Padel: Legal Serve and Crosscourt Return

Practice of the padel serve by the rulebook and the crosscourt return, with one student refereeing the serve. It blends technique, rules and fair play.

How to play

1. Serve rules: bounce the ball behind the service line, hit it at or below waist height, send it diagonally into the opposite box, two attempts. Demo legal serves and faults (4 min).
2. Serving in threes: one serves, one returns by hand (catches), and the third referees, calling "in" or "fault" and why; rotate every 5 serves (6 min).
3. Serve and paddle return: the returner sends the ball crosscourt toward a cone on the server's side; the referee tallies returns that reach the zone (8 min).
4. Points from the serve: two against one, the referee rules on faults and explains each call (7 min).

Rules

• The referee has the final say; disagreements are discussed at the end, not during the point.
• Serve only when the returner is ready and watching.
• Stray balls are picked up between points, never during play.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair users: the pre-serve bounce can be a simple drop from the hand, and serving is done stationary.
• Deaf or hard of hearing: the referee uses agreed signals (arm up for in, arm out for fault).
• Hesitant students: start as referee to watch several serves before serving.

Learning goals

• Know and apply the padel serve rules.
• Return crosscourt with control.
• Referee with good judgment and explain decisions.

Equipment for a class of 25

• padel paddles: 30
• padel balls: 30
• cones: 24
• badminton net: 2
• chalk: 4

Teacher tip

Mark the service boxes in chalk: in padel the service line is about 7 m from the net. Remember that if a serve bounces in the box and then hits the metal fence, it's a fault; since the schoolyard has no fence, mark a cone zone to stand in for it.

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