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Basic court manners: what are the unwritten rules?
Call the score, hand up on a lucky ball, generous line calls, balls back to the server. Four habits, every match.
You are new to padel and want to fit in at the club. What are the courtesies everyone expects?
Call the score, hand up on a lucky ball, generous line calls, balls back to the server. Four habits, every match.
Why
Padel is a social sport with a small court and no referee, and a handful of courtesies keep it that way. The server calls the score aloud before each point so there is never a dispute. A hand goes up after a net cord or a lucky rebound. Close balls on your own side are called in the opponents' favour if you are not sure. Loose balls are returned to the server rather than left for them to fetch. And after the match, a handshake or a tap of rackets at the net. None of it is in the rulebook; all of it decides whether people want to play with you again.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Say the score before every serve, put your hand up when you get lucky, and give them the close ones. That is most of it.
Intermediate
Compliment the good shots, including theirs. "Great lob" costs nothing and makes the match better for four people.
Advanced
When there is a dispute, offer to replay the point. Nobody remembers who won a disputed point; everyone remembers who argued about it.
Common questions
You are new to padel and want to fit in at the club. What are the courtesies everyone expects?
Call the score, hand up, generous calls, balls back. Call the score, hand up on a lucky ball, generous line calls, balls back to the server. Four habits, every match. Padel is a social sport with a small court and no referee, and a handful of courtesies keep it that way. The server calls the score aloud before each point so there is never a dispute. A hand goes up after a net cord or a lucky rebound. Close balls on your own side are called in the opponents' favour if you are not sure. Loose balls are returned to the server rather than left for them to fetch. And after the match, a handshake or a tap of rackets at the net. None of it is in the rulebook; all of it decides whether people want to play with you again.
Why not win at all costs. It is a competition, after all?
Club padel is a social sport first. Players who are hard to play with run out of partners.
What should a beginner do here?
Say the score before every serve, put your hand up when you get lucky, and give them the close ones. That is most of it.
How does this change for an advanced player?
When there is a dispute, offer to replay the point. Nobody remembers who won a disputed point; everyone remembers who argued about it.
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.