How to Keep Score in Padel: A Complete Guide

Padel Scoring Basics

Padel uses the same scoring system as tennis. If you have ever watched a tennis match, you already know most of what you need: points run 0 (love), 15, 30, 40, game, matches are typically best of three sets, and a set is won by the first team to six games (with a tiebreak at 6-6).

The only place padel meaningfully diverges is at the very end of a tight game, where many tournaments now use a golden point — a single sudden-death point at deuce instead of the traditional advantage system. We will cover that below.

If you are coming from tennis, the transition is mostly about strategy and technique, not the scoreboard. If you are brand new to the sport, our beginner's rules guide covers the basics around the scoring rules covered here.

Point-by-Point Scoring

Every game is a race to win four points (with at least a two-point margin). The points are called in this order:

• 0 — called "love"
• 15 — first point won
• 30 — second point won
• 40 — third point won
• Game — fourth point won, with a two-point lead

The serving team's score is always called first. So if the servers have won two points and the receivers have won one, the score is 30-15.

Deuce and Advantage

If both teams reach 40-40, the score is called deuce. From deuce, a team must win two consecutive points to take the game:

• Win the next point: the score is advantage (often called "ad in" if the servers won it, "ad out" if the receivers did)
• Win the point after that: game
• Lose the point at advantage: back to deuce

In a long, evenly matched game, deuce can repeat many times. This is the moment where padel's third option — the golden point — comes in.

The Golden Point

The golden point is a single, sudden-death point played at deuce. Whoever wins it wins the game. There is no advantage and no second chance.

The golden point is standard on the Premier Padel professional tour and is used in many amateur leagues, tournaments, and casual matches in the US. It speeds up matches and adds drama at the most important moments. In golden-point format, the receiving team chooses which side to receive on.

If you are playing recreationally, decide before the match whether you are using golden point or traditional advantage scoring. Both are common.

Games, Sets, and Matches

Once you understand games, the rest stacks neatly on top.

Winning a Set

A set goes to the first team to win six games, but you must win by two. So 6-4 wins the set; 6-5 does not — you play another game to make it 7-5 or push to 6-6.

Tiebreak at 6-6

If a set reaches 6-6, it is decided by a tiebreak:

• First team to 7 points wins
• Must win by 2 points (so 7-5 wins, 7-6 does not — you keep playing)
• Points are counted as 1, 2, 3, 4… not 15, 30, 40
• The tiebreak counts as one game, so the set is recorded as 7-6

The team that was due to serve at 6-6 starts the tiebreak by serving the first point. After that, serve alternates every two points, and the teams switch sides every six points.

Winning a Match

A standard padel match is best of three sets — the first team to win two sets wins the match. Most amateur and pro matches follow this format.

The Super Tiebreak

Some shorter formats — local leagues, social tournaments, or matches with time limits — replace the third set with a super tiebreak: first team to 10 points, win by 2. If each team has won one set, instead of playing a full third set, you play a single super tiebreak to decide the match. It is a fast, high-pressure way to settle things.

Serving Rules That Affect Scoring

A few service rules shape how the score evolves through a game.

• Two serves. Just like tennis, you get two attempts. Miss both and you lose the point (a double fault).
• Underarm only. The ball must be bounced once on the ground and struck at or below waist height. This is one of padel's biggest differences from pickleball and tennis.
• Diagonal service. Serves go from your right service box to the opponent's right box (deuce side), then from your left to their left (ad side), alternating each point.
• One server per game. A single player serves the entire game. Your team chooses who serves first; after that, serving rotates between the four players game by game.

A let serve — when the ball clips the net but lands in the correct service box — is replayed and does not cost you a serve.

Common Scoring Scenarios

A few examples of how a game might go, called the way you would on court:

Quick game: Servers win four straight points → 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, Game. (A 40-0 lead is sometimes called "triple game point.")

Back-and-forth game: 0-15, 15-15, 15-30, 30-30, 40-30, Deuce (40-40), Ad in, 40-40 again (back to deuce), Ad out, Game to the receivers.

Golden-point finish: 40-40 (deuce). Receivers choose their side. Servers win the rally → Game, no advantage stage.

Tiebreak: Set is 6-6. Tiebreak goes 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5, 6-5, 7-5. Set finishes 7-6.

If you are still building familiarity, just remember: love, fifteen, thirty, forty, game. Six games to a set, two-set lead to the match. Everything else is detail.

Ready to put it into practice? Browse padel courts near you and book a session — calling the score is much easier when you are doing it for real.