Padel Serve Rules: Who Serves, From Where and To Where

The serve is the one shot in padel you fully control. It is also the shot with the most rules to break. A foot on the line, a ball bounced in front of the line, the wrong receiver after a tiebreak. Here it all is in one place, per the FIP rules in force since 1 January 2026. For points and sets, see padel rules.

The toss: who starts

A toss is held before the match (rule 4.1). The pair that wins it has three options:

• choose whether to serve or receive first, and the opponents then choose the end;
• choose the end for the first game, and the opponents decide on the serve;
• leave the choice to the opponents.

This is the only place in the rules where an end of the court is chosen. From then on the ends simply alternate under rule 5.

Where you serve from

Under rule 6.1 the server stands with at least one foot behind the service line, in the area between the imaginary extension of the centre line and the side wall. They stay there until they hit the ball. Beyond that:

• the ball must bounce on the ground in the server's own box and must not cross the service line or the imaginary centre line before it is struck (6.2);
• no foot may be on the service line or on the extension of the centre line (6.3);
• the ball is struck at waist height or below with at least one foot on the ground at the moment of impact (6.4).

The rules give no height in centimetres. The waist is simply the waist.

Where you serve to

The first serve of a game goes from the right side, diagonally across the net into the service box on the receiving pair's left (6.5). The sides alternate after every point. A ball that touches the line is good (7.1 c).

Two serves and what counts as a fault

You get two serves for each point. Two faults in a row mean the server loses the point (13.1 q). Under rule 7.1 a serve is a fault when the ball:

• lands outside the service box;
• hits the server, their partner or their equipment;
• touches the mesh after landing in the box, before bouncing a second time;
• flies out through the door on a court without a safety zone.

That third item is the treacherous one. A serve into the corner that clips the mesh after bouncing is a fault, even if the bounce was clean inside the box. The rule names only the metal mesh. More on that in the article on glass, mesh and net.

The let

If the ball touches the net or a post and lands in the service box, the serve is replayed, provided it did not touch the mesh first (9.1 a). A let on the first serve means the whole point is replayed, that is both serves (9.2 b). A net cord or let on the second serve means only the second serve is replayed (9.2 c).

Who serves and who receives during a set

This is where most of the confusion comes from, because the rules distinguish the serving order from the receiving order:

• Serving order is chosen by the pair before each set and cannot be changed until the next set (6.8).
• Receiving order is decided by the receiving pair in the first game of each set. That player receives the first serve of every game until the end of the set (8.2). The order does not change during the set or the tiebreak, but it may at the start of a new set (8.3).

Note that no rule says the pairs choose an end of the court again at the start of a set. Ends change after the first, third and every subsequent odd game (5.1). What is chosen afresh at the start of a set is only the serving and receiving order.

If someone serves from the wrong side or out of turn, the points played stand and the error is corrected as soon as it is discovered (6.7, 6.9).

The tiebreak

In the tiebreak, the player whose turn it is serves one point from the right side. Then the opponents serve two points, the first from the left, and from there on the serve alternates every two points. Ends change after every six points (5.2). The next set opens with a serve from the pair that did not start the tiebreak.

Golden point and star point

At the golden point and at the star point the receiving pair chooses whether to receive from the right or from the left. The players may not swap positions to do so. In mixed doubles, the player of the same sex as the server receives (rule 1, variants 2 and 3).

The receiver

The receiver may stand anywhere in their half, and the same goes for their partner and for the server's partner (3.2). But if the serve hits the receiver or their racket before the ball bounces, it is a point for the server (8.5). Standing in front of the line is possible, then, but risky.

Did you know?

• You can change the receiving order and the serving order every set, but you don't choose the end (6.8, 8.3).
• Serving out of turn does not cancel the points already played (6.7, 6.9).
• In padel the ball is bounced on the ground before the serve (6.2). For how the serve works in tennis, see tennis rules.