💬 Discussion 💬
New Service Rule in Premier Padel
I’ve been watching some matches from the Riyadh P1 2026, and I can almost guarantee that most first serves were faults under the new rule, either not hitting the ball behind the line or crossing the center line and hitting it on the other side. And i'm not talking about serve height because that's for another discussion.
I know it’s difficult for the referee, since he doesn’t always have the best angle to call that kind of fault, so how is this new rule going to be enforced? I know players can challenge the serve but i don't think that's how it should be.
For example, in my opinion, all of Yanguas first serves in yesterday’s match were faults.
Comments (12)
u/zemvpferreira5w ago
That’s very consistent actually, service rules have never been followed on the pro tour.
14
Yeah, I know the previous serve rules weren’t strictly enforced, but those were harder to judge since waist height and the “no walking” rule are somewhat subjective. So I understood why refs were more lenient. However, the new rules are not subjective at all, in my opinion.
1
u/zemvpferreira4w ago
They were never hard to judge. Bela served from his nipple line for 20 years. Just like travels in the NBA, there's a certain leniency to not hurt the show as long as players don't absolutely abuse the situation. Personally I believe this specific rule change was proactive and not reactive. It was implemented to stop someone from lunging and serving 2 meters deep into the wrong box. In any case it is what it is.
1
u/jmOropeza325w ago
Serve rules have to be the most ignored of all, however, I have to admit that at least on the games that I saw on Tuesday some referees are making a real effort to enforce the new rules calling faults over and over again (for example, in the game of Chingalan vs Rubio / Ruiz, the referee called at least 4 faults, also on the game from Tolito and Maxi)
Sure, this will change from referee to referee but I do believe that they are trying
5
Yeah but that was after Chingotto told the coach/referee that Ruiz was committing serve fault in all of his serves at the start of the 2° Set
1
u/jmOropeza324w ago
Chingotto mentioned to their coach, that they should be on the look out to call it when it happened but I don’t remember them mentioning it to the referee, maybe the referee over heard them but I think it’s a big stretch to say the referee only started calling it because of Chingotto
And even if he did, both Rubio and Ruiz were doing the fault so it has to be called
1
u/jasinx5w ago
They’re going to need to install new cameras or some sort of infrared or laser sensors to be honest.
The glass/wall/cage prevents onlookers including the ref from making the best decisions and technology should be used in this situation.
2
I agree, also the ref has to call if the serve is out, so he has little to no time to do those 2 things.
1
u/morningcoff3e5w ago
Almos impossible to call consistently from the referee's chair.
Maybe if and when they finally get a replacement for Foxten, they can implement an automated system to catch illegal serves.
2
Yeah i can't really blame the ref, because he also has to look if the serve goes out.
1