Padel rules explained in five minutes

Scoring is tennis scoring

15, 30, 40, game. Six games with a two-game lead wins a set, and most casual play is best of three or simply as many games as your hour allows. If you have ever kept score in tennis you already know how a padel match runs.

The serve is underarm

You bounce the ball behind the service line and hit it below waist height, diagonally into the opposite service box. Two attempts, same as tennis. This is why beginners are competitive on day one: nobody is being aced off the court.

The walls are your friend

After the ball bounces on your side of the court, it can come off the glass and you can still play it. Learning to let the ball pass you, take the wall and then hit it is the single biggest jump in a new player's game.

Straight off the wall without bouncing on the floor first, though, is out. Bounce first, then wall.

It is nearly always doubles

The court is 20m by 10m and designed for four players. Two-player games are great for drills, but bring a fourball if you can — the rallies are longer and the laughing is louder.