Paddle tennis refers to a family of racket sports played on a smaller court than lawn tennis, most commonly padel (widely played in Spain and Latin America) and platform tennis (popular in the northeastern United States). Core principles are shared across variants: doubles play, shortened court geometry, and an emphasis on quick reflexes and strategic use of walls or sideboards. The following explains the basic, widely applicable rules, and notes where formal codes from governing bodies differ.
Court, players, and scoring
A match is normally played by two teams of two players. Scoring typically follows traditional tennis scoring—points progress 15, 30, 40, game; games form sets, and sets form matches. Most competitive matches use a best-of-three sets format with a tiebreak at 6–6, though recreational play sometimes uses shorter set rules. The Rules Committee of the International Padel Federation establishes the official scoring and match formats for padel, while the Rules Committee of the American Platform Tennis Association provides the formal code for platform tennis; each body’s rulebooks reflect local playing cultures and competition structures.Serving and rallies
Serves are executed from behind the baseline and must travel diagonally into the opponent’s service box. Unlike lawn tennis, the serve is underhand in many paddle variants; the player strikes the ball from below waist level with an upward motion. After a legal serve and first bounce, rallies proceed with players allowed to play the ball after it has bounced off enclosing walls or sideboards. This use of walls is a defining tactical element: teams can rebound the ball off glass or mesh to create angles and extend rallies. Nuance matters: the precise conditions under which a ball may hit a wall, or whether a net touch is replayed, differ between padel and platform tennis rulebooks.Faults, lets, and out calls
A ball is lost if it bounces twice on a team’s side, is struck into the net, or lands outside the permitted court area without contacting an approved wall first. Serves that fail to land in the correct service box are faults; some variants allow only a single serve attempt. Nets and tape interactions are governed by the specific code in use—official rule statements from the International Padel Federation and the American Platform Tennis Association specify when a net contact results in a replay or a loss of point.Culturally, padel’s enclosed-court dynamic encourages social doubles play and has driven rapid growth in urban and suburban clubs across Spain and Latin America, influencing community recreation patterns. Platform tennis’s winter-ready courts and heated surfaces reflect regional adaptation to cold climates in the northeastern United States, enabling year-round play and a tight-knit club culture. These environmental and territorial factors shape local rule emphases, competition formats, and equipment choices, such as ball type and racket design.
For competitive or organized play, consult the full rules from the Rules Committee of the International Padel Federation for padel and the Rules Committee of the American Platform Tennis Association for platform tennis, since those bodies provide the authoritative, situation-specific rulings used in tournaments and sanctioned events.