Quick answer: padel uses the same scoring system as tennis — 15, 30, 40, game, with deuce and advantage at 40-40 — played in doubles on an enclosed court where the ball can bounce off the back and side walls before being returned. The serve is underarm, hit below waist height, and must bounce in the service box diagonally opposite before the walls come into play.
Scoring: it's just like tennis
If you already know tennis scoring, you already know padel scoring. Games go 15-30-40-game, sets are first to six games (win by two), and matches are usually best of three sets. The only real difference is that padel is always doubles — there's no singles format in competitive play.
The serve rules
Unlike tennis, the padel serve is always underarm. The ball must bounce once in your own service box before you strike it below waist height, and it has to land in the diagonally opposite service box on the other side. You get two attempts per point, just like tennis.
Using the walls
This is the part that trips up tennis players first: after the ball bounces on the court, it's legal to let it hit the back or side walls before you return it, as long as it only bounces on the ground once. The ball cannot hit the wall before bouncing on the ground — that's a fault, similar to a ball landing out in tennis.
Let serves and other quirks
If a serve clips the net and still lands correctly in the service box, it's a let and gets replayed, exactly as in tennis. The mesh fencing and glass walls are considered part of the court and playable, but the metal frame or posts are out — hitting those ends the point.
Winning a match
Matches are decided by winning two out of three sets (or three out of five in some longer formats). Because it's always doubles and the court is smaller, rallies tend to be longer and more about placement and wall play than raw power — which is part of why so many tennis players pick it up quickly.
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