The rules of padel

A padel court is 20 by 10 metres — roughly a third of a tennis court. It's enclosed by glass and mesh fencing with a net across the middle. The glass is part of the game: the ball comes off it and play continues.

The racket is perforated, frameless and short-handled. The ball looks like a tennis ball but is slightly less pressurised, so it bounces slower.

Scoring is the same as tennis: 15, 30, 40, game. At 40-40 it's deuce, and you need two clear points to take the game.

A set is six games, with a tie-break at 6-6. Matches are usually best of three sets.

Amateur tournaments and most club leagues use the golden point: no advantage at 40-40, a single point decides the game. Agree which one applies before you start — it's the most common argument on court.

The serve is underarm, and this is padel's strictest rule. You bounce the ball once, then strike it at or below waist height. Serving overhead like in tennis is a fault.

The serve goes diagonally into the opposite box. You get two attempts, as in tennis.

The ball must land in the correct service box first. Hitting the glass after that is fine — but if it touches the mesh fence, it's a fault.

The rule is simple: the ball must hit the ground before it hits a wall. Playing a ball that has come off your own wall is padel's signature move.

You cannot volley a ball straight off the wall before it bounces — it has to touch the ground first.

After you hit it, the ball must land on the ground in your opponents' half. If it strikes their wall or fence first, the point is theirs.

One player serves a whole game. The turn rotates between the pairs: if your side served, the opposition serves the next game and your partner the one after, so your own serve comes round every fourth game.

The receiving order is fixed for the set. Whichever player takes the right-hand box at the start of a set stays there until the set ends; swapping mid-set is a fault. A new set can be started with a new order.

Ends change after the odd-numbered games — after the first, the third, the fifth. Outdoors the reason is sun and wind; indoors it is the lighting and the surface.

A serve that clips the net and lands in the correct box is a let: the point is replayed and no attempt is lost. If it clips the net and then hits the mesh or the glass, it is a fault.

This causes the most confusion, because "out" works differently in padel than in tennis.

• Ball hits the opponents' wall or fence before bouncing: out, point against you
• Ball bounces, comes off the wall and flies out of the court: play continues
• Ball goes over the fence: you may run outside and play it, if the club allows
• Ball clips the net post and goes over: play continues

Most of the rules describe not what is allowed but what loses the point. The list is short, and every item on it happens on court regularly.

• The ball bounces twice on your side — however many walls it comes off, it may touch the ground only once
• You hit the ball twice, or you and your partner both play it
• The ball touches your body or your clothing, wherever it lands
• Your racket, body or clothing touches the net while the ball is in play
• You play the ball on the opponents' side before it has crossed the net
• You step into the opponents' court; following through over the net is fine as long as you do not touch it
• The racket leaves your hand and strikes the court or a player

You may use your own walls as much as you like. After a single bounce the ball can meet the back wall, then a side wall, then the back wall again — the only limit is a second touch of the ground.

Some courts have an opening in the side fencing. Where there is one, the ball may be played from outside the court: you can step out and return it, and the point continues as long as the ball has not bounced twice. On a fully enclosed court that route does not exist.

Indoors, a ball that touches the ceiling, a light or a beam is usually called out, but this is a local rule that varies by venue — worth asking before the match.

Stepping on the line while serving is a foot fault, though it is almost never called in club play. The waist-height rule is taken seriously in contrast: a serve struck from above draws an objection at every level.

There's no umpire in padel, so sportsmanship matters as much as the rules. When in doubt the point goes to the opposition — not written anywhere, but universally observed.

Two situations trip people up: hitting the ball twice (a fault), and following through over the net (allowed, as long as the ball bounced on your side and you don't touch the net).

A ball that hits any part of your body loses you the point, wherever it lands.