The designated receiver must wait for one service-box bounce.

The governing rule and version used here

This page applies the International Padel Federation Rules of Padel, review applicable 1 January 2026. FIP is the international governing body. Rule 8 controls the return of serve; Rules 3 and 6 identify the receiver and service box; Rules 7 and 9 separate faults from repeated serves; and Rules 12–14 control the live ball and the return's destination.

This is the international baseline for FIP play, not a claim that every club, national federation or event uses identical scoring and review procedures. The current Premier Padel variation is named separately below. The appointed competition regulations remain controlling where they supplement the FIP rules.

Three facts decide the ordinary return

1. The serve must be valid. Its first bounce must be inside the correct diagonal service box; a line bounding that box counts as good.
2. The correct player must receive. The pair's receiving order identifies which partner takes that point.
3. Contact must be after bounce one and before bounce two. A volley return is too early; allowing a second ground bounce is too late.

These are separate questions. A receiver standing outside the service box can still make a legal return, while a player standing inside it cannot volley the serve.

The ball is confined to the box; the receiver is not

FIP Rule 3 describes the player diagonally opposite the server as the receiver, but expressly lets that player, the receiver's partner and the server's partner stand anywhere on their own side of the court. The receiver can begin behind the service line, close to a wall or farther forward.

Position does not remove the bounce requirement. Wherever the receiver stands, the ball must first bounce within the diagonal receiving box and the designated receiver must make the return.

The partners alternate returns in a fixed set order

In the pair's first receiving game of a set, the partners choose who receives the first serve. Under FIP Rule 8.2, that player continues to receive the first serve in every receiving game for the rest of the set. Rule 8.3 then requires the partners to receive alternately during each game and preserves that order through the set and its tie-break.

The pair may select a different first receiver at the start of a new set. Moving or crossing during a rally does not change who must receive the next serve.

An order mistake is corrected, not automatically forfeited

FIP Rule 8.4 gives a specific remedy when the partners alter their receiving order. They continue in the altered order until the end of the game—or to the end of the tie-break—in which the mistake occurred. In later receiving games of that set, they restore the positions chosen at the start.

The rule does not direct an automatic point loss or replay merely because the wrong partner returned after the legal bounce. Do not confuse that administrative correction with Rule 8.5, which awards the point to the server when either receiving player or either racket is struck before the serve bounces.

A no-net serve that hits a receiver before bouncing is the server's point

If a served ball touches either member of the receiving pair—or either racket—before its first bounce, FIP Rule 8.5 awards the point to the server. It does not matter that the contact was accidental or involved the receiver's partner rather than the player due to return.

There is one important sequence exception. If the ball first touches the net or an in-play supporting post and then hits an opponent or something worn or carried by that opponent, Rule 9.1(b) calls a service “net.” Repeat that serve instead of awarding the point to the server.

A glass rebound can remain playable; a service-fence contact cannot

After the ball's valid first bounce, contact with a glass wall does not count as a second ground bounce. Rules 8.1 and 12.3 allow the receiver to play the ball after that rebound, provided it is struck before the second floor bounce.

A metallic-fence contact during the serve has a different result. Under Rule 7.1(e), if the ball bounces in the correct box and then touches the surrounding metallic fence before its second bounce, the serve is a fault. The receiver should not treat that ball as a live return. On a court without an approved safety zone and out-of-court play, a correct-box serve that exits directly through a gate is also a fault under Rule 7.1(f).

The shot then uses the ordinary correct-return tests

Once the receiver strikes the ball, FIP Rules 13 and 14 decide whether the return is good. The return may:

• Be volleyed by an opponent or touch an opponent, their clothing or racket.
• Bounce directly in the opponents' court.
• Touch one of the receiver's own walls first and then bounce in the opponents' court.
• Touch the net or a net post and then bounce in the opponents' court.
• Bounce in the opponents' court and then hit their wall or metallic fence.

The receiving pair loses the point if the return hits its own metallic fence or floor after the stroke. Unless an opponent intercepts the shot, it is also lost if it reaches the opponents' wall or fence before bouncing in their court. Once a legal return is made, ordinary rally rules apply and either partner may play the pair's next shot.

A qualifying net touch repeats the serve

Under the FIP baseline in Rule 9.1(a), a serve is a “net” when it touches the net or supporting post, then lands in the correct receiving box and does not touch the metallic fence before the second bounce. The serve is repeated. A net-touching serve that lands outside the box is a fault, not a replay.

The serve status matters. Rule 9.2 says a net or let on the first serve restores two serves; a net or let on the second serve repeats only the second serve. An ordinary rally return that clips the net and then lands in the opponents' court is different: Rule 14.1(e) makes it a correct live return, not a service replay.

“Not ready” must be genuine and raised without an attempted return

FIP Rule 6.10 says the server must wait until the receiver is ready, while the receiver must adapt to the server's reasonable rhythm. If the receiver is shown not to have been ready, a fault cannot be called and Rule 9.2(a) provides a let.

Rule 6.11 closes the tactical escape: a receiver who attempts to return the serve cannot then claim not to have been ready. The replay preserves whether the interrupted delivery was a first or second serve.

Fault, lost point, replay or live rally?

• First-service fault: the server has a second serve.
• Second-service fault: the receiving pair wins the point under Rule 13.1(q).
• No prior net touch, then pre-bounce contact with either receiver or racket: the server wins the point under Rule 8.5.
• Second ground bounce before the return: the receiving pair loses the point under Rules 8.1 and 13.1(c).
• Qualifying service net or service made while the receiver was not ready: repeat the appropriate first or second serve.
• Legal return: continue the rally; there is no special “return phase” after the shot crosses legally.

The serve lands on a line, then reaches the glass

Situation: the serve's first bounce touches a line bounding the correct service box, rebounds from the glass and is struck before a second floor bounce.

FIP 2026 ruling: legal return. Rule 7.1(c) counts the service-box line as good, the glass is not a second floor bounce, and Rule 8.1's timing test is satisfied.

The receiver's partner is hit before the bounce

Situation: a serve does not touch the net and strikes the designated receiver's partner before landing.

FIP 2026 ruling: point to the server. Rule 8.5 covers either receiving player and either racket; this is not merely a service fault or an order correction.

The net cord changes the premature-contact result

Situation: the serve clips the net and then hits the receiver's racket before bouncing.

FIP 2026 ruling: service net and replay under Rule 9.1(b), not a point to the server under Rule 8.5. If it was the first serve, two serves are available; if it was the second, repeat only the second.

The wrong partner returns after the bounce

Situation: Blue 1 was due to receive, but Blue 2 returns the serve after its valid bounce. The mistake is noticed during that game.

FIP 2026 ruling: continue the altered order to the end of that game, then restore the originally chosen positions in Blue's next receiving game. Rule 8.4 does not make the return an automatic lost point.

The return uses the receiver's own glass

Situation: after the required service bounce, the receiver strikes the ball into their own back glass; it then crosses the net and bounces in the opponents' court.

FIP 2026 ruling: correct return under Rule 14.1(b). Replace the glass with the receiver's own metallic fence and the receiving pair loses the point under Rule 13.1(l).

How to rule on a disputed return

1. Name the ruleset and competition. Start with FIP 2026, then check any appointed event regulation.
2. Check the serve before judging the return. Correct diagonal box, line, fence, gate and any net touch can decide the call first.
3. Identify the designated receiver. Use the pair's receiving order, not where the partners happen to stand.
4. Track the sequence of contacts. Net/post first, first ground bounce, glass or fence, racket contact and second ground bounce lead to different outcomes.
5. Judge the return's path. Did an opponent intercept it, or did it bounce in the opponents' court before reaching their enclosure?
6. Apply the exact remedy. Second serve, repeated serve, point to server, order correction or live rally are not interchangeable.

Star Point and VAR change procedure, not the required bounce

The FIP rulebook lists Advantage, Star Point and Golden Point as scoring options. For a Star Point or Golden Point deciding serve, the receiving pair chooses the right or left service side but may not swap player positions to receive it. The mandatory bounce and correct-return tests remain unchanged.

Premier Padel's men's and women's Official Rulebooks, version 2026/2, applicable 1 June 2026, require Star Point for Tour matches and otherwise apply the FIP rules unless stated differently. Their section 13 also permits timely VAR requests: a pair has two unsuccessful requests per set, with VAR required on centre court in Major and P1 main draws and recommended on centre court in P2 main draws. That review procedure is not available by default in club or other competition play.

Wording caution: baseline FIP Rule 9.1(a) excludes metallic-fence contact from a service net. The Premier Padel chair-umpire script adds “side walls” to that exclusion but does not separately state the resulting call after a correct-box, net-touching serve reaches a side wall. This page does not infer a universal outcome from that gap; at Premier Padel, the appointed officials and competition text control.

Five claims to avoid

• “The receiver must stand in the service box.” The ball must bounce there; FIP Rule 3 lets the receiver stand anywhere on their side.
• “Any wrong-partner return loses the point.” Rule 8.4 instead gives an order-correction procedure when the return follows the bounce.
• “Any wall rebound is playable.” Glass can remain live after the service bounce; metallic-fence contact before the second bounce makes the serve a fault.
• “A ball that hits the receiver before bouncing always gives the server the point.” A prior net or post touch invokes Rule 9's service-net replay.
• “The receiver can finish the point and then claim not ready.” An attempted return removes that claim under Rule 6.11.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• International Padel Federation — Rules of Padel (English), review applicable 1 January 2026: Rule 1 and Rules 3, 6–14
• International Padel Federation — Reglas del Pádel (Spanish), review applicable 1 January 2026: Rules 6–14
• International Padel Federation — current official documents library
• Premier Padel / FIP — Official Rulebook, Men's Tournaments, version 2026/2, applicable 1 June 2026: sections 11.8, 11.9 and 13
• Premier Padel / FIP — Official Rulebook, Women's Tournaments, version 2026/2, applicable 1 June 2026: sections 11.8, 11.9 and 13

Checked on 27 August 2026 against the English and Spanish FIP rules currently linked from FIP's official documents library and the current Premier Padel men's and women's rulebooks. The FIP rules applicable from 1 January 2026 control the baseline return rulings. National federations, local leagues and tournament regulations may supplement scoring, officiating and review procedures; the Premier Padel service-net wording issue is retained above as an unresolved competition-text ambiguity.