Padel in one sentence
Padel is doubles on a smaller court surrounded by walls. The walls are part of the game: after the ball has bounced on the ground, it may come back off a wall and stays in play.
The serve
- Always underhand. The ball is bounced behind the baseline beside the body and struck below hip height.
- Diagonally into the opposite service box.
- Two attempts, as in tennis.
- After bouncing in the correct box, the ball may touch the side wall. If it touches the fence, the serve is a fault.
- The returner must let the serve bounce first — no volleying the serve.
- When serving, the server stands behind the baseline. Both partners may stand wherever they like – including right at the net. The returner stands in the diagonal box.
- Choice of side and first serve: Before each match, a racket is spun. The winning team chooses either the first serve or the side; the other team gets the other.
- Serving order: No service game (see "Scoring in this tournament" below) — instead, serving rotates with two serves in a row each: player 1 of the team with the first serve, player 1 of the other team, player 2 of the team with the first serve, player 2 of the other team, then back to the start.
- Within your own two serves, the returner alternates: the first serve goes to one opponent, the second to the other — as in regular padel, only the diagonal changes, which costs no time.
- No side change during the match — that would only cost time too.
During the rally
- The ball may bounce on the ground once. After that it may come back off your own walls and stay in play.
- You may play the ball against your own back or side wall as long as it then goes directly over the net. What is not allowed is playing it against your own fence first.
- A ball that goes straight into a wall or fence on the opponent's side, without touching the ground first, is a fault.
- Volleys are allowed, except when returning the serve.
Scoring in this tournament
Unlike regular padel, here every rally counts as one point, and play continues to a target score within a fixed time. No service game, no sets, no tiebreak. The exact numbers and how they turn into the standings are on the "Tournament format" page.
Time's up: If time runs out before either team reaches the point target, the organisers call the match. The team in front wins; if the score is level, one deciding point is played.
Cap: For the points share in the standings, every result is capped at the limit set in the tournament configuration — a rout counts no more than a clear win. The limit is shown on the "Tournament format" page.
Four things beginners get right quickly
- 1Don't hit too hard. The court is small and the walls are in play — a placed ball wins more often than a hard one.
- 2Move forward to the net. Whoever stands at the net wins most of the points.
- 3The wall is your friend. Let a ball heading for the back wall go, and play it after it bounces off the wall.
- 4Talk to your partner. Whoever takes the ball calls it. In doubles, that's half the battle.
Fair play
There are no umpires. If there's disagreement about a ball, the rally is replayed. Both teams report results in the app; a dispute doesn't start an argument, only a query to the tournament organisers.