Can you play padel without any experience?

Yes. The underarm serve and the smaller rackets make it far easier to start than tennis. Most people manage rallies within the first hour.

How long does a padel match last?

Best of three sets takes roughly 60 to 90 minutes. An Americano evening with point scoring can be planned exactly.

Is padel always played in fours?

In practice yes. The court is built for doubles, and the FIP rulebook describes play in pairs only. Narrower singles courts exist, but they are rare and not part of the rulebook.

How does it differ from padbol or beach tennis?

Separate sports with their own rules. What is typical of padel is the combination of glass walls, an underarm serve and scoring that starts from tennis.

Padel Rules Explained: Serve, Walls and Scoring

The court and the walls

A padel court measures 20 by 10 metres and is enclosed by walls and fencing. The decisive difference from tennis: the walls are part of the game.

A ball that bounces in your own half and then goes into your own wall is still live — it may be played back from there. The point is over only when the ball touches the floor a second time. A return that flies straight into the opposing wall or fencing without bouncing on their floor first loses you the point.

The padel court from above: solid lines are glass walls, dashed lines the fence. After bouncing, the ball may touch any wall — and the fencing — of your own half.

The serve

Serve into the diagonal boxA serves from behind the service line into the opposite service box. B, C and D show one possible setup, not mandatory positions.

Underarm — the ball must be struck at or below waist height
The ball is bounced on the ground beforehand and hit after it comes up
It must land diagonally in the opposite service box
Two attempts, as in tennis
If the serve touches the fencing after bouncing correctly and before its second bounce it is invalid — off the wall alone it would be good
At the moment of striking, at least one foot must be in contact with the ground
The feet stay behind the service line; neither it nor the imaginary extension of the centre line may be touched or crossed before the ball is struck
The first serve of a game is played from the right; the side then alternates after every point
A serve that clips the net and still bounces correctly in the service box is replayed — unless it touches the fencing before its second bounce

The underarm serve is why padel is so approachable: there is no complex service motion to learn, and points almost always start with a genuine rally rather than an ace.

Scoring

Points within a gameFrom 0 through 15 and 30 to 40. What happens at 40–40 depends on the scoring method agreed before play.

Counting follows tennis: 15, 30, 40, game. A set goes to the pair that wins six games with a lead of two; at 6–6 a tie break to seven points decides, again with a two-point lead. Matches are usually best of three.

At 40:40 — the variants since 2026

This is where something changed. Since 2026 the rulebook permits three ways of settling a game at deuce:

Variant	How it works
Advantage	Classic: two clear points needed
Golden point	A single point decides
Star Point	At 40:40 the call is deuce 1. Win the next point and you have advantage 1, and the game with the point after — lose it and the score returns to deuce 2. The same again with advantage 2; only then comes deuce 3 and a single deciding point

The deciding point works the same way for both golden point and Star Point: the receiving pair chooses whether to receive on the right or the left — but the two players may not swap positions to do so. In mixed matches, the receiver on the deciding point must be the same sex as the server.

Agree the variant before the match — it saves arguments at the decisive moment. In an Americano evening it makes no difference anyway, since points are counted instead of games.

What ends a point

The ball bounces twice in your own half
The ball goes into the net
The ball flies straight into an opponent's wall or fencing without bouncing on their floor first
The ball hits a player or their clothing
The ball leaves the court over the surround — over the back wall always; over a side wall or through the door only where the court does not permit out-of-court play

Things many players do not know

The ball may be played from outside the court — but only on courts built for it. If it goes out over a side wall or through the door, you may follow it and play it back from outside, provided the court meets the conditions for out-of-court play. The rally then simply continues — putting the ball back does not win you the point. If the ball goes out over the back wall, the point is over immediately, on every court. And where out-of-court play is not permitted, the point ends as soon as the ball leaves the court, whichever way it went.
Volleys are allowed — with two exceptions. The return may not be one: the serve must bounce in the service box first, and the receiver must hit it before it bounces a second time. And no ball may be played before it has crossed the net.
Fencing counts differently from the wall. A ball reaching the fence after bouncing is live. A serve that reaches the fence before its second bounce is not.

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Frequently asked

Can you play padel without any experience?: Yes. The underarm serve and the smaller rackets make it far easier to start than tennis. Most people manage rallies within the first hour.
How long does a padel match last?: Best of three sets takes roughly 60 to 90 minutes. An Americano evening with point scoring can be planned exactly.
Is padel always played in fours?: In practice yes. The court is built for doubles, and the FIP rulebook describes play in pairs only. Narrower singles courts exist, but they are rare and not part of the rulebook.
How does it differ from padbol or beach tennis?: Separate sports with their own rules. What is typical of padel is the combination of glass walls, an underarm serve and scoring that starts from tennis.