The complete beginner's guide — courts, cost, rules, and what to expect on your first session. Punchy, honest, no filler.
Padel is a racquet sport played in an enclosed glass-walled court about one-third the size of a tennis court. It always runs as doubles — four players, always. The world has 25 million padel players across 90 countries, making it the second most played racquet sport on the planet.
The game combines elements of tennis and squash: you use a solid racket (no strings), the ball can bounce off the walls, and scoring follows tennis format. If you've played tennis, the rhythm will feel familiar — but the wall play changes everything.
Most beginners describe it as easier to get into than tennis but harder to master. That curve is part of the appeal.
After the ball bounces on the turf, you can play it off any wall — including the glass back walls. This is the defining mechanic. It changes how you position, how you defend, and how rallies end. It's the reason padel has a steeper learning curve than it first looks.
The court is smaller, the serve is underarm, and the walls are in play. Those three differences sound small, but they change the entire tactical shape of every rally.
Tennis players tend to adapt faster than complete beginners — the footwork and ball-striking mechanics transfer. The wall angles and positioning are where the adjustment happens.
Queensland now has venues across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast — all three open for casual court hire with no membership required. The sport arrived seriously around 2018 and the growth since then has been quick.
If you're in regional Queensland, options are limited — this is a Southeast Queensland sport for now. Check back: new venues are announced regularly.
Regional Queensland has very limited padel options. If you're outside SEQ, pickleball has far wider coverage — see the padel vs pickleball guide.
No prior racquet experience required. All Queensland venues hire equipment, and most will pair you with other players if you don't have a full group of four.
This is padel's biggest barrier for new players. Unlike pickleball (where you can show up solo to open-play sessions), padel requires four people to book a court. If you don't have a group, ask the venue about social mixer sessions — most Queensland padel clubs run them weekly.
Padel rackets are solid fibreglass or carbon fibre with punched holes — no strings anywhere. Shape affects performance: round heads suit beginners (larger sweet spot), diamond heads suit advanced players (more power, smaller sweet spot), oval shapes sit between the two. Start with round.
Weight matters more than shape — most beginners do best between 355–375g. Too heavy and your elbow pays for it by session three.
Padel balls are pressurised rubber — like a slightly softer tennis ball. They're the same basic construction: pressurised core, felt exterior. The difference is a lower internal pressure (ITF S3 standard) which makes them slightly slower off the racket.
They depressurise over time. Most padel balls last 4–8 hours of play before they go noticeably flat. Once they're dead, don't bin them.
Padel balls are recyclable through Second Serve. Same process as tennis balls — drop them in a bin at your venue. Find the nearest bin →
You cannot hit the ball directly into the glass on the fly and have it count. The sequence is: ball crosses net → bounces on turf → then you can redirect it into the wall and play it from the rebound. The bounce comes first, always. Ignore this rule and half your shots in the first session will catch you off guard — or leave your partners confused. Burn this in before you step on court.
If you've watched or played tennis, you already understand padel scoring. Points run 15 → 30 → 40 → game. Six games wins a set. Matches are best of three sets. Deuce and advantage rules apply at 40-all — same as tennis.
The serve alternates between teams after each game. Within a game, partners alternate serves. One of the few rules beginners consistently forget: in padel, the serve must bounce in the diagonal service box (just like tennis) and must be struck below hip height.
Padel balls go flat after 4–8 hours of play. Most end up in general waste — but they don't have to. Second Serve collects dead padel balls (and tennis and pickleball balls) at venues across Queensland and processes them into Dead Ball™ products.
The rubber core is shredded and repurposed into gym matting, playground surfaces, and equestrian products. Nothing goes to landfill.
Drop your dead padel balls at any Second Serve location. If your venue doesn't have a bin yet, we'll set one up — free for Queensland clubs.
Dead balls at your padel venue? Get a Second Serve bin — free for Queensland clubs.
Get a bin