How do you play padel? Rules for beginners

Padel is a doubles racket sport played on a small court with walls. Two pairs play across a net, hit a pressurised rubber ball with a solid racket and are allowed to use the walls around the court. The International Padel Federation (FIP) publishes the official Rules of Padel, and the version used here applies from 1 January 2026.

A point goes like this:

1. One player serves from behind the service line, diagonally across the net, after bouncing the ball on the floor.
2. The receiver lets the serve bounce in the service box, then hits it back before it bounces a second time.
3. The ball must go over the net and bounce on the floor of the opponents' side before it touches anything else.
4. After that bounce, the ball can touch the walls or mesh of that side and stay in play. Your opponents can hit it before or after it touches the wall.
5. Pairs hit the ball alternately until someone fails to return it correctly. Then the other pair wins the point.

Scoring follows tennis. Points are called 15, 30, 40 and game, a set is won by the first pair to six games with a lead of two, and a match is best of three sets. The details, including the golden point, are in the padel scoring guide. Padel is nearly always played as doubles, and the next sections cover the court, the serve and the walls.

A padel court is 10 metres wide and 20 metres long, with a net across the middle and walls and mesh on all four sides. The FIP rulebook sets these measurements.

Every racket has a cord that goes around your wrist, and using it is obligatory in the FIP rules. Wear court shoes: Padel Browser notes that running shoes and sandals can damage artificial turf and cause injuries, and some clubs turn people away without suitable footwear. Take off rings, bracelets and watches, because the walls are close and the ball is fast. Many clubs rent rackets, so you may not need to buy anything before your first game.

Surfaces vary. The rulebook allows cement, synthetic material or artificial grass, usually in green, blue or terracotta, and the surface and wall material can change how the ball bounces.

Bounce the ball on the floor inside your service box, then hit it at or below waist height and send it diagonally into the opposite service box. The first point of a game is served from the right, and you alternate sides after every point. You get two attempts.

The FIP rulebook (Rule 6) spells out the details:

• Start with at least one foot behind the service line, between the side wall and the imaginary extension of the centre line, and stay there until you hit the ball.
• Don't touch the service line or the centre line with your feet.
• Hit the ball at or below your waist, with at least one foot on the ground.
• The ball must bounce inside the lines of the receiver's box. A ball on the line is good.

It is a fault if you miss the ball, break one of those foot rules, serve into the wrong place, hit yourself or your partner, or if the ball bounces in the box and then touches the metal mesh before it bounces again. Hitting the glass after the bounce is fine. Two faults in a row lose the point.

If the serve clips the net or the posts and lands in the correct box, it is a "net" serve, and you play it again. The same goes if the receiver wasn't ready.

The receiver must let the serve bounce in the box before hitting it, and can't volley it. Before each set, the receiving pair decide who takes the first serve, and that player keeps receiving the first serve of each game for the set. The serving pair also pick who serves first, and that order stays until the next set. In normal club play there is no umpire, so the players make the calls themselves, as Padel Browser's etiquette guide notes.

You can play off the walls, but only after the ball has bounced on the floor. The ball you hit must cross the net and bounce on your opponents' floor first. After that, the walls and mesh on their side are part of the court, and the ball stays in play when it touches them (FIP Rules 12 and 14).

Three consequences catch beginners out:

• Your shot can't go straight into their wall. If your shot hits your opponents' wall or mesh before it bounces on their floor, you lose the point.
• You can use your own walls. A shot that bounces off your own wall, goes over the net and then bounces on their floor is a correct return.
• Your own mesh is not in play for your own shot. If the ball you hit touches the mesh on your own side, you lose the point, even though the glass is fine. Padel Browser calls this the own-fence rule.

You lose a point if:

• the ball bounces twice before you return it
• you hit it before it has crossed the net
• you or your racket touch the net, the posts or the opponents' court
• you hit the ball twice, or both partners hit it
• the ball hits you or your partner after it was hit by your opponents
• you serve two faults in a row
• you drop your racket or break the wrist cord
• you step outside the court, unless out-of-court play is allowed

Out-of-court play is only for courts with enough clear space around them, so check with your club before running out to chase a ball.

Yes. Padel can be played as singles, with one player on each side. The FIP rulebook describes the game in terms of pairs, so singles isn't covered by it, but the game exists and some clubs build dedicated courts for it.

A singles court has the same 20 metre length as a doubles court but is only 6 metres wide, according to The Padel Paper. It describes the set-up as three glass panels at the back, instead of the five on a standard court. The same article says the main difference in play is that being at the net matters less than in doubles, because with only one player to cover the width the passing shot is easier. It also notes that singles courts are rare in the UK.

Most people who play singles do it on an ordinary doubles court. On that, one player can't cover 10 metres, so you need to agree a way to shrink it. The Padel Paper says players end up either playing diagonally or just down one half. A simple house rule is to treat one side as out of bounds, so rallies stay on half the width. Agree it before the first point and keep the ordinary scoring.

With three players, rotate one person out after each game so everyone gets some doubles. The padel levels guide helps you balance the pairs when abilities differ.

Padel sits between tennis and pickleball in court size, adds walls, and scores like tennis. The figures below come from the FIP, ITF and USA Pickleball rulebooks.

The big practical difference is the walls. In tennis a ball that gets past you is usually gone, while in padel it often comes back off the back wall, which tends to keep rallies going. The court is also smaller than a tennis court, so doubles is close and fast.

Pickleball has a different feel again: a small court, a paddle, and a rule that the serve and its return must bounce before volleys begin. Flobit doesn't offer pickleball yet; it is coming soon. See tennis scoring if you are moving from tennis, since the scoring is almost identical.

Arrive early, wear court shoes, agree the scoring rule and call your own side honestly. Padel has no umpire in normal club play, so manners carry the game. Padel Browser's etiquette guide offers these habits:

• Be on time. Courts run on hourly slots, so arriving ten minutes late costs everyone ten minutes.
• Don't smash in the warm-up. Practise volleys and the bandeja instead, and share the time between all four players.
• Check before you serve. Make sure the returner is ready.
• Call your own faults. If the ball touched you, say so. If you aren't sure whether it bounced twice, give the point to your opponents.
• Talk to your partner. Call "mine" or "yours" early, so you don't collide.
• Return loose balls to the server. A gentle roll or underhand toss is fine.
• Tap rackets at the end. It is padel's handshake.

A few tips for beginners:

• Let the ball come to you off the back wall rather than rushing it.
• Stay together as a pair. Move forward and back at the same time.
• Agree the 40-40 rule before the first serve. The padel scoring guide explains advantage, golden point and Star Point.
• Be honest about your level so the match is fair. The padel levels guide lists the 1.0 to 7.0 ladder.

Flobit helps you find the other three players and keep the score. It doesn't book courts, so reserve one with your club or booking app first.

To find players, post an open match for padel with a time and a city or venue. You can say who may join (anyone, men, women or mixed) and set an optional level range on the 1.0 to 7.0 ladder, which is shown on the listing as guidance while you approve each request. A note of up to 280 characters can say "first-timers welcome". Players within 50 km (you can change it from 5 to 100 km) can show interest, and you approve who joins.

To keep score, Flobit counts padel point by point, with the golden point as the default and advantage as an alternative, plus an optional super tiebreak to 10 for the deciding set. Spoken score calls in five languages announce the score, and Apple Watch scoring works offline. A Quick Match lobby, shared by code, QR code or link, lets friends join as players or referee, with no account needed for guests.

The padel page lists everything the app does for padel.

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How big is a padel court?

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Is padel easier than pickleball or tennis?

Do I need my own racket to try padel?