The serve in padel, tennis and pickleball: why they are so different

In tennis, the serve is the most powerful shot in the match. In padel and pickleball, it is compulsory to hit it softly. And that is not tradition or habit: it is on purpose.

When the serve is the strongest weapon, the serve eats the match. Padel and pickleball were both born after tennis, and both made the same decision: if you want the point to be played, the serve has to be soft.

Tennis: the serve rules

It is hit overhead, with no bounce, from behind the baseline, and travels diagonally into the opposite service box. There are two attempts, and if the ball clips the net and lands in, it is replayed: the let.

The consequence is well known: whole matches are decided without a single break, and a player who serves very well can win without being better at anything else.

Padel: compulsorily soft

The rules of the International Padel Federation, in force since 1 January 2026, come down to six conditions:

• A bounce first: the ball is bounced on the ground and struck afterwards, inside the correct box (Rule 6.2).
• The strike at waist height or below — the rulebook says “at or below”, not just “below” — and with at least one foot touching the ground (Rule 6.4).
• One foot behind the service line. This is what changed in 2026: previously both had to be (Rule 6.1). And the line cannot be stepped on (Rule 6.3).
• The first bounce must land in the diagonal box opposite, and the lines are good (Rules 6.5 and 7.1.c).
• After bouncing, the ball may touch the glass and stays in play. If it touches the metal fence before the second bounce, it is a fault (Rule 7.1.e).
• A serve hit straight at the glass, without bouncing in the box first, is a fault: the first bounce did not land where it should.

With walls, the point does not end when the ball goes past you. If the serve could be hard, there would be no point left to play.

A detail almost nobody knows

If the ball bounces correctly in the service box and then goes straight out through the door, on a court with no outer safety area, that is also a fault (Rule 7.1.f). One of those things that causes one argument a year at every club.

Pickleball: stricter still

The USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, 2026 edition, asks three things at once of the volley serve: clearly contact the ball below the waist, clearly keep the paddle head below the wrist, and clearly use an upward arc.

The word “clearly” was added to all three conditions in 2026, and it is not a drafting detail: if a serve is borderline, the referee calls a fault instead of giving the benefit of the doubt. Adding spin to the ball with the fingers on release was also banned.

There is also the drop serve: dropping the ball and hitting it after the bounce.

The reason lies in the sport’s origin. Pickleball was invented in 1965 so that children and adults could play together. A powerful serve would have broken it on day one.

The three of them, side by side

What this says about each sport

When a sport wants the point to be played, it makes the serve soft. When it wants to reward whoever hits hardest, it leaves the serve free.

Neither is better: they are different decisions about what kind of match you want to watch. But it explains why a tennis player moving to padel takes a while to accept that their best shot is now worth nothing.