Padel Scoring Explained: How Points, Games and Sets Work

Someone calls "40–30" and you nod along. If you've played tennis, you already know the system — padel uses the same one. Zero, 15, 30, 40, game.

The numbers aren't what trip people up. It's deuce, tie-breaks, and — in doubles — figuring out whose turn it is to serve.

Points and games

Win a point, move from 0 to 15 to 30 to 40. Win another from 40 and you take the game — unless it's 40–40, which is deuce.

From deuce, you need advantage then one more point to win the game. Lose the advantage point and you're back to deuce. Some social groups play a golden point at deuce instead (sudden death) to keep things moving. Worth agreeing before you start — it's a common mid-game argument otherwise.

Six games wins a set, with a two-game margin. Tied at 6–6, most matches go to a tie-break: first to 7, win by 2. Two sets wins the match, usually.

The doubles serving thing

This catches almost every beginner. In padel doubles, one player serves the entire game — not alternating every point between partners.

The rotation across teams goes: Player A serves game 1, Player C serves game 2, Player B serves game 3, Player D serves game 4, then back to A.

Within each game, the serving pair switches sides after every point (deuce side, advantage side, back and forth). But only one person serves for the whole game. Both partners thinking it's their turn is a weekly occurrence at every club in the country.

Serving rules worth knowing

Underarm only, at or below waist height. Ball bounces once in your service box before you hit it. Serve diagonally into the opponent's box. The ball can hit the glass after landing in the service box.

One fault, re-serve. Two faults, point to the receiver.

During rallies, the cage and glass rules are different — see can you hit the cage in padel for that.

What to play on a one-hour booking

One set to six with a tie-break at 6–6 fits a 60-minute court hire if you start on time and skip a long warm-up. Best of three needs 90 minutes minimum — trying to squeeze it into an hour means overrunning into the next group's slot, which they'll hate you for.

Our guide on how long a padel match lasts covers the timing properly.

It's basically tennis scoring

Walls make rallies longer. The underarm serve means fewer free points. Golden point gets used more in social padel than club tennis. But the counting is the same.

If you're brand new to everything, the beginner's guide covers rules, equipment, and what to expect in your first session. The scoring clicks fast once you're actually playing — reading about deuce is much harder than experiencing it once.