Padel Rules for Beginners

What’s in & what’s out?

1. The ball has to hit the floor on the other side of the net before it can hit either the glass, or the cage! So, if I hit the ball goes straight onto the opponent’s glass that would be out! 
2.  If I hit the ball straight onto the opponent’s cage that would also be out! 
3.  If you hit the ball straight into the net that would be out. 
4.  If you hit the ball out of the court without bouncing on the opposing side that would be out also. 
5.  If the ball hits your body then you would also lose the point, same if you hit one of the opposing players but you would gain the point. 
6.  If the ball bounces twice on your side, then that is the opponents point! 
7. Don’t forget if the ball bounces and hits the cage or glass, you must hit the ball before it bounces again! 
8. You are allowed to hit the ball off your own back or side glass, you just can’t hit the cage to get the ball back over! 
9.  If you hit the ball twice then you would lose the point. 
10. If both players hit the same ball, you would also lose the point, only one player can hit it. 
11.  You cannot throw your racket at the ball to get the ball back over! Racket must be in your hand!

Serving rules:

1. You must serve underarm! 
2. The ball has to bounce on the floor before you hit it.
3. You must hit the ball waist or under, it is illegal to hit above the waist.
4. You get two serves! If you miss both it’s a double fault and the opponents gain a point. 
5. You always start your game from the right-hand side, and swap sides after every point. 
6. You must hit the ball in the service box, diagonally opposite from you (cross court).
7. You must stay on your half when you serve, but you can contact the ball across the centre service line. 
8. You have to be behind the service line before and whilst you hit the serve, once the ball has left your racket you can step Infront of the service line. 
9. The server must keep at least one foot on the ground whilst hitting. 
10. If the ball lands in and hits any of the glass panels, that is a valid serve and the point will be played out. If the ball hits the cage, with or without a bounce, that serve is out.
11. If the ball hits the top of the net and goes in, it is considered a let and the serve will be taken again, but if it hits the top and lands on your side, hits the cage, or lands out the door then that is out! 
12. Sometimes, the ball may hit the post just before the first panel of glass, that is either out or a let depending on what the players in your match decide.
13. You can serve with a forehand or backhand. 
14. If you hit the ball beyond the service line or in the other service box then that is out! 
15. If you hit the net then that is also out. 
16. If the ball bounces twice in the correct box and the opponent fails to get the ball then that is valid and you would win the point. 
17. If you miss the ball whilst trying to hit, that is a fault. 
18. If after 2 bounces the ball hits the cage then the serve would be valid because it has already bounced twice. 
19. If the ball hits their partner that is also a fault! 
20. If the serve is out, the returning pair should let them know that it is out, and if it’s in say nothing and carry on the point! The serve is in unless the returning pair say otherwise.

Returning serve:

1. You must wait for the ball to bounce before you can return the serve, you cannot volley a serve! 
2. If the ball directly hit’s you or your partner off the serve, you would lose the point! 
3. You can return the serve off the glass.
4.  If you hit the cage from the return that would be out and the oppositions point. 
5. Must get the ball within 2 bounces
6. The player not receiving the serve is not allowed to hit the ball, even if it goes towards them! 

Scoring/sides:

1. It is the same scoring as tennis! 
2. You have games, sets, tiebreaks. · 0, 15, 30, 40, Deuce 
3. Sometimes at deuce (40-40) you will play a golden point or sudden death, this keeps the games shorter, and means next point wins, rather than trying to win 2 points in a row! One hidden rule within this, is that the returning pair can choose who receives the serve, so don’t forget! 
4. In a set there is a minimum of 6 games, so I could win 6-0 and the 1st set would be mine. But you have to be at least 2 games clear to win the set, so I could win 6-4. But I couldn’t win 6-5, from there it would either go 7-5 and I win or we would go 6-6 and play a tiebreak! 
5. You have two types of tiebreak, a match tiebreak which is first to 7 points and again you have to be 2 points clear at least. And a super match tiebreak, which is first to 10 points and at least 2 points clear. 
6. You play a match tiebreak if the score is 6-6 in games at the end of a set, but if this is the last set in the match and the sets are level then you will play a super match tiebreak to 10 points. (Example if we’re playing a match, best of 3 sets, if the set score is 1-1 the last set can be decided by a super match tiebreak) this will depend on again on the people you’re playing with or the rules if it’s a league or whatever so check first! 
7. Make sure you keep and say the score after each point, servers should keep score in their game! 
8. Tiebreaks are scored as, 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. 
9. After every odd game you will swap sides, so after game 1, 3, 5, 7 etc you will swap sides with your opponent. 
10. Who starts a tiebreak? The player who served first in the set should start a tiebreak! 
11. Who serves after the tiebreak in the next set? It will be a player of the pair who did not begin serving in the tiebreak. 
12. After every 6 points in the tiebreak you will change sides with the opposition.

Different rules:

1. You can’t hit the ball before it is on your side of the court! So if you’re at the net volleying and you reach over to hit the ball, that would be your opponents point as it has yet to reach your side! 
2. If the ball bounces on your side and goes back over the net you can then reach over and hit it because it has already been on your side! 
3. If the ball lands on your opponents side and comes back over to your side without them touching it or it lands in the net, that would be your point!
4. This leads to the rule of, you cannot touch the net at any time whilst the point is live! Even if your shoe falls off and hits the net, technically that would be your opponent’s point! 
5. You can go out the door and hit the ball back into play into any of the opposition’s half! 
6. If you ran off the court to retrieve a ball, you are allowed to hit the ball straight into the opponents net and you'd win the point!
7. If your partner is receiving the serve and you hit the serve before they do, that would be the oppositions point.
8. How do you decide who serves first in a match? Professionally it’s a coin toss, at club level it’s usually determined by a play to serve rule. So, someone feeds the ball in, and you play the point out, if you win you decide whether to serve or receive first! 
9. If you hit a lob serve, it lands in and bounces out the court, it is deemed as a valid serve! 
10. The let rule on the serve can be infinite! If you hit the top of the net and it goes in, you keep getting another serve. 
11. If a ball lands on your court or any other relevant distractions or safety precautions, you can call a let and you would start the point again! 
12. Make sure any balls are either in the net, in your pocket or off the court! No balls should be left at any time on the court! 
13. You can only swap sides with your partner at the end of the set, not during!

If you can think of anymore rules I have not added on here then please let me know! The weirder/ stranger the rules, the better!