Banan och utrustningen
Banan, väggarna, nätet, bollen och racket, så som reglerna beskriver dem.
The court: size, walls and net
A padel court is 20 m long and 10 m wide inside its walls, with service lines 6.95 m from the net and a net 88 cm high in the middle. The ends are 3 m of wall topped with 1 m of mesh.
Doors, side gaps and the safety area
Courts have one or two openings in each side. Playing outside the court is only possible where there are two openings on each side and a clear safety area beyond them.
Rackets and balls
A padel racket is solid, perforated and no longer than 45.5 cm, with a wrist cord you must wear. Balls are like tennis balls but with less pressure, and must bounce between 1.35 m and 1.45 m from a 2.54 m drop.
Surface, mesh, lighting and orientation
Courts are cement, synthetic or artificial grass, in green, blue or terracotta, with a bounce that stays even. The mesh is square welded wire, lights hang at least 6 m up, and outdoor courts are best laid out north to south.
Do the lines count during a rally?
Only on the serve. Once the serve is in, the lines stop mattering: a ball that bounces anywhere on the other pair's floor is good, right up to the foot of the walls.
The ball hits the bar across a doorway
Where an opening has no door, the metal bar or channel fixed across the floor counts as part of the fence frame. Treat it like the mesh: fine after the ball has bounced on the floor, a lost point before it.
The ball hits the padding on a door frame or net post
The FIP rules require the padding but do not say how a ball off it is treated. It is fixed to the door frames and the net posts, which both count as part of the court, so most players treat it like the frame or post it covers. Agree it before you start.
The net looks too high or too low
A padel net is 88 cm high in the middle and 92 cm at the ends, with only 5 mm of leeway either way. If it looks wrong, measure the centre and put it right before you start.