Jumpstart Padel Like a Champ!
You’ve already binged watched YouTube videos about padel tennis, or say a friend asked you to try it out over the weekend. Don’t worry we’ve got you covered! Here’s an easy guide for beginners and a handy refresher if you’ve already played before.
Padel is played like tennis and squash, but with fun modifications.
A padel game set is small but jam-packed with fun.
The court typically looks like a tennis court but smaller and usually has a wall that can be used to bounce the ball.
A typical padel court is caged and 20m x 10m. Typically, blue, green, or terracotta. This is a doubles racquet sport, so you’ll need to tag along with a friend. Each match begins with a typical coin toss. The winner chooses which side to play on and which team gets to serve first. What makes this game unique is that service must always be underarm. It must be directed diagonally into the opponent’s side of the court.
All you need to do is hit the ball over the net into your opponent’s side and make sure they won’t be able to return it. Easy right?
How do you score a point in padel?
Almost everybody knows how tennis is scored, but this game is a little bit different.
You get the point every time:
- the opposite team makes the ball bounce twice on your side of the court
- the ball hits players during rallies
- Opponent’s ball hits the wall or wire fencing before going over the net or going into your side of the court (out of bounds)
Just like playing squash, you can use the wall as long as it bounces inside the playing field on the other side of the net before crossing over.
Check out this short rally video and see how players seem to fly to save a point. Right off the bat, which team do you think scores in this exciting exchange?
Now that you have an idea how to score a point let’s dive deeper into the whole scoring system of the game. Strike a point and score a game. Win at least 6 games, and you get a set. Win the first two sets, and the match is yours!
Remember point, game, set, and match.
The padel score system is the best of the three matches.
Padel is a best of 3 matches. For a sure win, make sure you get 2 sets in your favor.
Starting at love (zero points), the first point is worth 15, next at 30, then 40, then game point. Say each team won one game each (40,40) this becomes a deuce, and the first team to win two consecutive game points wins the set.
In a tie-break, the point system is numeric. Teams will compete to reach 7 points, with a 2-point clearance needed at 5-5 and so on to win the “tie-break” and convert the set. This set is won by 7-6. The player of the pair that did not begin serving in the “tie-break” will start serving for the next set.
Serving and switching sides in padel matches are the necessities you’ll need to learn to enjoy this fun game.
These skills and technicalities may be confusing for a rookie but with time and practice, you’ll be smashing hits like a pro! Click on these links for more guides on acing the padel serve.
Serving is done on the right side of the center service line. The service should be diagonal like tennis, but the receiver, the receiver’s partner, and the server’s partner can be placed anywhere within their respective courts.
In any set (1-0), teams do not change fields in the first game. Each time the sum of games is odd (e.g., 2-1, 3-2, ..), the teams switch sides.
Last and most important tip, have fun!
Here’s a quick video to sum it all up:
