Section 7: Violations & Penalties
Service Faults
- The ball does not land in the correct diagonal service box.
- The server strikes the ball above waist height.
- The server does not bounce the ball before striking it.
- The server has one or both feet on or across the service line at the moment of contact.
- The served ball bounces in the correct box but then hits the metallic mesh (not glass) — this is a fault.
- The server misses the ball entirely when attempting to strike it (a "whiff" counts as a fault).
Double Bounce Violation
If the ball bounces twice on the ground on one side of the court before being returned, the point is awarded to the opposing pair. This is the most common way points end in padel. Players must reach the ball before the second bounce, even if the ball rebounds off the walls.
Net and Wall Violations
- A player touches the net, net posts, or net cable while the ball is in play — loss of point.
- A player reaches over the net to strike the ball before it has crossed to their side — loss of point.
- A player hits the ball directly into a wall on their own side of the court — loss of point.
- The ball strikes a player or their clothing before bouncing on the ground — loss of point to the player struck (unless the ball was clearly going out).
Code Violations and Penalties
The FIP Code of Conduct provides a graduated penalty system for behavioral violations:
- First offense: Verbal warning from the chair umpire.
- Second offense: Point penalty — one point awarded to the opposing pair.
- Third offense: Game penalty — one game awarded to the opposing pair.
- Fourth offense or severe misconduct: Default (disqualification from the match).
Violations include racket abuse (throwing or smashing the racket), verbal abuse directed at opponents, officials, or spectators, deliberate ball abuse (hitting the ball out of the court in anger), coaching violations (receiving instructions from outside the court during play), and deliberate time-wasting.
Hindrance and Interference
If a player is hindered by an external factor beyond the players' control (such as a ball from another court, an animal on court, or a spectator interference), the chair umpire may call a let and replay the point. Deliberate hindrance by a player results in loss of the point.