What Is Padel?
Padel is a racket sport played in pairs on an enclosed court roughly the size of a doubles tennis service area. It blends the lateral movement of tennis with the wall play of squash, and it is widely regarded as easy to start and hard to master. This guide is a short orientation for absolute beginners.
How a court is set up
A regulation padel court is enclosed by glass and metal mesh on all sides. Walls are part of play: the ball can rebound off them after a bounce on the floor, similar to squash. A net divides the court in half, lower than a tennis net. Official interior dimensions are 20 metres long and 10 metres wide (± 0.5% tolerance). See padel court dimensions for net height, service lines, and wall specs.
Equipment
Players use solid, perforated padel rackets — distinct from tennis rackets — and a low-compression ball that looks like a tennis ball but bounces a little less. Court shoes with stable lateral support are recommended. A full checklist is in what to bring to padel.
How points are played
The serve is underhand and must bounce in the receiver's service box on the diagonal. After the serve, points play out with normal back-and-forth, except that any ball can be played off the back or side walls after it has first bounced on the opponent's side of the floor. Hitting the wall directly without a floor bounce ends the rally for the hitting team. Read padel rules for beginners for serve details and common faults.
Scoring
Padel uses tennis-style scoring: 15, 30, 40, game, and best-of-three sets to win a match. Most casual matches are played in doubles. Wondering how padel compares to other racket sports? See padel vs tennis and padel vs pickleball.
Why people enjoy it
The court size keeps rallies long, the walls keep the ball in play, and the doubles format makes it social. New players can usually rally within their first session.
Finding a court
Padel Ball Court is a free, anonymous national directory of padel courts in the United States, written in plain English for beginners. Use padel courts near me to search verified listings. When a club publishes an official booking link, we surface it — we do not process reservations ourselves (how to book a padel court).
The directory lists no fabricated clubs — pages exist for every state so submissions can populate them. Once a club is verified against public sources, it appears with a verification badge and a "last verified" date.
More guides
- Padel rules for beginners
- Padel court dimensions
- How to book a padel court
- What to bring to padel
- All guides