The serve
- Stand behind the service line and bounce the ball once before you hit it.
- Hit the ball at or below waist height, underarm.
- Serve diagonally, so the ball bounces in your opponent's service box.
- You get two attempts, just like tennis.
- After bouncing in the box, the serve may hit the glass and still be good. If it hits the wire mesh first, it's a fault.
Playing the point
- The return of serve must bounce first. After that, you can volley the ball before it bounces.
- One bounce on your side. The ball can bounce once on your floor, and can come off your walls, before you hit it back.
- Your shot must land on their floor first. If it hits their walls or the mesh before bouncing on their side, you lose the point.
- You can use your own walls. Hitting the ball into your own glass so it rebounds over the net is allowed, as long as it then lands in their court.
- Don't touch the net with your racket or body while the ball is in play.
Scoring
Padel uses tennis scoring. Points go 15, 30, 40, then game. Win six games, at least two clear, to take a set, and a match is usually the best of three sets. At six games all, a tie-break decides the set.
Golden point: many social games skip deuce and advantage. At 40-40, the next point wins the game, and the receiving team chooses which side to receive on. It keeps games moving and is easy to agree before you start.
Simple etiquette
- Call the score before each serve so everyone stays on the same page.
- If a ball rolls onto your court from another game, stop and return it.
- Be generous with close calls in friendly games: if you're not sure, play it again.