A padel court is fenced with walls, glass wall in the back of the field. The field is also surrounded by a wire mesh fence.
It is usually played in doubles, with two players on each side of the net, meaning a total of four players on the court. However, singles can also be played, where there is only one player on each side of the net.
The object of the game is to hit the ball over the net and bounce it onto the opponent's court without them being able to hit the ball back. This can be recognized from many other racket sports such as tennis. Does the ball hit the fence or the glass without bouncing? The ball is then immediately out, point goes to the opponent.
The game begins with a serve, where the server hits the ball diagonally over the net to the other side of the court. The player gets two chances to do this. The ball must first bounce on the ground in the correct box before the opponent is allowed to hit it back. The ball may hit the glassware after the bounce, but not the fence. Often a ball against the fence can be clearly heard because it produces a completely different sound than glass. Then it is played alternately until one of the teams scores a point. What does let mean with a service?
If the ball hits the net first, then the ground and then the glass wall, the service must be taken again. Player keeps his first service. Also, if the ball hits the net band first and then touches the ground twice before the opponent can hit it back, the service must be taken again. If the ball first hits the net, then the ground, then the fence, it is considered a foul. Second serve must be played.
Scoring in padel is similar to that in tennis. The first point a player scores is counted as '15', the second point is '30', the third is '40', and the fourth point is a game-winning point, which wins the player the game.
When both players or teams have scored three points (or '40-40'), it is called 'deuce'. Starting from deuce, a player must score two points in a row to win the game. The first dot after deuce is called "advantage." If the player with 'advantage' wins the next point, he/she wins the game. If he/she loses the point, the score goes back to 'deuce' and the player has to score two points in a row again to win the game.
Who sees that golden point is being used more and more. The first team to score the golden point (40-40) wins the game.
Strict rules apply at the net to ensure fair play and safety during the game. For example, it is not allowed to put your racket over the net, except when the ball has first bounced in your own half. As a player, you should never touch the net.
An important aspect of padel is that the ball can be played through the glass walls. This means that many different strategies are possible and that the game is much more dynamic than tennis, for example. This playing style is recognizable from squash. The glass walls make it possible to play the ball from different angles and ensure spectacular rallies.
