If you’ve played or watched tennis, padel scoring will feel familiar for about five minutes. Then somebody says “golden point?” at 40-40, someone else says “Star Point?”, and the court goes quiet while four people try to remember who served last. We’ll sort all of that out here, so the only argument left is whether the ball clipped the line.
Points, games and sets
Padel uses the tennis count. Your first point is 15, the second 30, the third 40, and the next one wins the game. Zero is “love”, and the serving pair’s score is always called first, so 15-30 means the servers are behind.
Win six games and you win the set, as long as you’re two games clear. At 5-5 you play on: 7-5 wins it. At 6-6 you play a tie-break. Most matches are the best of three sets.
A couple of habits save a lot of bother at club level. The serving pair calls the score out loud before each serve (one of the small courtesies in our etiquette guide), and if nobody can agree on it, go back to the last score all four of you are sure about and replay from there.
What happens at 40-40
This is where padel parts company with tennis. The FIP Rules of Padel give three ways to settle a game that reaches 40-40, and clubs, leagues and tournaments choose which one to use. None of them is wrong. The only real mistake is not agreeing on one before the first serve.
| Format | How it works at 40-40 | Where you’ll see it |
|---|---|---|
| Advantage | Win two points in a row to take the game. Lose one and it’s back to deuce, as many times as it takes. | Friendly games, some club matches |
| Golden point | One point decides the game. The receiving pair choose which side the serve goes to. | Lots of club, league and social play |
| Star Point | Up to two advantages are played as normal. If the game reaches deuce a third time, one deciding point settles it. | The professional tours from 2026 |
The golden point in practice
At 40-40 under golden point, the receiving pair pick who receives the deciding serve by choosing a side, right or left. Most pairs send it to whoever is returning better that day, or away from the server’s favourite target.
The rule
The FIP Rules of Padel let the receivers choose the side for the deciding point, but they can’t change positions to do it. Whoever is already standing on that side returns. In mixed matches, the player receiving must be the same sex as the server.
That catch trips people up more than anything else about the golden point. Clubs like the format because games stay short and bookings finish on time. It also makes every 40-40 properly tense, which is part of its appeal.
The Star Point
The FIP’s General Assembly approved the Star Point in November 2025, and Premier Padel and the FIP tours use it from 2026. It sits between the other two formats.
- First deuce. At 40-40 you play an advantage, exactly as in tennis. Win the next point after it and the game is yours.
- Second deuce. If the advantage is lost, it’s deuce again and you get a second advantage.
- Star Point. If that one goes too, the next point is the Star Point, and whoever wins it wins the game.
The deciding Star Point follows the golden point rules: the receivers choose the side, they can’t change positions, and in mixed play the receiver matches the server. The idea is to keep some of the drama of advantage scoring without letting one game drag on indefinitely.
Before your first serve, ask one question: “Advantage, golden point or Star Point?” If you’re booking through a club social or a league, they’ll usually have a house rule already, so check the listing.
Tie-breaks
At six games all, you play a tie-break. The count changes to plain numbers (zero, 1, 2, 3 and so on), and the first pair to seven points wins, as long as they’re two points ahead. If it reaches 6-6 in the tie-break, keep going until someone leads by two.
The serving order is the part people forget:
- The player whose turn it is to serve takes the first point, from the right-hand side.
- The opposing pair then serve the next two points, starting from the left.
- After that, each player serves two points in a row, keeping to the order from the set.
- You change ends every six points (after 6, 12 and so on), with no proper break.
The set goes down as 7-6. In the next set, the first serve goes to the pair who received first in the tie-break.
Shorter formats you’ll meet
Not every game is a full three-setter. The FIP rules allow a few shorter versions, and clubs and leagues lean on them to fit matches into a court booking:
- Four-game sets: first to four games, two clear, with a tie-break at 4-4.
- A match tie-break: at one set each, a tie-break to seven replaces the third set.
- A super tie-break: at one set each, a tie-break to ten (two clear) decides the match. This is the common one in leagues.
Social formats like Americano throw out sets altogether and count total points instead. They’ll get a post of their own.
Who serves, and when to change ends
The serve changes hands after every game. Within each pair, partners take turns, so over four games all four players serve once. Agree the order at the start of a set and stick to it until the set ends; you can change it for the next set.
Each game starts with a serve from the right-hand side of the court, then alternates left and right after every point. Receivers keep to their side for the whole set, so if you start on the left, you return every serve that goes to the left. The serve and return guide explains where to stand for each.
You change ends after the first game, the third, and every odd game after that (1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and so on). It feels fussy, but it evens out the sun, wind and lighting on outdoor courts.
Got the order wrong halfway through? It happens to everyone. Points already played still count. Under the FIP rules you fix the mistake as soon as you notice it, and if a whole game has gone by, you carry on with the new order until the set ends.
Three things to agree while you warm up
Most scoring rows on court come from one of three gaps: nobody agreed the format at 40-40, how many sets you’re playing, or what happens at one set all. A booking runs out fast, and a super tie-break at one set each is often the only way to get a result before the next group is waiting at the door.
If you’re new to the game as a whole, what padel is and how it works covers the court and the walls. Everything here is also in the rules and scoring guide, set out as a reference you can pull up on your phone mid-match.
Next on the blogThe padel serve: every rule, and the faults people make
