Guide
What padel is, and why it took over
Padel is a doubles racket sport played on an enclosed court roughly a third the size of a tennis court, where the walls are part of the game. It is the fastest-growing racket sport in the world, and the reason is simple: a complete beginner can play a real rally in their first hour.
- Always doubles — four players, two per side
- Enclosed court, 20 × 10 metres, glass and mesh walls in play
- Solid stringless racket, underarm serve
- Tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game, set
The basics
Six things that make padel padel
It is always doubles
Four players, two a side. Singles padel exists on a narrower court but is rare. This is the single biggest reason padel is social: you never play it alone, and you rarely play it with the same three people twice.
The court is enclosed and small
20 metres by 10, surrounded by glass and metal mesh, with a net across the middle. About a third of a tennis court, which means far less running and far more time near your partner.
The walls are in play
After the ball bounces on your side, it may come off the back or side wall and you can still return it. This is what keeps rallies alive and why points last much longer than in tennis.
The serve is underarm
You bounce the ball and hit it below waist height, diagonally into the opposite service box. There is no serving power advantage, which removes the barrier that keeps beginners out of tennis.
The racket is solid
No strings — a perforated composite blade, shorter than a tennis racket. Less power, more control, and much more forgiving on mishits.
Scoring is borrowed from tennis
15, 30, 40, game; six games with a two-game margin takes the set; best of three sets takes the match. If you know tennis scoring, you already know padel scoring.
Getting on court
How to play your first game
Do not buy anything yet
Almost every club rents rackets, and balls are usually included in the court fee. Wear trainers with a decent grip and sports clothes. Buy a racket after five or six games, when you know whether you actually like it.
Find a beginner game, not a beginner court
Padel is only fun when the four players are roughly matched. Look for games explicitly marked for beginners rather than booking a court and hoping. In RabbitMatch these are filtered by level by default.
Learn three rules and ignore the rest
Serve underarm and diagonally. The ball must bounce on your side before it hits a wall. You lose the point if the ball hits the wall on your opponents' side before bouncing on the floor. Everything else you will pick up from the game.
Play from the back at first
Beginners tend to hug the net and get lobbed. Start further back, let the ball come off the wall, and hit it after it drops. The wall is your friend before it is your problem.
Book the next one before you leave
The single biggest predictor of whether someone keeps playing padel is whether the second game is already in the calendar. Take a spot in the feed while you are still on court.
Padel vs tennis
How it differs from the game everyone compares it to
Both use a net, a court and tennis scoring. Almost everything else is different, and the differences all point the same way — padel is easier to start and harder to dominate.
Court size
Padel: 20 × 10 m, enclosed. Tennis: 23.77 × 10.97 m for doubles, open. Less ground to cover, shorter distances, far kinder on knees.
Racket
Padel uses a solid perforated blade with no strings and no handle length to speak of. Tennis uses a strung frame. The padel racket generates less power and demands less technique to make clean contact.
Serve
Underarm and below the waist in padel — nobody serves aces past you. In tennis the serve is often the whole point. This is the difference that makes a padel beginner competitive on day one.
Walls
Padel balls stay in play off the glass. Tennis balls are out. Rallies in padel run far longer, which is more exercise and more fun for the same hour of court time.
Format
Padel is doubles by default; tennis is commonly singles. Four people per booking splits the court cost and makes the sport inherently social.
Learning curve
Most people can hold a rally in padel within an hour. Tennis usually takes weeks of lessons before a rally is possible at all. Padel's ceiling is still very high — the entry is just much lower.
Padel questions
What is padel, in one sentence?
Padel is a doubles racket sport played on a 20 × 10 metre enclosed court where the glass and mesh walls are part of play, using a solid stringless racket, an underarm serve and tennis scoring.
Is padel the same as pickleball or paddle tennis?
No. Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court with a perforated plastic ball and no walls. Paddle tennis is a different American game. Padel is the enclosed-court, glass-walled sport that originated in Mexico in 1969 and spread through Spain and Argentina.
Do I need to be fit or have played tennis before?
Neither. The court is small, the serve is underarm and the racket is forgiving, so beginners can rally in their first session. Tennis experience helps slightly with timing and hurts slightly with technique — padel rewards placement over power.
How many people do I need?
Four. That is the main practical barrier to playing padel, and it is why apps that match players by level exist — most games are formed from people who did not previously know each other.
What equipment do I need to start?
Trainers with grip and sports clothing. Rackets are rented at nearly every club and balls are usually included in the court fee. Wait until you have played several times before buying a racket.
How long does a game last?
Courts are typically booked in 60 or 90 minute slots. A full best-of-three-sets match takes roughly 90 minutes; a social session usually plays as many games as fit the booking.
How is padel scored?
Exactly like tennis: points run 15, 30, 40, game. Six games with a margin of two wins a set, and a tie-break is played at 6-6. Matches are best of three sets.
Can the ball hit the wall on the serve?
The serve must bounce in the diagonal service box first. After that it may touch the side or back wall and remain in play — but if it hits the metal mesh before bouncing on the floor, the serve is a fault.
The rules make more sense on a court
Find a beginner game near you and learn the rest in an hour.