Padel Positions: Where to Stand and Which Side to Play

What do left and right mean in padel?

Left and right mean your own left and right as you face the net. The right is also called the deuce side. The left is the advantage side.

These names describe the areas a pair normally covers. They do not divide the court into two private lanes.

The receiving order stays fixed throughout a set and its tie-break. You can choose a new order at the next set. Changing ends does not change that order, and either partner can cross the middle during a rally.¹

If you are still learning how a match works, start with our padel scoring guide.

Where should you stand at the start of a point?

The server has a prescribed starting area. Everyone else's starting position is largely a tactical choice.¹

The returner's starting position above is coaching guidance. The service line does not require either receiving player to stay behind it.

How should you move with your partner?

Think about the next ball the opponents can hit. Your last shot tells you where they will play it from, and their contact position tells you which angles need covering.

When your pair is established at the net, keep roughly similar depth. Do the same when defending at the back. A large gap between one player at the net and another near the back glass gives the opponents a diagonal space to attack.

You will sometimes be staggered while one player hits an overhead or moves forward. The aim is to recover a useful shape after the shot. Trying to stay perfectly level every second would make that movement impossible.

Move sideways when the ball moves sideways

Suppose you volley down your own sideline. You need to cover the reply down that line. Your partner should shift towards the centre to help close the gap between you.

If your partner is dragged towards the side glass, adjust towards the middle. Standing still in your original half leaves them trying to cover two places at once.

You cannot cover every possible shot. Cover the straightforward replies and make the opponents play something harder.

Why do players try to take the net?

At the net you can volley before the ball bounces, take time away from the opponents and use more angles. That is why a serving pair usually moves forward and a receiving pair looks for a shot that pushes them back.

Your exact depth needs to change. Crowd the net and you leave more space for a lob. Stay too far back and more volleys arrive below a comfortable hitting height.

Watch the opponent's contact. If they can get comfortably underneath the ball, be ready for the lob. If they are stretched and making a low contact, you may have room to close in.

When should you move forward?

A shot gives you an opportunity to advance when it changes what the opponents can do with their next ball.

After a lob that forces them back

Watch whether your lob makes the opponents retreat and turn. If it does, move forward together while they recover. If it sits up for a comfortable smash, prepare for that reply before advancing.

A 2020 study of the 14 women's finals from the 2018 World Padel Tour found the lob more effective than the other studied strokes for gaining an attacking position. It also found that rallies often continued after the change: pairs could exchange attacking and defensive positions more than once.⁵

Taking the net gives you a better place to play the next shot. You still need to handle it.

After a low ball to the volleyer's feet

A chiquita is a soft shot aimed at a volleyer's feet. Move in when it forces a low contact. If the ball floats higher than intended, wait and read the reply.

Stop to react during the approach

Time a small split step as the opponent strikes so you can move either way. If you are still near the service line, react from there before advancing again.

You will pass through this area often. Avoid camping there, but don't rush through an opponent's contact just to reach the net.

What should you do when you are lobbed?

First decide whether you can play a controlled overhead and recover forward, or whether the lob has forced you into defence.

If you can make the overhead in balance, you may be able to keep the net. If you have to retreat to the back glass, your partner should normally recover with you.

Turn and move early. Leave space beside the ball's path so you can play the rebound. Following it straight into the back glass can leave the ball coming back into your body.

The partner who can still see the opponents should provide useful information: “both up” or “both back”. That helps the player facing the glass choose the reply.

Recovering to the back is part of the point. Give yourselves room to defend, then look for another chance to move forward.

Who takes the ball down the middle?

Use a clear call and the position you are actually in.

“Forehand takes the middle” can help two right-handed beginners agree a starting plan. It cannot decide every ball. Your partner may be stretched out wide, already committed to an overhead, or much better placed to play the rebound.

Before playing, agree three things:

1. Who normally takes a comfortable central overhead when both players can reach it.
2. Which call means you are taking the ball. “Mine” is enough.
3. How the other player will cover the space the hitter leaves.

A reachable backhand from a balanced player can be a better choice than a forehand from a partner lunging across the court.

Call early enough for your partner to react. If you both keep swinging while arguing that the ball was yours, the agreement has come too late.

Should you play on the left or right?

Start with handedness, then look at what the partnership needs.

The first two arrangements follow common coaching guidance. The third applies the same handedness logic in reverse.^{7 8}

Does the stronger player always belong on the left?

The left often suits a right-handed player who handles central overheads well. That may be a different person from the stronger returner or defender. A right-handed player on the right often plays a more patient role in constructing the point.^{7 8}

Both players still have to defend, volley and deal with the glass. Putting the less experienced player on the right does not remove those demands.

Try both arrangements in practice. Pay attention to which pairing produces fewer central mix-ups, steadier returns and better recoveries after lobs. The arrangement that works for your pair matters more than which side sounds more attacking.

Change your receiving arrangement at the start of a new set when testing it in a match.

What is the Australian formation in padel?

In the Australian formation, the server and their partner start in the same half of the court. After serving, the server moves across to cover the other half. This lets a pair keep their preferred playing sides.

For example, you normally play on the left. When you serve from the right, your partner starts ahead of you on the right. You then move diagonally towards the left net position. When you serve from the left, your partner remains on the right and your route is more direct.

That diagonal route takes time. A return down the exposed line can catch you before you arrive.¹⁰

A 2021 study analysed 2,148 points from 18 men's matches at national and beginner levels. Servers had to move faster in the Australian formation. In the conventional formation, they were closer to the net and side wall when the receiver struck the return.¹¹

If you are learning, start with the conventional formation: partner in the opposite half, server moving forward into their serving half. Try Australian when keeping preferred sides helps enough to justify the extra movement.

Where should both players move? Six common situations

Try this ten-minute partner drill

Use four players and controlled feeds so you can watch how both partners move.

Minutes 1-3: Close the middle

One pair starts at the net and the other at the back. The back pair plays gentle balls alternately towards each net player's side. The net player follows the ball sideways while their partner adjusts towards the middle.

Pause after a few shots. Can the back pair see an obvious gap between the volleyers?

Minutes 4-6: Read the lob

The back pair mixes comfortable lobs with deeper ones. The net pair decides whether to play an overhead and recover, or retreat together. Swap roles halfway through.

The aim is a shared decision. A failed smash that your partner expected you to leave tells you something worth discussing.

Minutes 7-10: Play and check

Play normal points. After each one, answer one question: where were both of you when the opponent hit the decisive shot?

If one player was stranded forward while the other defended, replay that situation. If both chased the middle ball, agree the call and try it again.

Repeat the feed until you both know who hits and who covers.

Frequently asked questions

Can you switch sides during a padel match?

You can change covering positions during a rally. Your receiving order stays fixed for the set and its tie-break, with a new order permitted at the next set.

Should beginners play on the right?

Beginners should practise both sides. A right-handed player on the right still needs reliable defence, volleys and overheads. Choose the arrangement that helps the pair play together.

Should a left-handed padel player play on the right?

Usually, when partnered with a right-hander. Putting the left-hander on the right and the right-hander on the left places both forehands towards the centre.

Is it wrong to stand near the service line?

You will pass through that area when advancing or retreating. Be ready to react there if the opponent hits before you reach your intended position. Avoid staying there by default.

Sources

• 1. International Padel Federation, Rules of Padel, applying from 1 January 2026, Rules 3, 5, 6 and 8 cover player positions, changing ends, serving and receiving order.
• 2. LTA Padel, Six padel tips for beginners, Basic attacking and defensive positions, lobs and paired movement.
• 3. The Padel School, Moving As A Pair, Starting positions, coordinated movement, overhead recovery and lateral coverage.
• 4. The Padel School, with coach Manu Martín, When To Move Forward In Padel, Approach shots, transition positioning and the split step.
• 5. Escudero-Tena A, Fernández-Cortes J, García-Rubio J and Ibáñez SJ, Use and Efficacy of the Lob to Achieve the Offensive Position in Women's Professional Padel: Analysis of the 2018 WPT Finals, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020. Observational analysis of professional women's competition.
• 6. The Padel School, Whose Shot Is It?, Choosing who plays a ball according to court position, angles and the rebound.
• 7. The Padel School, Left Side Player, Forehand and overhead opportunities from the left for a right-handed player.
• 8. The Padel School, Right Side Player, Handedness and the different tactical demands of the right side.
• 9. The Padel School, Struggling with the Back Glass in Padel? Fix Your Position First, Anticipating the rebound and leaving space to play it.
• 10. The Padel School, Serve Formation: Where to Stand?, Conventional and Australian formations and the server's route forward.
• 11. Ramón-Llin J and colleagues, Comparison of service tactic formation on players' movements and point outcome between national and beginner level padel, PLOS ONE, 2021. Observational analysis of 18 men's matches and 2,148 points.
• 12. LTA Padel, Padel match tactics for beginners, Net play and communication during the point.