Padel - What are the rules of the game?
You want to get into padel? Go ahead. Here we have summarized the most important rules for you.
by Robin Huiber
last edit: Feb 13, 2022, 10:24 pm
Not so long ago, some tennis clubs still had signs like: "It doesn't matter whether it's cold or hot - tennis is played completely in white." Until Andre Agassi came around the corner in the 1980s and said: "I don't t think so.” Since then, everything has been allowed when it comes to fashion (except in Wimbledon and in league games at the MTTC Iphitos in Munich), but even a rebel like Agassi couldn’t change the strict rules in tennis: the small round has to go into the square on the other side of the web. And without detours.
The great masters of the formerly white sport manage this brilliantly, regardless of the age of the balls and the external circumstances - but for the beginner, tennis also offers a great deal of potential for frustration. A sense of achievement is rare when you first try to walk, not to mention a successful backhand volley á la Patrick Rafter. Also one of the old warriors, like Agassi.
Perhaps the success of Padel is based on this: that it can be played over gangs. That the balls have less pressure and therefore fly more slowly through the court. That, at least in the European version, is only played in pairs, so the social component is not neglected right from the start.
But what about the rules? We looked it up at the German Padel Association (DPV).
The playing field
The Padel Court is a playing field 10 meters wide and 20 meters long. A net in the middle of the field separates the two sides of the game. The court is surrounded on all sides by walls three to four meters high, which can be included in the rally, just like in squash.
basics
Padel is invariably played in doubles – two against two. The teams playing against each other face each other on the halves of the field divided by the net.
The game begins with a serve from below. The ball may only touch the ground once. Volleys are of course allowed afterwards, but the ball can also bounce off one or more side walls after touching down on the field and then, as long as it does not touch the ground, continue to be played. This often leads to long and exciting rallies, which make for great fun.
How is it counted?
Here, at least in official tournaments, there are hardly any differences to tennis. It is played on two or three won sets, each classic up to six games. At 6:6 a tie-break is played in the usual way.
In the individual games, as in tennis, 0, 15, 30 and 40 are counted. The “debut” is followed by the “advantage”, and then the game win.
game opening
The serve is executed as an underhand hit “from below”, ie the ball must be hit by the racquet at hip height or below. To do this, the server stands with both feet behind the service line and bounces the ball to the ground behind the service line. The server has at least one foot in contact with the ground and plays the ball diagonally across the net into the diagonally opposite service field. If the net is touched, the same rules apply as for tennis.
When does a point end?
- with two faulty serves
- if the ball is returned in such a way that it does not first touch the ground in the opponent's field of play, but first touches the back or side wall or the metal fence
- if the ball lands a second time in your own court before it can be returned
- if the ball touches the metal fence of your own field after being hit. (Using your own glass back or side walls is allowed to play the ball over the net.)
- when one of the players, their racket or anything they are carrying touches the net, its post or any part of the opponent's field of play
- if your own teammate is hit after the hit.