Padel rules and scoring explained

The basics of padel take five minutes to learn. Here's how the serve, the walls and the scoring work, in our own words, based on the rules published by the International Padel Federation (FIP) and the LTA.

Padel rules at a glance

• Padel is usually played as doubles.
• Points start with an underarm serve, hit after the ball bounces.
• Your shot must bounce in your opponents' court before it hits their wall or fence.
• You can let the ball come off your own walls after one bounce, then return it.
• If the ball bounces twice on your side, you lose the point.
• Scoring is the same as tennis: 15, 30, 40, game.

Source: LTA Padel: Padel rules; LTA Padel: How to get started playing padel.

How to serve in padel

• Stand with your feet behind the service line, without touching it or the centre line.
• Bounce the ball, then hit it at or below waist height, keeping at least one foot on the ground.
• Serve diagonally over the net into your opponent's service box. You get a second serve if the first is a fault.
• If the serve lands in and then hits the back glass, it's good and the point goes on. If it lands in and then hits the metal mesh (the "cage"), it's a fault.
• If the serve clips the net and lands in the right box, it's a let and you serve again.
• One player serves for the whole game, and the receiver has to let the serve bounce before returning it.

Source: FIP Rules of Padel (PDF); LTA Padel: Padel rules.

Playing off the walls: what's in and what's out

The walls are what make padel different. You can let the ball bounce and then hit the glass before you play it, or you can hit the ball against your own wall so it goes back over the net, as long as it then lands in your opponents' court. Source: LTA Padel: Padel rules; LTA Padel: How to get started playing padel.

• In: the ball bounces once in the court and then hits the back glass or (in a rally, not on the serve) the mesh.
• In: the ball bounces once and then goes over the walls and out of the court. On courts that allow it, players can run out through the doors to try to return it.
• Out: the ball hits your opponents' glass or mesh before it bounces in their court.
• Point over: the ball bounces twice on your side before you hit it.

Source: LTA Padel: Padel rules.

Apart from the return of serve, you can volley the ball before it bounces. Source: LTA Padel: Padel rules.

How padel scoring works

Points go 15, 30, 40 and game. The first pair to six games, with at least a two-game lead, wins the set. At 5-5 you need to win 7-5, and at 6-6 a tie-break is played. Matches are usually best of three sets. Source: FIP Rules of Padel (PDF).

Deuce and advantage

At 40-40 it's deuce. Under traditional advantage scoring, you need to win two points in a row to take the game. Source: FIP Rules of Padel (PDF).

Golden point

With golden point, there's no advantage. At 40-40 one deciding point is played, and the receiving pair chooses which of them receives it. It's widely used in social and club play because it keeps matches moving. Source: Padel Relay: Padel rules and scoring explained.

Star point (new for 2026)

The FIP approved a new "star point" format in November 2025, and from 2026 it is used on Premier Padel, the CUPRA FIP Tour, FIP Promises and the amateur FIP Beyond events. At deuce you play advantage as normal, but only twice. If the game gets back to deuce a third time, a single deciding point, the star point, settles it. Source: Padel FIP: Introducing the Star Point; FIP Rules of Padel (PDF).

Clubs and leagues set their own formats, so check which one you're playing before the first ball.

Tie-breaks

In a tie-break, points are counted 1, 2, 3 and so on, and the first pair to seven with a two-point lead wins the set 7-6. Some formats replace a deciding third set with a super tie-break to 10. Source: Padel Relay: Padel rules and scoring explained.

New to the game? Read how to play padel next, or see how the rules compare in padel vs tennis vs pickleball.