what is padel?

a little bit of history...

Game History

The first ever padel court was built in 1969 by Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera at his home in Acapulco (his garden was too small for a full-size tennis court) – but some say the roots of the sport go back to the 19th century, in a form of tennis called 'platform tennis' played by passengers on British cruise ships.

padel comes to europe...

Corcuera's friend, Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe, brings padel to Spain in the early 1970s, building two courts at his Marbella Club Hotel in Andalusia. In 1975, Argentine millionaire, Julio Menditenguia, discovered padel in Marbella and took it back home, where it became hugely popular. The International Padel Federation was formed in 1991, followed by the first world championships, held in Spain, the following year. In 1992, the British Padel Association was formed by a passionate group of expats.

rules

Padel can be played in singles, but is nearly always played as doubles.

Scoring is the same as in tennis (15-0, 15-15, 30-15 etc), however, most people play a golden point at Deuce, instead of playing to advantage.

Players take it in turns to serve for a whole game (you can decide who serves first by flipping a coin or playing a point for serve).

Serving must be performed underarm (below waist height) - allowing the ball to bounce once before serving and keeping at least one foot on the ground - from behind the service line diagonally into the opponent’s court.

Serving begins from the right court (as in tennis), and the service lines do not matter once the point is live.

If the serve bounces and hits the glass, it is considered good. If the serve bounces and hits the metal fencing, it is a fault.

If the serve hits the net, bounces in the box, and hits the glass, it is a let (and you repeat the serve). However if it hits the net, bounces and hits the metal fencing, it is a fault.

If you first serve is a fault, you get a second serve (again, same as tennis).

You must let the ball bounce before returning a serve.

Players can play off the glass on their own side of the court - however, players can not play off the metal fencing on their own side of the court.

The opposition wins the point if the ball bounces twice on your side of the court.

The opposition wins the point if the ball hits the metal fencing, net posts or light fixtures before going over the net and bouncing on their side of the court.

All volleys are good, except when returning serve.

For further explanation of the rules, download the pdf here:

PDF via the LTA