Plenty of people start padel with no idea what the rules are. Nobody hands them over. You just start hitting, and whenever something complicated happens – the ball bouncing off three surfaces, the serve catching the net – someone on court says “that’s fine” or “that’s a fault” and play moves on.
Padel is pick-up-and-play enough that you can muddle through a session on vibes alone. But at some point you want to know what is happening. Why was that serve a fault? Can you really run outside the court? What on earth is a golden point?
This guide covers everything. Whether you’re preparing for your first session or you’ve been playing for months and have been silently nodding along when you had no idea – this is the one.
The basics
Padel is almost always played as doubles – four players, two a side. The court is 20 metres long and 10 metres wide, divided by a net that is 88 centimetres high at the centre.
What makes padel different is the enclosure: glass walls and wire mesh surround the court. These are part of the game. Once the ball has bounced on the floor, it can come off the glass and still be in play. Understanding when the walls help you and when they don’t is most of the learning curve.
You score points by making the ball bounce twice on the opponent’s side before they can return it, or by forcing them into an error. A point ends when someone hits into the net, a shot hits the opponents’ walls or mesh (or leaves the court) before bouncing, or a rule violation is committed (more on those below).
How does scoring work in padel?
Tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game. Sets go to 6 games. Most UK club play uses the golden point at deuce – one deciding point wins the game.
Scoring is identical to tennis. Points go 15, 30, 40, then game. If both pairs reach 40-40, that is deuce.
At deuce, most UK club play uses the golden point rule: one deciding point is played. The receiving pair chooses which of them receives the serve – this is the key detail most people miss. The servers must then adapt their formation accordingly.
To win a set, you need to win six games with a two-game lead. If a set reaches 6-6, a seven-point tiebreak is played. Most matches are best of three sets, though social sessions often play just one or two sets depending on time.
Golden point is one of three deuce options in the official FIP rules, alongside traditional advantage and Star Point, which was added for 2026: advantage is played at the first two deuces, and if neither pair converts, the third deuce is settled by a single deciding point. Premier Padel, the FIP tours and the top LTA grades in the UK use Star Point from 2026. In UK club play golden point is the near-universal default – if you are playing social padel in the UK, you are almost certainly playing golden point at deuce.
How do you serve in padel?
Underarm only. Bounce the ball, hit it at or below your waist, land it diagonally in the opponent’s service box. You get two attempts, same as tennis.
This is the biggest difference from tennis, and the one thing to get right before your first session.
The serve in padel is underarm. You stand behind the service line on the right or left half of the court (depending on the score), bounce the ball on the ground, and hit it at or below your waist. Your feet must not touch the service line, and at least one foot must be on the ground when you make contact.
The ball must land in the diagonal service box on the opponent’s side – same as tennis. If it lands in the wrong box, or outside the service area, it is a fault.
Like tennis, you get two serves. A serve that clips the net and lands correctly in the service box is a let – replay the serve, it does not count as a fault.
One rule specific to padel serving: after the ball bounces in the service box, it must not then hit the wire mesh (fence). If it does, that is a fault. If it bounces and hits the glass back wall – that is fine and the point is live. This catches out a lot of beginners, and even intermediate players often get it backwards. Glass after the bounce: valid. Wire after the bounce (on serves only): fault.
Put your hand through the loop of your racket before you play. It is a safety rule and technically a requirement.
When is the ball in or out?
Your shot must bounce on the opponents’ floor before touching their walls. Direct contact with their glass or fence – without a bounce – is out.
The core rule: your shot must bounce on the opponents’ floor before it can touch their walls or fence. If a ball flies directly into their glass or wire without bouncing first, it is out.
During a rally, once the ball has bounced, it can hit the glass or wire and still be in play. You can then return it – even using the rebound off your own back wall as part of your shot. This is one of the things that makes padel tactically interesting and that distinguishes it from tennis.
A ball is out if:
- It hits the opponents’ glass or wire mesh without hitting the floor first
- It bounces twice on your side before you hit it
- It goes over the fence and out of the court without bouncing in the opponents’ court first (if it bounces first and then leaves the court, the hitter wins the point, unless out-of-court play is allowed)
A ball is in if:
- It bounces on the floor then hits any wall or fence (during a rally – see serving exception above)
- It clips the net or a net post and then lands in the opponents’ court
If you are not sure whether a ball bounced in or out, the principle in self-refereed padel (which is every UK club game) is: when in doubt, play a let. Replay the point. This is the spirit of the game.
Can you use the walls in padel?
Yes – you can play the ball off your own glass walls as long as it lands in the opponent’s court. You cannot use the wire fence on your side.
This is where padel gets interesting. You can hit the ball against your own glass walls – the back wall or the side glass – and the ball counts as long as it travels over the net and bounces in the opponent’s court.
You cannot, however, hit the ball directly into the wire mesh fencing on your side. If it touches the fence on your side, you lose the point; on the opponents’ side, it must bounce on the floor first.
There is also a rule that most beginners never encounter but is worth knowing: on some courts you can run outside the court to return a ball. This is only allowed where out-of-court play is authorised – the court needs two openings on each side and a clear safety area outside. There, if your opponent’s smash bounces on your side and then goes out over the side wall or through a door, you can exit through the door, chase it down, and hit it back – as long as it has not bounced a second time or touched anything outside the court. A ball that bounces and then goes out over the back wall is a winner for the hitter. On courts without authorised out-of-court play, any ball that bounces in your court and then leaves it wins the point for your opponents.
Common faults that lose you the point
- Touching the net – if your racket, clothing, or any part of your body touches the net while the point is live, your opponents win the point immediately.
- Double bounce – the ball must not bounce twice on your side before you return it. This applies after a wall rebound too: if it bounces off the glass and bounces again before you reach it, you have lost the point.
- Hitting the walls or wire directly – if your shot hits the opponents’ glass or wire mesh fence without bouncing first, it is out. No exceptions.
- Reaching over the net – you cannot reach over the net to play a ball that has not yet crossed to your side. Exception: if the ball bounces on your side and then spins back over the net due to heavy backspin, you can reach over to play it – but only after it has bounced on your side, and without touching the net.
- Double hit – hitting the ball twice in a single stroke is a fault and loses the point.
What is an Americano?
A rotating-partner format: change partners each mini-match, accumulate individual points. The default format at UK club social sessions.
If you have booked a social padel session at a UK club, there is a good chance it is an Americano – even if nobody told you that.
An Americano is a rotating-partner format. Each mini-match is played to a fixed number of points (usually 16) or for a fixed time. After each match, everyone rotates: you change both partners and opponents. Points are individual – whatever your pair scores goes on your personal total.
At the end of the session, whoever has the most individual points overall wins.
It is the dominant format for casual social play in the UK because it means everyone plays with everyone, mixed-ability groups work well, and no team gets stuck on the same court. You do not need to bring a regular partner. You do not need to know anyone. The complete Americano guide covers every variation – Mexicano, Team Americano, Mixed Americano, and how to win one.
If you are at a club session and someone hands you a sheet with numbers on it, that is your schedule. Find your court number, your partner, and play.
Five things to remember for your first session
- Serve underarm, bounce the ball first, hit at or below your waist. The most visible difference from tennis. Get this right and you already look like you know what you are doing.
- Your shot must bounce before hitting the opponents’ walls. If it flies straight into their glass, it is out.
- Glass after a bounce is fine; fence after a serve bounce is a fault. The one nuance worth knowing before you step on court.
- Touching the net loses the point. Keep your racket away from it during rallies.
- When in doubt, play a let. UK club padel is self-refereed. The principle is good faith. If a call is unclear, replay the point – no one loses anything.
For everything else – who calls the ball in or out, what to do when a ball rolls onto your court, the handshake after a match – see our guide to padel etiquette. And if you want a dedicated breakdown of how points, games and sets are counted, how padel scoring works covers just that in detail. Once you know the rules and want to find regular games, the social padel guide explains how Americanos, open matches, and club ladders work in practice across the UK.