The basics
What is Padel?
It's doubles — two against two — on a court smaller than tennis, wrapped in glass walls. The ball can bounce off the walls and stay in play, so rallies last longer and it's easy to pick up.
- · vs tennis: smaller court, underarm serve, walls in play, doubles-first
- · vs squash: outdoor-friendly, net in the middle, ball can leave the cage
A Padel court is a 10 × 20 m rectangle enclosed by glass and mesh: 10 m-wide back walls of glass, stepped side walls, and a net across the middle. Service boxes sit on each side, and the surface is usually blue, green or sand-coloured artificial turf.
Scoring, quickly
The star point
Scoring is tennis-style: 15, 30, 40, game; six games win a set (tie-break at 6–6); matches are best of three sets. Since 2026 the professional circuits use the 'Star Point' system at 40–40 ('deuce'): up to two classic advantages are played, and if the game still isn't settled, one single deciding rally — the Star Point — wins it. It replaced the previous sudden-death golden point as a hybrid between tradition and spectacle, and applies across Premier Padel, the CUPRA FIP Tour, FIP Promises and FIP Beyond.
Core rules
- The serve is underarm: the ball is bounced and struck at or below waist height, diagonally into the opposite service box.
- The ball may bounce off your own back or side walls after bouncing on your side — play continues.
- A ball that hits a wall on the opponent's side BEFORE bouncing on the ground is out.
- The ball may only bounce once on the ground on each side; hitting the wire mesh directly is a fault on the serve and out in a rally.
Common shots you'll hear
A gentle overhead "tray" shot that keeps you controlling the net.
A sharper, spinnier cousin of the bandeja that skids low off the glass.
Hitting the ball down after it rebounds up off your own back wall.
A soft, low shot that drops at the opponents' feet to calm the rally down.
The pro circuit
The pro circuit
The top professional circuit is Qatar Airways Premier Padel, run with the International Padel Federation (FIP): four Majors (2,000 points to the winner), P1s (1,000) and P2s (600), plus the season-ending Tour Finals (1,500). Beneath it, the CUPRA FIP Tour (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and the FIP Finals) is the development tier where points also count toward the same FIP world ranking. A separate circuit, A1 Padel, runs its own ranking and is not covered here.
Words you'll hear
"Major" & "P1"
The biggest tournaments on the calendar. A Major is the grandest — 2,000 ranking points to the winners; a P1 is the next tier at 1,000. Win those and you climb fast.
Points they must defend soon
Ranking points only count for one year, so a player is always defending what the same tournaments gave them last season — as those points quietly expire, the rank slips unless they're won back. This is the heart of the Race to #1.
The ranking
How the ranking works
The FIP world ranking is the sum of a player's best 22 results from the last 52 weeks across Premier Padel and the CUPRA FIP Tour. Points expire exactly 52 weeks after they were earned — except Major and Tour Finals points, which are defended in the week of that event's next edition. The season 'Race' is the same best-22 arithmetic restricted to the current season. Points are earned individually, so partners' totals can differ.
Official points by tier and round (season 2026)
| Tier | W | F | 3RD | 4TH | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64 | BQ | LQ | Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | 2000 | 1200 | 720 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 35 | 15 | 30 | 15 | ||
| Tour Finals | 1500 | 900 | 600 | 400 | 270 | |||||||
| P1 | 1000 | 600 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 22 | 10 | 18 | |||
| P2 | 600 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 22 | 5 | 15 | 7 | |||
| FIP Platinum | 300 | 180 | 90 | 50 | 25 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 5 | |||
| FIP Finals | 225 | 135 | 70 | 40 | 20 | |||||||
| FIP Gold | 150 | 90 | 50 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |||
| FIP Silver | 80 | 45 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||
| FIP Bronze | 40 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Rendered directly from the versioned ruleset file used by the simulator, verified against padelfip.com on 2026-07-11.
Rule changes by season
Curated manually from padelfip.com announcements; rendered on the Learn page. Only verified changes are listed — if something can't be confirmed against an official source it does not appear here.
2026
- Star Point scoring introduced (approved by the FIP General Assembly on 28 Nov 2025, in play from January 2026 — first at FIP Bronze Melbourne, Premier Padel debut at Riyadh P1): at 40–40 up to **two classic advantages are played; if the game is still unresolved, a single deciding Star Point** settles it. Replaces the previous golden point across Premier Padel, CUPRA FIP Tour, FIP Promises and FIP Beyond. Source: padelfip.com "Between innovation and tradition: introducing the Star Point" (Dec 2025).
- Core system unchanged from 2025 (official wording: "As in 2025, the 22 best results … will form the FIP Ranking 2026"): best 22 results, rolling 52-week window, Premier Padel + CUPRA FIP Tour events count.
- Major line-up changed: the calendar lists Kuwait Major (October) while 2025 had the Qatar Major. FIP's defence table handles Qatar Major 2025 points with an extended defence window (May 25 – Nov 30, 2026).
- Official 2026 point scorecard published (identical tables for men and women; P1 men's table lists an R64 round worth 22 points, the women's does not).
- Major/Finals points continue to be defended in the week of the event's next edition, not on a fixed 52-week anniversary.
2025
- Baseline for this site: best-22 / 52-week system across Qatar Airways Premier Padel (Major 2000 · Finals 1500 · P1 1000 · P2 600) and the CUPRA FIP Tour (Platinum 300 · FIP Finals 225 · Gold 150 · Silver 80 · Bronze 40).
Source: https://www.padelfip.com/ranking-system-points-breakdown/ (and the season point-table image published there). Last reviewed: 2026-07-11.