Padel scoring explained: games, sets and match

Points in a game: 15, 30, 40

A game starts at 0 all. The first point won is 15, the second 30, the third 40 and the fourth wins the game. The serving pair's score is always called first, so 30 to 15 means the server is ahead. The sequence is inherited from tennis, so the numbers mean nothing more than point one, two and three.

At 40 all the score is deuce. One point is not enough: the pair that wins the next point has advantage, and if they win the following point too they take the game. Lose it and the score returns to deuce. That is why a single game sometimes lasts several minutes.

Golden point: the game decided at once

Social play, Americano and most amateur tournaments use a golden point instead of advantage. At 40 all the game is settled on one point. The receiving pair normally picks which side the serve must go to, which turns the point into a small tactical choice: attack the weaker backhand or defend from the safer side?

The benefit is predictable timing. A booked hour almost always fits two sets, and nobody has to walk off mid game while the next pair waits. In timed tournament formats the golden point is close to standard in Sweden.

From games to a set

Six games win a set, but only with a two game margin. At 5 to 4 you play on to 6 to 4, or to 5 all and then 6 all. At 6 all the set goes to a tiebreak. The serve changes pair after every game, and you change ends after every odd number of games played, so after game one, three, five and so on.

Within a pair you alternate whole games on serve. You decide who starts and which side each player covers, but the order is fixed for the set. Switching serve order between sets is allowed, and it is a common way to let the steadier server open a deciding set.

Tiebreak step by step

A tiebreak runs to 7 points with a two point margin, so 7 to 5 is enough but 7 to 6 is not. Points are counted as plain numbers: 1, 2, 3 and up. The next player in the serve order serves one point, then each player serves two points in turn. You change ends once six points have been played in total.

Some tournaments replace the third set with a long tiebreak to 10 points. Same counting, higher target, used to keep the schedule when many matches share the same courts.

What decides the match

Best of three is standard: first to two sets wins. On a booked hour you often finish one set and part of the next. The common solution is to play on time and record the score as it stood when the hour ended, for example 6 to 3 and 4 to 2. That is a perfectly usable result as long as all four agree before the first serve.

Agree on the format in advance and log it right after the match. Once results are stored you can see progress over time instead of relying on memory, which is the whole point of keeping a padel ranking in a group that plays regularly.

Five recurring misunderstandings

First, the serve. It has to be hit underarm after the ball has bounced once on the ground, and contact must be at or below waist height. Serving straight out of the air is a fault no matter how well the ball lands.

Second, the walls. Your ball may rebound off the glass after it crosses the net, but you can never let the ball hit your own wall before you strike it. After the ground bounce the wall is free to use.

Third, the net cord. If the ball clips the net and drops in, the point stands, just as in tennis, but a serve still has to land in the correct box.

Fourth, deuce. Plenty of players call 40 all and then play a golden point out of habit. Decide before the match which one you use, or you will argue about it in the exact point where it matters most.

Fifth, calling the score in the wrong order. Serving pair first, always. It sounds minor, but it is your only reference when nobody writes the score down.

Practice the counting for real

Scoring sticks fastest when you play people at your own level, where points are close and it actually matters who leads. A couple of matches a week is enough to make the sequence automatic. The easiest way to get on court is to take an open spot in a match that is already booked in the match feed.

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