How to play padel?

The court

A padelcourt measures 10×20 meters. The court is surrounded by solid walls, 3 meters high in the back, made of bricks or glass and wire fence on part of the sides. Net divides the court into two halves much like a tennis court. Padel is played in doubles and is like a mix of tennis and squash. Play outside the glass and mesh walls is possible when the ball bounces above the walls but requires quick feet to return into the padel court.

Service & scoring

In Padel, all play begins with an underhand serve from the right service court into the opponent’s court diagonally across, like tennis. The server may serve from anywhere in the service zone, between the short service line and wall and behind the service line. If the ball lands in the service box and hits the side fence wall, it is considered a fault. Like in tennis, the player has a first and second serve and the receiver can choose to return the serve immediately after the ball has bounced or wait for the ball to bounce off a wall. The ball can never touch the ground of the one court side before a return, nor touch any of the other players. Hitting the ball directly in the opposite courtsides glass- or wire fenced walls is considered a fault. Apart from the serve the player can choose to return on volley or through wall bounce. Scoring, like tennis, is best out of three sets, if the score is 6-6 in sets a tiebreak occurs.

Choosing a padel racket

This game means quick movements and communication with your partner. Choosing the right racket can make the game easier and increase your chances of winning. Apart from covering areas of the court the player must constantly consider the next move at every moment of the game. A light weight padel racket is more forgiving and makes quick maneuvers easier and gives the player more control. It’s often precision and avoiding mistakes that gives you an advantage in the early stages of your padel career. If the player has a history of injuries and wants to be proactive in trying to avoid any more of those the choice of racket becomes crucial. In that case the player is recommended to choose a light weight racket with a lower balance to minimize strain on joints and muscle mounts. It’s really not until the player has improved his or her placement skills and can handle most elements of the game that the attributes of the racket become more important and the choice might have to be reevaluated. Then the goal is to charge a more forceful attack with a more harder racket combined with a higher center of gravity. The adept player can gain advantages by increased friction when hitting the ball which allows precise net and wall placements. Choosing the right padel racket can give the player important advantages in facing opponents. The WPT Final in Båstad 2018 was entertaining and players performed absolute world class, Juan Martín Días & Francisco Navarro Compán vs. Fernando Belasteguin & Pablo Lima, final score 2-6, 6-3, 3-6.