The rules of padel, explained simply
The underarm serve, playing off the walls, reading the close calls, and the mistakes new players make most — everything you need in the ten minutes before your first game.
You can read this in the ten minutes before you step on court and know enough to play. Padel's rules are refreshingly light — most of it is common sense once you've seen a single rally. Here are the essentials, in the order they come up in a game.
The serve: underarm, to the diagonal box
Every point starts with a serve, and in padel it's deliberately gentle. You serve underarm: bounce the ball once behind the service line, then strike it below waist height. No big overhead motion — one of the reasons padel is so welcoming.
You serve diagonally, just like tennis, into the box on the far side of the net. You get two attempts, and the ball must land in the correct box.
In play — Serve lands in the box, then kisses the side glass — still in.
Fault — Serve lands in the box, then hits the fence — out.
Let · replay — Serve clips the net, then bounces in the box off the side glass — take the serve again.
Fault — Serve clips the net, then bounces into the fence — out.
In, out, and playing off the walls & fences
The court is enclosed by glass walls and metal mesh — the cage — and the ball stays in play when it comes off them, as long as it bounced on the floor first. Learning to let a ball come off your own back glass and calmly play it back is one of the great pleasures of the game.
One limit matters: you can play the ball off your own walls after it bounces on your side, but you can't smash it into your opponent's glass on the full to win the point — it has to land in their court first. Off your own back glass: yes. Straight into their glass without a bounce: no.
In or out? Reading the close calls
Most calls are obvious. The hard one is the ball that bounces right in the corner where the floor meets the back glass — did it hit the synthetic first (in) or the glass first (out)? At club level there's no referee, so it pays to know the tell.
When you genuinely can't tell, the custom is simple: replay the point by mutual agreement. Padel is a social game — a let is always better than an argument.
The mistakes beginners make most
A few misunderstandings come up again and again. Clear these now and you'll look like a regular on your first night.
Learn it by playing
You'll absorb these rules faster in one real game than in any guide. Round up three players, or let us match you with a friendly group at your level.
Join an open game
Jump into a game at your level tonight — Rallio fills the spots.