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Your serve contact is at chest height. Legal?
The serve is struck at or below the waist. A high bounce does not buy you a higher contact.
You bounce the ball high and hit the serve at chest height with a nice flat swing. Is that allowed?
The serve is struck at or below the waist. A high bounce does not buy you a higher contact.
Why
Padel keeps the serve deliberately harmless: underarm, after a bounce, with the point of contact at or below waist height. Let the ball bounce high and hit it at the chest and you have served a fault, even if it looked like a lovely shot. The practical consequence is that the serve cannot be hit down into the box, which is why placement and spin are what a good server works on, not power.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Bounce the ball gently so it rises to hip height at most, and hit it as it comes down.
Intermediate
Contact at the bottom of the legal range, around hip height, gives you more slice and a lower bounce on their side.
Advanced
The lower you strike it, the more the ball skids off the glass on the wide serve, which is worth far more than the pace you would get from a higher contact.
Common questions
You bounce the ball high and hit the serve at chest height with a nice flat swing. Is that allowed?
No: contact must be at or below waist height. The serve is struck at or below the waist. A high bounce does not buy you a higher contact. Padel keeps the serve deliberately harmless: underarm, after a bounce, with the point of contact at or below waist height. Let the ball bounce high and hit it at the chest and you have served a fault, even if it looked like a lovely shot. The practical consequence is that the serve cannot be hit down into the box, which is why placement and spin are what a good server works on, not power.
Why not yes, if you keep one foot on the ground?
The foot rule is real and it is a different rule. Both have to be satisfied at once.
What should a beginner do here?
Bounce the ball gently so it rises to hip height at most, and hit it as it comes down.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The lower you strike it, the more the ball skids off the glass on the wide serve, which is worth far more than the pace you would get from a higher contact.
What do the rules say?
The ball must be struck at or below the server's waist height. A serve struck above the waist is a fault.
Puzzles like this one
You have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.
intermediateThey cannot play the side glass. Where do you serve?
Serve at the weakness you have found, not at the space you can see.
beginnerCan 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.