Category: Padel university

Golden Point in Padel: The Sudden-Death Rule Explained

What is the Golden Point in Padel? Image source: PadelNuestro

Traditional padel scoring, like tennis, can drag a deuce game out for minutes – repeatedly going from 40-40 to advantage and back. In 2020, the World Padel Tour introduced a rule that put an end to that: the gold point. One point at 40-40 decides the game. No advantage, no repeat deuces, just sudden death.

The gold point (punto de oro, also called the golden point) is a sudden-death scoring rule in padel. When the score reaches 40-40 (deuce), there is no advantage play. The next point wins the game. The receiving team chooses which side of the court to receive on, and whoever wins that single point takes the game. The rule was introduced by the World Padel Tour in 2020, adopted by the International Padel Federation shortly after, and is now used across most professional tours including Premier Padel.

This guide covers exactly how the gold point rule works, who benefits from it, why professionals were divided when it was introduced, and when it’s used in amateur play. It also covers the newer “bronze point” and “silver point” variations some tours have experimented with.

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Padel Serve Rules: Complete Guide to Serving in Padel

Man hitting Padel serve with dynamic movement. Image source: WorldPadelTour.com.

The serve is the one shot in padel you always start a point with, and the one beginners get wrong most often. Unlike tennis, a padel serve has to be underarm, below the waist, bouncing off the floor first, and landing diagonally in the opponent’s service box. If any of those conditions slip, the serve is a fault.

A legal padel serve is hit underarm, struck below the waist (at or below 1.06 m from the ground under current FIP rules), after letting the ball bounce once on the server’s side of the court, and landed diagonally in the opponent’s service box on the first bounce. The server stands behind the service line, with at least one foot on the ground, and must not step on or over the line before contact. Each server gets two attempts per point. A ball that touches the net and lands in the service box is a let and is replayed.

This guide covers every padel serve rule you need to know: how to stand, what counts as a fault, when a let is called, how the tie-break rotation works, and the 2024 FIP rule changes that clarified the serve height. It also explains the two most common serve variations (underarm and backhand) and the foot-fault situations that catch every new player out.

Practising your serve? It is far easier with a racket that suits you and fresh balls that bounce true. See our picks for the best padel rackets for beginners and the best padel balls, or start with a control-focused, round-shape racket like the Babolat Contact.

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Padel Americano: How to Play, Scoring Rules & Best Apps

A padel Americano is the fastest way to get a group of players on court, mix partners every round, and crown an individual winner at the end. It’s the format US clubs reach for when 8, 12, or 16 players want a social tournament that runs in a couple of hours rather than a full day.

A padel Americano is a rotating-partner tournament format where every point counts toward your individual total. Instead of fixed doubles teams, you switch partners each round until you’ve played alongside everyone in the group. The player with the most total points at the end wins, regardless of who they were paired with.

This guide walks through how an Americano tournament actually works, the scoring system, the most common variations (Mexicano, Mixed Americano, Team Americano), how to organize one at your club, and the best apps for running it. Our guide on how to play padel covers the basics if you’re brand new to the sport.

Heading to an Americano? Bring your own gear so you are ready every round. See the best padel rackets for beginners, the best padel balls, and a padel bag to carry it all — or grab a versatile, durable all-rounder like the Wilson Carbon Force Team.

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10 Padel Tips for Beginners: How to Win More Points

Padel is easy to pick up and brutal to master. The scoring is the same as tennis, the court is smaller, the walls are in play, and the paddle feels nothing like a tennis racket. If you’ve just started and you’re losing more points than you’d like, the good news is that most beginner mistakes are fixable with a handful of deliberate adjustments.

The fastest way to win more points in padel as a beginner is to cut unforced errors, play the lob and the wall rebound, stay with your partner, and forget about power. Consistency wins at the club level – not smashes.

This guide is a set of padel tips and strategies that actually move the needle if you’re new to the sport. We’ll cover positioning, the must-learn shots, the beginner mistakes that cost most points, and how to build a basic game plan that wins against players at your level. If you’ve never played before, start with our guide on how to play padel.

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Padel Footwork for Beginners: How to Move Like a Pro

Footwork for Padel. It's crucial to learn how to move your feet when playing the game of Padel. Image source: The Padel School.

Footwork is the difference between looking like you’ve played padel for a year vs three weeks. It’s also the most under-coached aspect of beginner padel. New players obsess over their forehand technique, their grip, the specific racket model their friend recommended — and then they stand flat-footed waiting for the ball.

The shot is downstream of the position you arrive in, and the position is downstream of the footwork. If you’re a beginner reading this, footwork is your single highest-leverage skill to work on for your first three months.

If you’re brand new to padel and don’t yet know the basics of the sport, start with our complete guide to what is padel first. This article assumes you understand the rules and have hit a few balls.

This guide is the practical version. We’ll cover the split-step (the foundation), the four movement patterns you’ll actually use, the most common beginner mistakes, and three drills you can do in 15 minutes before your next match.

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How to Play Padel: A Complete Beginner’s Guide (Rules, Scoring & Tips)

Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States right now — and if you’ve never played before, you’re in the right place. Originally invented in Mexico in 1969, padel has exploded globally and is now reaching every corner of the US, from California to Florida to New York.

This guide covers everything a complete beginner needs to know: the rules, the court, the equipment, and how scoring works. By the end, you’ll be ready to step on the court with confidence.

Ready to get on court? All you need to start is a racket and a tube of balls. See our picks for the best padel rackets for beginners and the best padel balls — or grab a light, forgiving first racket like the Head Zephyr.

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Padel vs. Pickleball vs. Paddle Tennis: What’s the Difference?

Padel, pickleball, and paddle tennis are three racket sports that have exploded in popularity across the US — but they play very differently. Padel has grown from a niche sport to a mainstream game with thousands of courts and a professional league in the US, while pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the country for several years running. On the surface they look similar, but once you step on the court the differences are obvious.

Just comparing the two fastest-growing options? See our in-depth head-to-head: padel vs pickleball. This guide adds paddle (pop) tennis to the mix. You can also compare padel head-to-head with tennis and squash.

PadelPickleballPaddle Tennis
Court size65.6 ft × 32.8 ft (enclosed)44 ft × 20 ft (open)60 ft × 27 ft (open)
WallsYes — glass & mesh walls in playNoNo
BallPressurised rubber ballPerforated plastic (wiffle-style)Depressurised rubber ball
RacketSolid foam/carbon paddle, no stringsSolid composite paddleSolid perforated paddle
ScoringTennis scoring (games, sets)First to 11 pointsTennis scoring
Doubles?Always played in doublesSingles or doublesSingles or doubles
Serve typeUnderarm onlyUnderarm onlyUnderarm only
US popularityFast growing — 1,000s of courtsFastest growing sport in the USNiche, primarily East/West Coast

Other similar sports that use racquets and tennis balls include Padel Ball, Beach Tennis, Squash, etc.

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What is a padel overgrip, and when should I change grip?

Different types and colors of a Padel Overgrip. Image source: The Padel Magazine.

Ask any seasoned padel player what the most overlooked aspect of their game is, and you’ll hear the same answer time and again: grip care. You can own a top-of-the-line racket, nail your footwork, and read the game brilliantly — but if your overgrip is shot, you’re fighting against yourself on every swing. As padel explodes across the US, more players are picking up rackets for the first time, and understanding the overgrip is one of the first things that separates those who improve quickly from those who spin their wheels.

This guide covers everything you need to know: what a padel overgrip actually is, how it differs from a replacement grip, why you need one, when to swap it out, which type suits your game, and exactly how to apply it step by step.

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Padel Smash: How to Kick Smash Like a Pro

The Padel Kick Smash, a lethal weapon to winning a point in padel. Image source: Hello Padel Academy.

The kick smash is the most spectacular shot in padel — the only one that can definitively end a point even at the pro level. It’s also the most overhit shot at amateur level. Watch any club night anywhere and you’ll see beginners trying to murder lobs with flat smashes that bounce off the back glass straight back into their own chests. The kick smash is the answer to that. Done right, the ball clears the back glass entirely and rolls into the parking lot. Done wrong, you set yourself up for a counter that ends the point against you.

Most beginners get this shot wrong for one reason: they go for power instead of spin. They watch Galán launch a ball into row Z at Premier Padel Madrid and think the answer is a bigger swing. It isn’t. The kick smash is a topspin shot first and a power shot a distant second — the spin is what makes the ball bounce out of the cage, not the speed. If you’re new to padel itself and not just the kick smash, start with our guide to what is padel for the basics first.

This article is the un-watered-down version: how the shot actually works, when to use it, when not to, and the specific mistakes I see at every US club I’ve played at. No “comprehensive guide” filler.

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Which Side Should I Play in Padel?

Man and woman on a blue padel court. Who plays on what side? Photo by Vincenzo Morelli.

One of the first questions every new padel player asks is: which side of the court should I play? It sounds simple, but it shapes everything — how you hit, how you move, how you support your partner, and how quickly you improve. With padel booming across the US and new courts opening from Miami to Los Angeles, more and more players are stepping onto a padel court for the first time and asking exactly this question.

The short answer is that most right-handed beginners should start on the right side, and most left-handers on the left. But understanding why — and knowing when to switch — will make you a much smarter player. Let’s break it all down.

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