{"id":196,"date":"2026-09-01T09:23:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T01:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xtzpadel.com\/?p=196"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:30:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T06:30:03","slug":"padel-rules-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xtzpadel.com\/es\/archives\/196\/","title":{"rendered":"Padel Rules for Beginners: Serve, Scoring & Walls"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/figure>\n

Padel is played in doubles on a 20\u00d710 m court surrounded by glass and mesh walls, scored like tennis (15-30-40), and served underhand below the waist. The padel rules that trip up most beginners are three: the serve must bounce and be hit underhand, the ball must bounce before it touches any wall, and the walls are in play after that first bounce.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s the part nobody tells beginners: if you’ve ever played tennis, you already know half of padel. The scoring is identical. The court is smaller. The racket is shorter. The one genuinely new thing \u2014 and the reason padel feels like a different sport \u2014 is that the walls are part of the game. Master the serve, the scoring (which you already know), and the wall rules, and you can walk onto any padel court and play a real match.<\/p>\n

This guide explains those three things simply, points out the five mistakes almost every beginner makes, and then goes somewhere most rule guides don’t: how the court you play on<\/em> changes how the rules feel in practice. We manufacture padel courts, so that last part is informed by the engineering, not a coaching manual.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/strong>
– Scoring is identical to tennis<\/strong> \u2014 15, 30, 40, game, with six games to a set and a tiebreak at 6-6. If you can keep score in tennis, you already can in padel.
– The serve is underhand and below the waist<\/strong>, and the ball must bounce once before you hit it \u2014 a rally-starter, not a weapon.
– A ball must bounce on the opponent’s side before it touches any wall.<\/strong> Hit a wall first and it’s out. After that first bounce, the glass and mesh are fully in play.
– The ball may only bounce once<\/strong> on the ground \u2014 after that you must hit it, though you can use the walls to get it back.
– Padel is almost always doubles<\/strong> \u2014 the 20\u00d710 m court is designed for four players, which is why it’s the most social racket sport going.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Padel Basics: Court, Equipment & Format<\/h2>\n

Before the padel rules make sense, you need the stage they’re played on.<\/p>\n

The court.<\/strong> A padel court measures 20 metres long by 10 metres wide \u2014 about a third of a tennis court. It’s enclosed on all four sides: the back walls are glass (or, in older facilities, concrete), and the side walls are a mix of glass and wire mesh. Above the glass, a metre of mesh brings total wall height to 4 metres. The net runs across the middle at 0.88 m at the centre. For the full measurements \u2014 including how much surrounding space you actually need to build one \u2014 see our padel court dimensions guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The equipment.<\/strong> Players use a solid, stringless racket (maximum 45.5 cm) with a perforated face and a foam core, and a ball that looks like a tennis ball but carries less internal pressure \u2014 so it travels slower and bounces lower. That lower pressure is deliberate: it keeps rallies alive inside the enclosure.<\/p>\n

The format.<\/strong> Padel is almost always played in doubles<\/strong>. The court is sized for four, and the social format is a big reason the sport has grown as fast as it has. Singles padel exists but is rare \u2014 if someone says “let’s play padel,” they mean doubles.<\/p>\n

If you want the backstory on how this walled, doubles-first sport came to be, we’ve covered the history of padel<\/a> separately. For now, the rules.<\/p>\n

How to Serve<\/h2>\n

The serve is the first thing that surprises tennis players, because it’s the opposite of everything they’ve trained. In padel, the serve is underhand, struck below the waist, and the ball must bounce before you hit it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s the sequence, step by step:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stand behind the service line<\/strong>, on the right-hand side of your half (serving cross-court, just like tennis).<\/li>\n
  2. Drop the ball and let it bounce<\/strong> on the ground in front of you.<\/li>\n
  3. Hit it underhand, at or below waist height<\/strong> \u2014 think a gentle tap, not a swing.<\/li>\n
  4. The ball must land in the diagonal service box<\/strong> on the other side, and it may not touch the net on the way over.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A few padel serve rules get called constantly:<\/p>\n