Padel for Beginners: Everything You Need for Your First Match

So someone invited you to play padel. You said yes. Now what? Whether you're coming from tennis, squash, or you've never touched a racket in your life, here's everything you need to know before stepping on court for the first time.

What Is Padel?

Padel is a racket sport played in doubles (2 vs 2) on an enclosed court with glass walls. Think of it as a mix between tennis and squash - you score like tennis, but the ball bounces off the walls and stays in play. It's the fastest-growing sport in Europe and the second most popular sport in Spain and Argentina.

The reason it's growing so fast? It's incredibly fun from day one. Unlike tennis, where you spend months just learning to rally, padel lets beginners have competitive points almost immediately. The walls keep the ball in play longer, the underhand serve is easy to learn, and the enclosed court means less chasing after balls.

What to Bring

• Racket: Most padel clubs rent rackets for a few euros. Don't buy one until you've played a few times and know you enjoy it
• Shoes: Tennis shoes or any court shoes with non-marking soles. Running shoes work in a pinch, but they don't grip the artificial turf well. Avoid anything with aggressive tread
• Balls: Usually provided by the club or whoever organized the match. Padel balls look like tennis balls but have slightly less pressure
• Comfortable sports clothing: Anything you'd wear to the gym works. Padel-specific clothing exists but is totally unnecessary for beginners
• Water: Padel is more physically demanding than it looks. You'll be surprised how much you sweat, especially in indoor courts

The Court

A padel court is 20m long and 10m wide - roughly 25% smaller than a tennis court. It's surrounded by walls: glass at the back (up to 4 meters high) and a combination of glass and metal mesh on the sides. There's a net in the middle, slightly lower than a tennis net.

The key thing to understand: the walls are part of the game. When the ball hits the glass after bouncing on the ground, it's still in play. This is what makes padel unique and what takes the longest to get used to.

Basic Rules You Need to Know

Scoring

Padel uses the same scoring as tennis:

• Points go: 0, 15, 30, 40, game
• At 40-40 (deuce), most padel uses golden point - one sudden-death point decides the game. The receiving team chooses which side to receive on
• First team to 6 games wins the set (must win by 2). At 6-6, a tiebreak is played
• Matches are best of 3 sets. The third set is usually a super tiebreak (first to 10 points, win by 2)

Serving

The serve must be hit underhand. Bounce the ball on the ground and hit it at or below waist height. Serve diagonally into the opposite box. You get two attempts - if both miss, it's a double fault (point to the other team).

The serve must bounce in the service box before hitting the back wall. If it hits the side wall before bouncing, it's a fault.

The Walls

Here's the rule that confuses newcomers most:

• The ball must bounce on the ground first before hitting a wall - you can't volley the ball directly into the glass
• After bouncing on the ground, if the ball hits the back wall or side wall, it's still in play. You can hit it back
• The ball can bounce off multiple walls in sequence and still be played
• You can even run out of the court through the side openings to retrieve a ball that's been lobbed over the glass (advanced move, don't worry about this yet)

Net Play

You can volley the ball (hit it before it bounces) just like in tennis. In fact, the net position is where points are won in padel. The team that controls the net usually controls the match.

Serve Rotation

In doubles padel, all four players serve in rotation. The serve order alternates between teams:

1. Player A from Team 1 serves
2. Player C from Team 2 serves
3. Player B from Team 1 serves
4. Player D from Team 2 serves
5. Back to Player A

Each player serves an entire game before the serve rotates. Within a game, the server alternates serving from the right side (deuce) and left side (advantage).

Positioning

The court has two zones that matter:

• The net (offensive position): Stand about 2-3 meters from the net. From here you can volley, smash, and put pressure on opponents. This is where you want to be
• The back (defensive position): Stand near the glass wall. From here you're retrieving shots and trying to work your way back to the net

As a beginner, focus on one simple concept: move forward together with your partner when attacking, move back together when defending. Stay on the same horizontal line - don't leave your partner alone at the net or alone at the back.

Tips for Your First Match

1. Don't swing hard. Padel is about placement, not power. A well-placed soft shot beats a wild hard shot every time
2. Use the lob. When you're stuck at the back and the opponents are at the net, lob the ball over them. It's the simplest and most effective defensive shot in padel
3. Let the ball come to you. The walls give you extra time. Don't rush forward to hit the ball - let it bounce off the glass and hit it comfortably
4. Communicate with your partner. Call "mine" or "yours" on every ball. The middle of the court causes the most confusion
5. Stay patient. Padel points are longer than tennis points. Don't try to win the point in one shot. Build it up, wait for a short ball, then attack
6. Watch the walls. The first few times a ball bounces off the glass, you'll freeze. That's normal. After 20 minutes, you'll start reading the angles
7. Have fun. Nobody expects you to be good on day one. Padel is a social sport - enjoy the rallies, laugh at the mistakes, and you'll be hooked before the match is over

Track Your Progress

Once you start playing regularly, tracking your matches helps you see how you're improving. Punto+ lets you score matches directly from your Apple Watch - it handles all the rules (golden point, tiebreaks, serve rotation) so you can focus on playing. No phone needed on court.