Padel Rules in 5 Minutes — NZ Beginner's Guide | Padel Park

May 14, 2026

If you're walking onto a padel court for the first time, the rules can feel a little intimidating.

They're not.

Once you know five or six things, you'll be playing. Here's the complete cheat sheet from the team at Padel Park Hamilton.

1. Padel is always doubles

Padel is played 2 vs 2. You can play singles in theory, but in practice almost no one does. Find a partner, find another pair, and you're a game.

This is one of the reasons padel is so social — four people, one court, one ball, lots of fun.

2. The court has walls — and they're in play

A padel court is 10m x 20m, enclosed by glass and wire mesh.

The key thing to know: the walls are part of the game.

After the ball bounces on the ground once, it can hit the walls and stay in play. You're allowed to:

let the ball bounce on the ground, then off your back wall — and hit it back
play the ball off the walls on your way to a return
even hit the ball into your own glass to send it back over the net (rare, but legal)

This is what makes padel different. Don't panic when the ball goes past you — use the wall.

3. The serve is underarm and diagonal

Padel serves are pretty relaxed compared to tennis:

You serve underarm
The ball must bounce on the ground first before you hit it
You must contact the ball at or below waist height
It must land in the diagonal service box on the other side
You get two serves, like tennis

Faults work like tennis — fault, then double fault.

4. The scoring is exactly like tennis

If you've played tennis, you already know it:

15, 30, 40, game
Deuce at 40-40 — win by two clear points
First to six games wins a set
Usually best of three sets

Some clubs use "golden point" (sudden death at deuce) to keep games quick — that's normal and you'll often see it in social play.

5. The ball must bounce on the ground first

This is the rule that catches most beginners.

The ball must bounce on the ground before it hits a wall on your side. If it hits the wall first without bouncing on the ground, it's your opponents' point.

Out is out — if the ball bounces past the back line, no one can save it off the wall after it has gone out.

6. The serve can only bounce off your side wall — not the back wall

One small serving rule worth knowing: if your serve clears the net, bounces in the service box, and then hits the back wall on the full, it's a fault.

If it bounces in the service box and then hits the side wall, it's in play — your opponent has to deal with it.

7. You can hit the ball through the gaps

Some padel courts have small gaps between the glass and the mesh — advanced players can occasionally save a ball by hitting it through the gap and back into play. Don't worry about this in your first game. It's rare and very cool when it happens.

The most important rule of all: use the walls

If we had to coach you in one sentence:

Don't run away from a ball going past you — wait, let it bounce, and play it off the back wall.

This single habit makes padel feel a hundred times easier and is the thing tennis players take longest to learn.

What you need to play your first game

A padel racket (rentals are available at Padel Park if you haven't bought one yet)
Court shoes — trainers with good grip are fine to start
A friend, or three (or come along to social hits and we'll match you up)

If you're thinking about buying a racket, our 30-second padel racket finder will pick the right shape and weight for you.

Coach's pick — first racket

Wilson Optix V2 Lite Padel Racket

Round shape, light, forgiving sweet spot. The kind of racket we usually hand to a brand-new player on their first lesson.

Shop Wilson Optix V2 Lite →

The fastest way to learn the rules: just play

Honestly, reading the rules only gets you so far. Padel is the kind of sport where 20 minutes on court will teach you more than an hour on YouTube.

At Padel Park we run intro sessions for first-timers — a coach walks you through the rules on court, gets you rallying, and explains the wall play as it happens.

Book your first session or just turn up — we're open 5–10pm weekdays and 10am–3pm weekends with staff on the desk.

Quick links

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FAQs

How do you score in padel?

Exactly like tennis: 15, 30, 40, game. First to six games wins a set, usually best of three sets.

Is the serve overarm or underarm in padel?

Underarm. The ball must bounce on the ground first and be struck at or below waist height.

Can you play the walls in padel?

Yes. After the ball bounces on the ground once, it can hit the back or side walls and stay in play. This is the most important rule that makes padel different from tennis.