Padel and rules

Padel

Padel tennis is a mixture of different racquet sports such as tennis and squash. It is played on a court with two halves of the court separated by a net, just like tennis. However, you can also use the walls in the game – which is more like squash.

There are similar games that have been played since the 1920s but paddle as we know it today originated in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1969.

It was in Central America that it started and it is right there and South America that the sport is the biggest. In the mid 70’s, paddle came to Europe, Spain. Padel is on the rise in the rest of Europe, but it is still in Spain that it is played the most. In Spain, paddle is the second largest sport after football.

Brief rules

• Regular field (10x20m) you always play double.
• Scoring is the same & nbsp; as in tennis.
• The lines on the field are only used for serve.
• Serve must be beaten underhand and bounce in the opponents’ server box.
• Serve may bounce up in the glass wall, but if it bounces in the grid, it is incorrect.
• You have two servers on you. If the ball goes directly into the opponent’s wall, it counts as out.
• Before the ball hits the opponent’s wall, it must bounce in the ground.
• You can play a volley (not on serve), half volley or let the ball bounce on a glass / grid wall.
• You can also hit the ball on your own glass wall to get it over to the opponents’ half of the field.
• You must not hit the ball in the grid on your own side.

The rules of the serve are different from tennis

• A serve in a paddle must always be hit underhand and the ball must be hit at, or below, waist height.
• The bounce must be behind your own serve window and between the center line and the side wall.
• The serve should go diagonally and bounce in the opponent’s opposite server box.
• The serve is also valid if it bounces up in the opponent’s glass wall, but if it bounces up in the opponent’s grid, it is incorrect.
• Just like in tennis, you have a first serve and a second serve, ie if you miss your first you have another chance.
• If you also miss the second serve, there will be a double error and the point goes to the opponent If the ball at the serve touches the net before it enters, it must be turned over.

How do you win points?

• In paddle you win points if: The ball bounces in the ground twice on the opponent’s side.
• The opponent hits the ball into the net.
• The opponent hits the ball, ie either directly out of the ”cage” or directly on one of your walls.
• Note that it is valid to smash the ball into the ground and that it then bounces out of the cage.
• If the ball is smashed outside, it is ok for the opponent to run off the field and take the ball before it bounces.
• The opponent hits the ball in his own grid. An opponent is hit by the ball.