Padel rules and what we measure

The rules in brief

The court is 20×10 m, enclosed by glass walls and wire mesh. The ball can be played after it bounces off the glass — half of the tactics are built on this.

Pairs only: it is always 2 vs 2. Each player has a fixed side: drive (right) and revés (left, usually the more attacking player — more smashes).

The serve is underarm, after bouncing the ball behind the service line, struck at waist height or below, diagonally into the opponent’s box. Two attempts. After bouncing in the box the ball may touch the glass but not the wire mesh.

Scoring is as in tennis: 15, 30, 40, game. A set goes to 6 games with a 2-game margin; at 6:6 there is a tie-break to 7. A match is best of three sets; at some tournaments the third set is replaced by a super tie-break to 10.

At deuce (40:40) there are three possible systems:

• Star Point — the main FIP and Premier Padel system since 2026: at most two advantages are played, and at the third deuce a single decisive point. The receiving pair chooses who receives.
• Golden point — a decisive point straight away at the first deuce.
• Advantage — the classic: you must win two points in a row.

A ball that leaves the court after the bounce (over the side wall — x3, over the back wall — x4) is a winner. A player may run outside the court and return such a ball if the regulations allow it.

How we analyse a match

An analyst watches the recording and tags every rally: who finished it and how, with which shot, who served, who held the net, how many shots there were and the second in the video. The system calculates the score, break points, decisive points and sets itself — the score cannot be wrong.

• Winner — a shot the opponent could not touch or return (including x3/x4).
• Forced error — a miss under pressure from the opponent: a difficult ball, pace, position.
• Unforced error — a miss in a comfortable situation, without pressure.
• Service holds — the share of service games won.
• Decisive points — golden points and Star Points: a measure of composure.
• Net control — which pair was at the net when the point ended. In padel the pair at the net wins noticeably more often.
• Efficiency — (winners − unforced errors) per 10 pair rallies.
• Clutch index — the share of break points, decisive points and tie-break points won.
• xW — how many winners an average player would hit with the same shots; it shows which shots work better than average.