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The ball hits a lamp mounted on the wall. In play?
Anything other than the walls, the mesh and the floor is out: lights, lamp posts, the roof.
Your defensive lob touches a lighting fixture mounted on the wall above the glass on their side. What is the ruling?
Anything other than the walls, the mesh and the floor is out: lights, lamp posts, the roof.
Why
A padel court is defined by its floor, its glass and its mesh. Anything else the ball touches: lighting fixtures, the lamp posts at the corners, the roof, the frame of a door if it protrudes: ends the point against the hitter. Courts vary in how their lights are mounted, so the rule exists to make it consistent: if it is not floor, glass or mesh, it is out. On courts with lights mounted on the glass, a high defensive lob down the side is riskier than the same lob down the middle.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Look at where the lights are before you play. If they hang over the corners, lob toward the middle.
Intermediate
The high lob is riskier on a court with low fittings. Use a flatter, longer lob that stays under them.
Advanced
Some courts have the lamp posts inside the mesh line at the corners. A ball off those is out even in a rally: know the court.
Common questions
Your defensive lob touches a lighting fixture mounted on the wall above the glass on their side. What is the ruling?
Out. The point is lost. Anything other than the walls, the mesh and the floor is out: lights, lamp posts, the roof. A padel court is defined by its floor, its glass and its mesh. Anything else the ball touches: lighting fixtures, the lamp posts at the corners, the roof, the frame of a door if it protrudes: ends the point against the hitter. Courts vary in how their lights are mounted, so the rule exists to make it consistent: if it is not floor, glass or mesh, it is out. On courts with lights mounted on the glass, a high defensive lob down the side is riskier than the same lob down the middle.
Why not let: replay the point?
It is not interference from outside; it is your ball hitting something that is out. The point is lost.
What should a beginner do here?
Look at where the lights are before you play. If they hang over the corners, lob toward the middle.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Some courts have the lamp posts inside the mesh line at the corners. A ball off those is out even in a rally: know the court.
What do the rules say?
A ball that touches any structure other than the walls, the mesh and the floor, such as lights or posts, is out and the point is lost.
Puzzles like this one
Can you volley the return of serve?
The return of serve must bounce. It is the one ball in padel you are not allowed to volley.
beginnerThe ball bounced then hit your own back glass. Still in play?
One bounce on the floor, then any number of walls. Only a second floor bounce ends the point.
advancedThe smash sent the ball out through the side opening. Chase it?
If the court has an opening, you may leave through it and play the ball back, before it bounces a second time.