For players
What is padel and how is it played?
Padel sits between tennis and squash: a small court enclosed by glass, played almost always as doubles. The low barrier to a first rally is the main reason it has spread so quickly across Turkey in recent years.
Court and equipment
A padel court is 20 × 10 metres, noticeably smaller than a tennis court. The glass and mesh walls around it are part of the game — the ball stays live after coming off a wall.
The racket is not strung: it is a solid, perforated, short-handled surface. The ball resembles a tennis ball at slightly lower pressure. Beyond shoes you need no special kit; most clubs rent rackets.
The serve: underarm, below the waist
The server bounces the ball once and hits it underarm, below waist height. It must land in the diagonal service box — so far, the same logic as tennis.
Here is the difference: after landing in the box the serve may hit a wall and play continues. Only a serve that strikes the mesh fence directly is a fault. As in tennis, you get two serves.
Playing the walls is the heart of the game
This is the rule that really separates padel from tennis: if the ball bounces once on your side and then hits the wall, you may play it off the rebound. Shots that would be winners in tennis stay live in padel, and rallies run long.
The converse also holds: if your own shot hits the wall on the far side without bouncing on the ground first, you lose the point. Ground first, then wall — that is the order.
Scoring is the same as tennis
Points go 15, 30, 40, game, with advantage played at 40–40. Sets are to six games and matches are usually best of three sets.
To keep amateur tournaments to schedule, a single deciding “golden point” at 40–40 is also widely used.
Three tips for your first session
Do not hit hard. Most padel points are won patiently, against an opponent waiting for the rebound; a powerful shot usually just hands them an easy ball.
Get to the net. Net position is even more decisive in padel than in tennis, and moving up together as a pair is the basic tactic.
Treat the wall as space, not as an enemy. The most common beginner mistake is running away from a ball heading for the glass instead of following it.