The guide · Beginners

Your first session, start to finish.

Nobody tells you the ordinary things: what to wear, whether you need to own anything, what happens when you walk in, and whether you are about to embarrass yourself. You are not. Here is the whole first hour.

The short version: wear what you would wear to the gym, borrow a racket at the desk, and turn up without four people if you have to — clubs will put you with three others. You will have real rallies in the first half hour, because the underarm serve and the walls do most of the work for you.

What to wear

Anything you'd wear to a gym. Shorts or leggings, a t-shirt. Padel is indoors or outdoors, warm either way once you start.
Trainers are fine to start. Court shoes with a herringbone sole grip better on the artificial grass most courts use, and they are worth having once you know you are staying.
Not running shoes with a thick soft heel. Padel moves sideways constantly, and a tall cushioned heel rolls. This is the only genuine footwear warning.
Bring water. It is more running than it looks from the side.

What you need to own

Nothing. That is not a figure of speech.

Almost every club lends or hires rackets, and most beginner sessions include them. Balls are provided or sold at the desk. There is no reason to buy a racket until you have played several times — and a club's loan racket is usually a forgiving round shape that suits a beginner better than most of what people buy first. When you do want your own, the equipment guide is here.

Turning up without four people

The commonest reason people never try padel is that they can't assemble three friends on a Tuesday. Clubs know this, and nearly all of them run something for it:

Open or mixed sessions. Turn up alone, get put into a four at roughly your level, rotate partners through the session.
Beginner courses. A few weeks of coached groups, usually with rackets included. The quickest way to go from nothing to playing properly.
Americano nights. A social format where everyone partners everyone and you keep your own score. Loud, friendly, and the fastest way to meet people who play. How the format works.

It is how a large share of padel players started. Everyone in the room arrived the same way.

What actually happens

You check in and are pointed at a court. If you are hiring, the racket is handed over here.
You warm up for a few minutes — just hitting. Use this. Deliberately let two or three balls go past you and play them off the back glass before you have to do it under pressure. It is the one thing that will feel genuinely alien.
You play. Points from the start. Nobody drills you for forty minutes first.
You stay. At most clubs the hour afterwards is the actual point. Padel is a sociable sport in a way squash never managed to be.

The etiquette nobody mentions

Call for the ball

"Mine" and "yours", out loud, every time there's doubt. It prevents the two commonest ways a point ends badly: both of you swinging, and neither of you moving.

Call the score before you serve

Server's score first. It takes two seconds and prevents the argument that otherwise arrives at 4–4 in the second set.

Your opponents call their own side

Whether a ball bounced in is the call of the pair it landed with. In a close call the benefit goes to the other pair. It is a game played without an umpire and it works because of this.

Wait for the point to finish

If a ball rolls onto a neighbouring court, say so and wait rather than walking on. The court next door has the same obligation to you.

Mind the wrist cord

It is compulsory, and it is not fussiness — a padel racket is short, solid and swung hard a few feet from your partner's face. Dropping it also loses the point outright under the rules.

What not to worry about

Being bad. The sport is built so that beginners rally. There is no serve to get past and the walls return your mistakes to you.
Being unfit. It is short bursts on a small court, not sustained running. People in their sixties play the same game as people in their twenties, frequently in the same four.
Holding up better players. Padel mixes abilities better than almost any sport, because position matters more than power and a good player can simply play more of the court.
The walls. They feel impossible for about ten minutes and then become the best part.

Three things to do in your first hour

Get to the net with your partner, together. Both at the back or both forward, never one up and one back. This single habit wins more points than any shot. Why, in detail.
Let the ball come off the glass. Everyone rushes it. The ball comes back slower and further than you expect — wait, let it drop, then lift it.
Lob. It is not a desperate shot here, it is the main attacking one. Over their heads, deep, and the net is yours.

Do not try to learn the overhead smash on day one. Everyone does, and it is why some first sessions are more frustrating than they need to be.

Common questions

What should I wear to play padel?

Whatever you would wear to a gym. Shorts or leggings, a t-shirt, and trainers. Court shoes with a herringbone sole grip better on artificial grass and are worth buying once you know you are staying, but ordinary trainers are fine for a first session. Avoid running shoes with a thick soft heel, which roll on quick sideways movements.

Do I need to bring a racket to my first padel session?

No. Almost every club lends or hires rackets, and most beginner sessions include them. There is no reason to buy one until you have played a few times and know what you like, and a borrowed club racket is usually a forgiving round shape that suits a beginner better than most rackets people buy first.

Is padel hard for a complete beginner?

It is the easiest racket sport to start. The serve is underarm by rule, so nobody can serve past you; the court is small enough to cover; and the walls keep the ball alive long after it would have been dead in tennis. Most people have real rallies within their first half hour.

Can I play padel if I've never played tennis?

Yes, and in some ways it is easier. Tennis players arrive with a serve they cannot use and an instinct to stand at the back, which is the losing position in padel. A complete beginner has nothing to unlearn.

How long is a padel session?

Usually 60 or 90 minutes, booked as a court for four people. Sixty minutes is enough for a proper session; ninety is common for coached beginner groups because it leaves time to be shown things as well as to play.

What if I don't have four people?

Most clubs run open or mixed sessions that put you with three others at roughly your level, and beginner courses that do the same. It is how a large share of padel players start, and it is much less awkward than it sounds — everyone there has arrived the same way.

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