other is at the back, there is a large gap between you and every opponent can see it.

The pair at the net wins the point. The whole game is a fight for the net. The serving pair starts with an advantage: the server runs forward after serving and both are at the net. The receiving pair starts at the back and has to lob their way up.

The starting positions

• Server: behind the service line, then move forward to the net immediately after serving.
• Server's partner: at the net from the start, about 2 metres from it.
• Receiver: near the service line, because you must let the serve bounce.
• Receiver's partner: also back, level with the receiver, ready to move up once the return is away.

Each receiver picks a side, right or left, and stays there for the whole set. During a rally there is no such restriction. Anyone can hit any ball from anywhere on their half.

Five mistakes beginners make

1. Hitting too hard. Pace comes back to you off the glass. Control and depth win far more points than power on a court this size.
2. Standing too close to the back wall. You need room for the rebound. Give yourself a metre and a half from the glass and let the ball come to you.
3. Never lobbing. Beginners try to hit through a net pair and lose the point. Lift the ball over them instead. It works immediately.
4. Splitting up from your partner. One at the net and one at the back is the weakest shape in padel. Move forward together and retreat together.
5. Trying to smash every high ball. A smash that hits their glass on the full is out. Play a flat, deep overhead and stay at the net instead.

Your first session, in order

1. Book 90 minutes for four people. That is the standard club slot.
2. Hire rackets and ask for round ones.
3. Spend five minutes warming up, hitting from the back of the court.
4. Spend five minutes feeding balls at the back glass so you get used to the rebound. Do this before you play a point.
5. Agree the scoring format: golden point or advantage.
6. Play. Keep the first serve in, lob when they come forward, and let the back wall do the work.

Read the full padel rules when you want the detail, or go straight to padel scoring if the numbers are the part you are unsure about.