Padel Rules: Scoring, Serve, Walls and the New Star Point

Padel looks like tennis, but the glass, the mesh and the underhand serve change the game.

This guide explains the padel rules from the International Padel Federation (FIP) rulebook in force since 1 January 2026. It includes the new star point deuce rule and what to agree on before a friendly at your club.

The padel court: size, glass and mesh

Under FIP rules the court measures 20 m by 10 m inside.

• Net: 88 cm high in the centre and 92 cm at the ends.
• Service lines: 6.95 m from the net. A centre service line splits that area into two service boxes per side.
• Lines are in: a ball landing on the line is good.

The court is fully enclosed. The back walls are 4 m high: 3 m of glass or solid wall with 1 m of metal mesh on top. The side walls have glass at the corners and mesh in the middle, with one or two openings per side.

Padel scoring: points, games, sets and tie-breaks

Padel uses tennis scoring. Here it is in order, from a single point to the match.

Deuce in padel: advantage, golden point and star point

At 40-40 in padel, the FIP rules let the organiser choose between three systems:

• Advantage works as in tennis.
• Golden point settles the game with one deciding point at the first deuce.
• Star point, used on FIP circuits since 2026, allows two advantages and then a single deciding point.

Advantage: the pair that wins the next point has advantage. Win the following point and you take the game; lose it and you are back to deuce.

Golden point: at 40-40 one deciding point is played. The receiving pair chooses to receive on the right or the left and may not swap positions for that point. In mixed doubles, the player of the same sex as the server receives.

Star point: approved unanimously by the FIP General Assembly on 28 November 2025. It starts at the first deuce and has three stages:

1. First advantage: if the pair with advantage wins the point, they win the game; if not, the score goes back to 40-40.
2. Second advantage: same logic. If the pair with advantage loses, play moves to the star point.
3. Star point: one deciding point. The receiving pair picks the side and may not swap positions; in mixed doubles the player of the same sex as the server receives. The winner takes the game.

Which rule applies in FIP events and at your club?

According to FIP's December 2025 announcement, the star point is used from 2026 in Premier Padel, the CUPRA FIP Tour, the FIP Promises youth tour and the amateur FIP Beyond events. Advantage and golden point remain options in the rulebook.

In a club league or tournament, the organiser decides. In a friendly, the four of you agree before the first serve.

To keep score in a friendly with any of the three systems, use our free padel score counter on your phone.

Padel serve rules

In padel you serve underhand. You bounce the ball behind the service line and hit it at or below waist height, with at least one foot on the ground, sending it diagonally into the opponent's service box. You get two serves per point, and the receiver must let the serve bounce before playing it.

The serve is a fault if:

• you break any of the serve rules above, for example touching the service line or hitting the ball above waist height;
• you miss the ball;
• it lands outside the service box;
• it hits you or your partner;
• it bounces in the box and then touches the metal mesh before the second bounce.

A serve that bounces in the box and then hits the glass is good. Two faults in a row lose the point.

Playing off the glass and the mesh

Once the ball has bounced on the opponents' side, it may hit the glass or the mesh and stays in play. They must return it before it bounces a second time. Your own shot, however, must land on the opponents' floor before it touches any of their walls.

• Your own glass is allowed. You may play the ball against the glass on your side so it travels over the net.
• Your own mesh is not. If your shot touches the mesh or the floor on your side, you lose the point.
• Floor first on their side. If your shot hits the opponents' glass or mesh without bouncing first, you lose the point. The same applies if it clips the net and goes straight into their wall.
• Corners count. A ball landing where the wall meets the floor is good.
• Stuck balls. If the ball bounces on their side and then goes through or sticks in the mesh, or rests on top of the wall, the point goes to the hitter.

When the ball leaves the court: por tres and por cuatro

Playing outside the court is only allowed if the court meets FIP conditions: two openings on each side and a clear safety area outside (at least 3 m wide, 4 m long and 3 m high). Without them, if the ball bounces correctly and then goes over the outer limit or through a door, the point goes to the hitter.

Where it is allowed, two situations come up. The FIP rulebook describes them without names:

• Over the back wall: the ball bounces on the opponents' side and leaves over the back wall. The point is over.
• Over a side wall or through a door: the defender may run out and play the ball outside. The point ends if the ball bounces a second time or touches anything not part of the court.

Players call these smashes "por tres" (x3) and "por cuatro" (x4), Spanish slang that is not used consistently.

• Most often por tres means a ball that leaves over the side wall or through a door after the bounce.
• Some players use por cuatro for a ball that leaves over the back wall, others for a side exit higher up or through the door.

If you hear the terms at your club, the rule above is what counts.

Faults that lose the point

You lose the point in padel if the ball bounces twice on your side, if you touch the net or a post while the ball is in play, if your shot hits the opponents' wall before their floor, or if their shot hits your body. These are the most common situations from FIP's "point lost" rule:

• You, your racket or anything you wear touches the net, a post, the net cable or the opponents' court while the ball is in play.
• The ball bounces twice on your side.
• You hit the ball before it has crossed the net.
• You hit the ball twice, or both you and your partner hit it.
• Your own shot touches you or your partner.
• The opponents' shot hits your body or kit, not your racket.
• You throw your racket at the ball or jump over the net.
• You drop your racket or the wrist cord breaks. FIP makes the wrist cord compulsory.

Volleys are allowed on every shot except the serve. If the ball splits or something enters the court, the point is replayed (let).

Can you play padel singles (one against one)?

Padel is officially a doubles game. The FIP rules are written for pairs: they begin the rule on positions with "Each pair of players will be on either side of the net". The Italian federation's course material says padel is always played two against two. We found no federation rules for singles and no official singles court.

Courts of 6 × 20 m for singles are mentioned online, but they appear neither in the FIP rules nor in the 2026 competition guides of the French federation (FFT) or the 2026 LTA referee and organiser guide. Singles does happen informally, for practice or when only two players turn up, and some local events have written their own rules.

If you play one against one, agree on these points before the first serve:

• Court: the full court, or only one half lengthways, and which lines then count.
• Serve: the normal underhand serve diagonally into the box, or another arrangement you both accept.
• Walls: whether the side glass and mesh along an unused half are in play.
• Scoring: full sets, a shorter set or a points target, and whether you use golden point.

Because there is no standard, a singles result says little about a player's doubles level.

Changing ends

• You change ends after the 1st, 3rd and every following odd game of a set.
• In a tie-break you change every 6 points.
• In FIP events the break is up to 90 seconds, but after the first game of each set and during a tie-break you change straight away.

Ready to play? In the PFM – Play For More app you can find padel players at your level, create or join open matches and book courts at clubs that use PFM. After the match you enter the score set by set and your opponent confirms it. Get the app or see clubs using PFM.

Sources

• Rules of Padel (in force from 1 January 2026), International Padel Federation (FIP)
• Rules of padel, International Padel Federation (FIP)
• Between innovation and tradition: introducing the "Star Point", International Padel Federation (FIP), 18 December 2025
• Official padel rules explained, LTA Padel
• LTA Padel Referee and Organiser Guide 2026, LTA Padel
• Padel (course material for club managers), Federazione Italiana Tennis e Padel (FITP)
• Guide de la compétition padel 2026, chapitre I : règles générales, Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT), copy published by the Ligue de Normandie de tennis
• Padel terminology, Tennis Warehouse Learning Center