How to Play Padel: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
New to padel? Learn how a game works, how to hold the racket, how to serve, use the walls and play as a team, plus tips for your first match.
Padel feels like a mix of tennis and squash, played in doubles on a small glass court. Most people can rally on their first visit, which is why clubs are opening everywhere. Here's everything you need to walk onto court with confidence.
This guide goes through equipment, a point from start to finish, and the habits that make beginners improve quickly.
What you need
- A padel racket: solid and stringless, with holes in the face. Round rackets are the most forgiving for beginners.
- Padel balls: similar to tennis balls but with slightly less pressure.
- Court shoes: padel or clay-court tennis shoes grip the artificial grass and sand.
- Three friends: padel is played two against two.
Step 1: Know your side and partner
Each pair splits the court: one player covers the left side and one the right. You'll swap who receives on each side, but in most rallies you stay on your side and trust your partner with theirs.
Step 2: Serve underhand
Stand behind the service line, bounce the ball and hit it below waist height, diagonally into the box across the net. You get two tries. Aim deep and safe rather than hard. The serve is a way to start the point, not to win it.
Step 3: Let the ball bounce, then play it
The return of serve must bounce first. After that, play continues like tennis: the ball can be volleyed or played after one bounce. The big difference is the walls. If the ball bounces and then hits your back or side glass, you can wait for it to come off the wall and still hit it.
Step 4: Move to the net together
Most points are won at the net. When you get a comfortable ball, move forward with your partner so you both stand a couple of metres from the net. When you're pushed back, retreat together. Pairs that move as a unit beat pairs that split up.
Step 5: Use the lob
When both opponents are at the net, a high lob over their heads forces them back and lets your pair take the net. It's the most important shot in padel and much easier than it looks.
Step 6: Keep score
Padel uses tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game, six games to win a set, and a tiebreak at 6-6. Many clubs use the golden point at 40-40. Read the full padel rules before your first match.
Five tips for your first match
- Keep the ball low and in play. Errors lose more points than winners win.
- Don't fight the wall: let the ball come off the glass before you hit it.
- Talk to your partner. Calling "mine" or "yours" saves points.
- Hold the racket with a continental grip, like holding a hammer.
- Book an hour and a half. Padel is addictive.
Busy remembering who served? Padel Scoreboard: Score Keeper tracks the score, the server and every game, so you can focus on the ball.