Recognise the court and choose your pair
Standard padel is two against two on an enclosed court twenty metres long and ten metres wide. The net divides the teams. On each side, a service line and a central line mark two receiving boxes; the space behind the service line leads back to the glass. The metal mesh is also part of the enclosure, but some rules distinguish it from glass. Each player needs a padel racket with an intact safety cord, worn around the wrist, and the group needs padel balls. A tennis racket or pickleball paddle is not a substitute. For a first game, rental equipment is a sensible starting point.
Set up a game before serving
Choose who serves first and which end each pair starts from; the formal rules use a coin toss with choices of service, reception or end. Each pair chooses its first server and its first receiver for the set. Keep that order: you do not hand the serve to whichever partner is nearest the ball. Agree whether deuce uses advantage, Golden Point or Star Point, and whether your booking is a timed social game or a full match. Start with a cooperative rally so all four players can judge the ball and enclosure. Move loose balls out of the playing area before beginning.
Where to stand for the first point
The first server starts on the right-hand side, behind the service line, between the side wall and the imaginary extension of the central line. The receiver is diagonally opposite. FIP lets the receiver, the receiver’s partner and the server’s partner stand anywhere on their own side, but that freedom is not a positioning recommendation. For a simple first game, give the receiver room behind the service line to read the bounce and glass, and leave enough space between partners for a clear swing. Keep your racket ready in front rather than down at your feet.
Serve: bounce, low contact, diagonal target
Bounce the ball inside your serving area, then strike it at or below waist height while at least one foot remains on the ground. Do not touch the service line or imaginary central line with your feet, and do not let the bounced ball cross those lines before contact. Send the ball over the net into the diagonally opposite receiving box. A first bounce on the box line counts as in. For a first game, use a controlled underarm swing and a generous target rather than trying to win with the serve. If the first serve is a fault, take a second; two faults lose the point.
Return: the serve has to bounce
The receiver must let the serve bounce in the correct box. You cannot volley it, even if you are standing behind the service line. After the bounce, return it before a second ground bounce. You may hit before it reaches the glass or after it rebounds from glass, provided there has still been only one ground bounce. A served ball that bounces correctly and then touches the receiving metal fence before its second bounce is a fault instead. For an awkward first return, use a compact block with a target you can control rather than a large swing that rushes the rebound.
Rally: floor first, then the enclosure
After the return, either player on a pair may hit the next ball. You do not have to alternate contacts between partners, but only one of you may play each return. You may volley a rally ball before it bounces, or let it bounce once. If an opponent’s shot hits your wall or fence before your court, they lose the point. If it hits your floor first and then the enclosure, the ball can remain live. Return before the next ground bounce. On your own shot, aim to land in the opponents’ court before hitting their enclosure; a ball driven directly into their back glass is out.
Three wall examples you can recognise
Example one: their shot lands near your service line, hits your back glass and comes toward you. It is still playable before the second floor bounce. Example two: their rally shot goes straight into your side glass without landing in your court. They lose the point; you do not need to chase it. Example three: their legal rally ball bounces, then reaches your metal fence. It can remain playable, unlike the same fence contact on a serve. Start with these normal situations. Playing your own wall as an emergency return is an additional skill, and chasing a ball outside is permitted only at facilities and under conditions that authorise it.
How a point ends
A pair loses when the ball bounces twice on its side before a return, when its return hits the opposing enclosure before the opposing floor, or when it fails to send a valid return over the net. Touching the net with a player, racket or clothing while the ball is live also loses the point. A ball hitting a player’s body or equipment other than the racket is not a legal return. Do not catch an apparently out ball before its outcome is established. If a loose ball enters and creates a hazard, alert everyone and stop rather than trying to finish around it; agree the restart in social play or use the official’s let procedure in competition.
Score one complete service game
Call the serving pair’s score first. If your pair wins the opening point, call 15–0; lose the next and it is 15–15. Win the next two and it is 40–15. Win again and you take the game. If both pairs reach three points, call deuce and use the format agreed at the start. With advantage scoring, win two consecutive points from deuce to finish; losing an advantage returns the game to deuce. Golden Point instead uses one deciding point at the first deuce. Star Point allows two advantage cycles before its deciding point. The receiving pair chooses the receiving side for a deciding point, without swapping its established receiving positions; mixed-match requirements also apply.
Serve order, changes of end and the set
One player serves the whole game, alternating right and left after each point. Service passes to the other pair for the next game; partners then take their own turns within the established order. If A and B play C and D, a possible order is A, C, B, D, repeating through the set. Change ends after the first game, third game and each subsequent odd game. A standard set is first to six games with a two-game margin; 5–5 can become 7–5, while 6–6 leads to a tie-break. In that tie-break, the first to seven points needs a two-point margin, and the pairs change ends after every six points. A standard match is best of three sets, though social sessions can use a shorter agreed format.
Use a simple doubles plan
Keep the opening rallies controlled. The LTA’s beginner guidance favours short preparation, placement rather than maximum power, and moving together with your partner. When the opponents are at the net, a controlled lob can move them back and give your pair a chance to advance together. Do not sprint forward after every shot regardless of its quality. If the lob is too short, prepare to defend rather than assuming you have won the net. Call a ball through the middle early so both partners do not swing at it. Your first useful tactic is keeping the pair organised, not finding a spectacular winner.
Walk through your first point
Start on the right, say love-all and serve into the diagonal box. The receiver lets it bounce, then blocks a return over the net. Your partner can volley that return; you do not need to hit again just because you served. If the opponents let the volley bounce and rebound from their glass, keep playing: the wall has not ended the point. If their next return lands in your court and bounces twice before either of you hits, they win it, so you call 0–15. Move to the left to serve the next point. Repeat that sequence slowly until calling the score, changing service side and recognising the second bounce feel routine.