I've played padel for years and coached dozens of first-timers. These are the 5 rules that trip up literally everyone:

1. The serve must bounce first. You can't hit the ball out of the air like tennis. Drop it, let it bounce, then hit it underhand below your waist. Most beginners try a tennis serve and get called immediately.

2. The ball can hit the glass — and it's still in play. This is the biggest mind shift. After the ball bounces on your side, if it hits the back or side glass, you can still return it. This completely changes how you position yourself.

3. You serve diagonally into the opposite box. Just like tennis. But if the ball hits the glass wall before the second bounce in the service box, it's a fault.

4. The net wire is NOT out. If the ball hits the top of the net and goes over, it's a let on serve (re-serve) but during a rally it's still in play. The wire fence above the glass? If the ball hits that, it's out on your side.

5. You CAN hit the ball out of the cage. If the ball bounces on your side and pops up over the glass wall, you can run outside the cage and hit it back in. It's rare, but it's one of the most exciting plays in padel.

If you're new to padel and want to actually understand the full rulebook without reading a 40-page PDF, I built The Padel Code for exactly that. 🎾