The Sport Everyone Keeps Talking About
Last month I watched a group of four adults play their very first padel session. Two of them were experienced tennis players. Two had never picked up a racket in their lives. By the end of the hour, all four were laughing, rallying, and asking when they could book again.
That's padel. It's genuinely one of the easiest racket sports to enjoy from day one, which is a big reason why it's growing so fast across South Africa right now. But "easy to enjoy" doesn't mean "nothing to learn." Walking onto a padel court in Johannesburg without knowing the basic rules or how the walls work will cost you a lot of confused rallies. This post covers what you actually need to know before your first padel lesson.
What Makes a Padel Court Different
The court is 20 metres long and 10 metres wide, divided by a net that sits 88 cm high at the posts. Glass and wire mesh walls surround the entire playing area, reaching 3 to 4 metres in height (Babolat). There's no baseline in the way tennis players think of one. The back wall is part of the game.
That's the single biggest mental shift for beginners, especially those coming from a tennis background. In tennis, a ball that hits the back fence is dead. In padel, a ball that bounces on the court and then rebounds off the glass is very much alive, and you're expected to play it. More on that shortly.
The other thing worth knowing upfront: padel is played exclusively in doubles. Four players, two on each side. There's no singles format. This matters tactically because positioning relative to your partner is something you'll be thinking about from your very first point.
The Rules You Need Before You Step On Court
Serving is where most beginners from a tennis background get caught off guard. There are no overhead serves in padel. The serve must be underarm. You let the ball bounce once on the ground, then strike it at or below waist height, directing it diagonally into the opponent's service box, which starts 6.95 metres from the net (Babolat, Playtomic).
Here's a rule that surprises almost everyone the first time they see it: if the ball lands in the service box and then bounces up into the side or back glass wall, that's still a valid serve. The receiver has to deal with it. However, if the ball hits the wire fencing after bouncing in the service box, that's a fault (Playtomic). Glass is fine. Wire is not. Worth repeating that to yourself a few times before you play.
Scoring is straightforward if you play tennis: 15, 30, 40, game. Best of three sets. You need six games to win a set, with at least a two-game lead. Most recreational and club formats use a golden point at deuce rather than advantage, and a 10-point tiebreak instead of a full third set, which keeps matches moving (Padel39).
Wall play during a rally follows one clean rule: the ball can bounce on the ground once and then rebound off any wall, and your opponent can still play it. What you can't do is let the ball hit the wire mesh or the ceiling directly off your opponent's shot without it bouncing on the ground first. Ground then glass is valid. Direct wall contact without a ground bounce is not (Babolat).
Equipment: What to Rent, What to Buy
Don't buy a racket before your first few sessions. Most clubs, including ours, have rental gear available. Try the sport first.
When you're ready to buy, the shape of the racket matters more than the brand at beginner level. Round or teardrop-shaped rackets have a larger sweet spot lower on the face, which is exactly where beginners make contact most of the time. Look for something in the 360 to 370 gram range. That weight gives you enough stability without making your arm work overtime (Cuera). Prices vary depending on the retailer and brand, so check with local sports shops for current South African pricing rather than going off international figures.
Padel balls look like tennis balls but they're slightly smaller and run at lower pressure, which is why rallies tend to last longer than you'd expect (Padel39). Don't use tennis balls on a padel court. The bounce is wrong and it'll mess with your feel for the game.
Footwear matters. Court shoes with a herringbone or clay-court sole give you the grip and lateral support you need. Running shoes are a risk on the padel surface, and they'll wear down faster than you'd think.
Playing the Ball Off the Glass
This is the skill that separates players who plateau early from those who improve quickly. Most beginners either panic when the ball comes off the back wall or they ignore the wall entirely and try to play every ball before it reaches the glass. Both habits will hurt you.
The wall is your friend. When a ball drops low and heads toward the back glass, let it come through. Watch it bounce off the ground, track it as it comes off the glass, and then play your shot. You have more time than you think. The instinct to rush is almost always wrong.
The hardest part isn't the technique. It's the trust. Trusting that the ball will come back to you at a playable height takes a few sessions to build. Once it clicks, you'll start to see why experienced padel players actually want the ball to go to the back wall. It resets the rally and gives you time to recover position.
A Simple Drill to Build That Wall Feel
Try this in your first few sessions. Call it the Back Wall Rebound Drill.
Stand roughly 2 metres in front of the back glass. Have a partner or coach feed a ball gently so it bounces once near the back wall and comes off the glass toward you. Your only job is to let it come off the wall, wait for it to drop to a comfortable height, and return it softly back over the net. No power. Just contact and placement.
Do this for 10 minutes at the start of a session, alternating sides. Forehand side for five minutes, backhand side for five. The goal isn't to hit winners. It's to feel the rhythm of the rebound and stop flinching. Once you stop flinching, your game on the back wall improves fast.
How Beginners Get in Their Own Way
The biggest mistake I see on a padel court in Johannesburg or anywhere else is people trying to hit the ball too hard. Padel rewards placement and angles, not pace. The enclosed court means a powerful shot that's slightly off-target just gives your opponents a wall to work with. A softer, well-placed shot often wins the point. Think of it more like snooker than like trying to ace someone.
Padel rewards placement and angles, not pace. A softer, well-placed shot often wins the point.
The second mistake is treating padel like tennis and trying to volley everything before it reaches the wall. You're allowed to let the ball come off the glass. In fact, at beginner level, you should let it come off the glass more often than not. It gives you more time and a better look at the ball.
Positioning relative to your partner is the third thing to sort out early. When you're defending, both players tend to sit back near the service line. When you've forced your opponents into a defensive position, both players move forward together toward the net. Moving as a unit, rather than one player charging forward while the other stays back, is what separates a functional doubles team from a chaotic one. Talk to your partner. Call the ball, call your position. Communication in padel is a genuine skill and it's worth practising from your very first session.
Padel vs. Tennis: Same Family, Different Game
If you already play tennis, you'll feel at home with the scoring and the general shape of rallies. The diagonal serve, the net, the court orientation, all of it will feel familiar. But resist the urge to play padel like tennis. The underarm serve, the walls, the solid racket with no strings, and the doubles-only format make it a genuinely different game. The sooner you let go of tennis habits and start learning padel on its own terms, the quicker you'll improve.
If you've never played tennis, honestly, that might be a slight advantage. You're coming in without habits to unlearn.
Come Try It With Us
TFL Tennis Academy runs padel lessons in Johannesburg at our courts, and we work with all levels, including complete beginners who've never held a padel racket. If you want a structured introduction to how to play padel for beginners with a coach who can walk you through the rules, the wall play, and the basics of doubles positioning, book a trial session and come see what the fuss is about.
We'll have a racket ready for you.