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Padel serve rules: underhand, diagonal, two attempts
The padel serve is the opposite of the tennis serve: it is hit underhand, the ball touches the ground first, and placement matters more than power. Even so, “was that serve good?” is the argument you hear most often on court. Here are all the rules, together with the most common faults, so the next debate on your court lasts ten seconds instead of five minutes.
The serve, step by step
- The server stands behind the service line, opposite the right or left box on their own half. Stepping on the line or crossing the centre line is a fault.
- They bounce the ball on the ground; it must bounce in the area behind the server (between the service line and the back wall).
- They strike the ball below waist height; at the moment of contact at least one foot must be on the ground, and the feet must not be walking, running or jumping.
- The ball must cross the net and land in the diagonally opposite service box; the lines bounding the box count as in.
What does “waist height” mean?
At the moment of contact the ball must be at or below the server’s waist; the handle of the racket must also stay below wrist height as the ball is struck. Tall players who bounce the ball high and hit it “at the waist” are on the edge of the rule; in a match without an umpire it is read with goodwill, but hitting the ball clearly at hip height ends the argument.
Two attempts
As in tennis, you get two attempts. If the first serve is a fault, you hit a second one; if that is a fault too, the point goes to the receiving team (a double fault). Service faults include: stepping on the line, hitting the ball above the waist, hitting it without a bounce, serving into the wrong box or out, the ball hitting the fence (mesh) after landing in the box, and the server missing the ball altogether (bouncing the ball and failing to hit it counts as a fault).
Glass, fence and let
- If the ball lands in the service box and then hits the glass and comes back into play, the serve is valid; the receiver may play the ball off the glass.
- If the ball lands in the box and then hits the fence (the metal mesh), the serve is a fault. The glass-versus-fence distinction is padel’s most frequently forgotten rule.
- If the ball touches the net and lands in the box, it is a let: the serve is replayed (the number of attempts does not change). If it touches the net, lands in the box and then hits the fence, it is still a let, not a fault.
- A serve hit while the receiver is not ready is also a let; but if the receiver made an attempt to hit the ball, they are deemed to have been ready.
Rules for the receiver
The serve must be returned after it has bounced once; returning it on the volley is a fault. The receiver may wait for the ball to land in the box and hit the glass, then play it off the glass, provided they hit it before the second bounce. The receiver’s partner may stand wherever they like, and so may the server’s partner; only the server and the receiver are tied to a position at the start of the point.
Right–left order and the serving rotation
Every game starts from the right box and the side changes on every point: from the right when your own team’s points add up to an even number, from the left when odd. (0-0 right, 15-0 left, 15-15 right…) The serve rotates through the four players game by game: a player from team A, a player from team B, the other player from A, the other player from B. This order stays the same for the whole set; if it is noticed that someone has served out of turn, it is corrected immediately and the points already played stand. In a tie-break, the first point is a single serve and after that the serve changes every two points; the details are in the scoring article.
Serving on the golden point
If you are playing with the golden point (a single point at 40-40), the receiving team chooses which box the serve is hit into; the server is not bound by the usual box sequence on their side. If the server does not know this and serves into the wrong box, it is not a let but a fault — talk it through before the match.
The most common service faults
- Foot fault: a foot on the service line, or over the extension of the centre line, at the moment of contact. The most overlooked fault in club matches and the most frequently called one in umpired matches.
- High bounce + shoulder-height contact: it adds power but it is against the rules.
- Forgetting to bounce: common in the first week for players coming from tennis; a serve hit without a bounce is a fault.
- The serve that catches the fence: a serve that lands in the box and then hits the mesh in the corner looks “good” but is a fault; one that hits the glass is valid.
- Missing the serve: if you bounce the ball and fail to hit it, it counts as a fault; there are no “practice” attempts.
A tactical note (not a rule)
Because the rule says “below the waist”, the padel serve is not a powerful weapon; a good serve is one that lands deep and close to the glass corner: the receiver struggles to control the ball coming off the glass, and the serving team gets the chance to move up to the net. On the second serve play it safe, down the middle and deep; the double fault is unforgivable in padel, because you are giving away a point in the one sport where the serve is meant to be almost a formality. Aim for a spot the receiver has to move to, not for a spot they cannot reach; consistency wins more games than a single ace ever will.
In the app
ScoreSay keeps track of the serving order, the right/left box and the receiver’s choice on the golden point by itself; the serve-ball indicator on the screen and on your watch shows which player serves from which side. “Whose serve was it?” stays off the court. For the whole of the scoring, see padel scoring rules.