Doubtful serve situations in padel

How should you serve in padel? When is it a service fault? We settle two doubtful situations that can arise when serving.

The first happens when, after the serve and with the ball in the opponent’s half, following the initial bounce on the ground, it hits the “pico”, the area between the side wall and the mesh. Two things can happen:

• If the ball comes out towards the receiver, that is, backwards, the ball is good, and the point continues.
• But if the ball goes in any other direction it is considered out, and the point is lost, or it is a second serve if it was a first service.

Now let us settle another frequent question from our readers…

Can you bounce the ball inside the box when serving?

Definitely not, because you must bounce it outside the box, just as you cannot step on the line.

It is also a fault when the server misses the ball with the racket, although this is rarely seen.

Another valid play is when we serve a lob and, after bouncing on the ground, the ball goes out of the court.

As for the return, the ball can never be returned without it first bouncing on the ground.