What Is Padel? How to Play, Score, and Use the Walls

Padel looks close enough to tennis to feel familiar, then the first ball reaches the glass and the game changes.

It is usually played by four people on a smaller enclosed court. The serve begins after a bounce and is struck at or below waist height. The walls are part of the point. Those three ideas make padel easy to enter and deep enough to keep learning.

You do not need a catalogue of Spanish shot names before your first match. You need to understand the shape of the court, how a point starts, what stays in play, and where to stand with your partner.

Padel in one sentence

Padel is a racket sport played by two pairs across a net on an enclosed court, with the surrounding walls remaining part of the rally after the ball bounces.

The court and scoring borrow enough from tennis to make the game recognizable. The underhand serve, solid perforated racket, close partner, and playable rebounds give it a different rhythm. Power helps, but control, position, and patience usually matter first.

The court changes the game

An official padel court measures 10 by 20 metres inside. A net divides it in half, and glass or solid walls with metal fencing enclose it. The compact space keeps all four players close to the point.

A ball must first bounce inside the court on your side. It may then rebound from the glass and still be returned before a second bounce. That extra life is the part new players resist at first. Stepping back and letting the wall help is often better than rushing forward to take every ball early.

Every point starts below the waist

The server stands behind the service line, bounces the ball, and strikes it at or below waist height into the diagonal service box. As in tennis, there are two service attempts.

The serve is not meant to end the point. Its first job is to start with shape: serve deep enough to make the return less comfortable, then move forward with your partner. The pair that controls the net usually controls more of the court.

Scoring will sound familiar

The standard score runs 15, 30, 40, then game. A set normally goes to six games with a two-game margin, with a tie-break at 6–6. Matches are generally best of three sets. FIP rules also allow alternatives such as a golden deciding point, so a club or competition may tell you which format it uses before play.

For a casual first match, the useful habit is simpler: call the score clearly before every serve. Knowing where the point stands removes more confusion than memorizing every rare rule.

What you need for a first match

• A padel racket. It has no strings and its hitting surface is perforated. The wrist cord is mandatory under the official rules.
• Padel balls. They look like tennis balls but follow padel’s own pressure and bounce specification.
• Stable court shoes. Secure lateral movement matters more than running-shoe softness.
• Four players. Standard padel is doubles, with one pair on each side of the net.

What feels different from tennis

The ball comes back more often. The court is shorter. Your partner is always close. A hard shot that would be a clean winner on an open tennis court may rebound from the glass and return to you.

That changes the best first instinct. Do not try to finish every ball. Keep the ball low, move with your partner, take the net together when you can, and give the other pair one more decision to make.

A useful plan for the first hour

1. Start each point with a controlled serve or return.
2. Move forward and back with your partner instead of leaving a gap.
3. Use the middle when you do not have a clear target.
4. Let deep balls bounce and learn the glass one rebound at a time.
5. Choose one more playable ball over one ambitious winner.

You will still lose track of the score, misread the glass, and stand in the wrong place. That is a normal first match. The game becomes clear through points, not through preparation alone.

Where to play in Istanbul

More Padel is an outdoor padel venue in Kanlica, Beykoz, on Istanbul’s Anatolian side. Find four players, choose a time, and use the reservation options on the More Padel home page.