Padel is typically played in doubles on an enclosed court roughly 25% smaller than the size of a tennis court. Scoring is the same as normal tennis and the balls used are similar but with a little less pressure. The main differences are that the court has walls and the balls can be played off them in a similar way as in the game of squash and that solid, stringless bats are used. The height of the ball being served must be at or below the waist level.

Padel rules states that the playing field should be a rectangle 10 metres (32 ft 10 in) wide (back wall) and 20 metres (65 ft 7 in) long (side wall) (with a 0.5% tolerance), enclosed by walls. At the middle of the playing field there will be a net dividing the court in two, the net has a maximum height of 88 cm in the center raising to 92 centimetres (36 in) at sides (with a 0.5 centimetres (1⁄5 in) tolerance).

The superstructure is made from connecting 3m high x 2m wide panels, with an additional 1m mesh height over the glass back walls (10m walls). This additional 1m height is continued for 2m from each corner over the side walls also. This means that the back walls and service corners are actually 4m in height, with the remaining side walls are 3m in height.

Glass panels make up the back walls and service side walls (closest 2 side panels to back walls), whilst metal mesh panels occupy the sides.

The service lines are placed 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) before the back wall and there will be also another line in middle that divides the central rectangle in half. All lines have a 5-centimetre (2 in) width and should be clearly visible.

The minimum height between the playing field and an obstacle (for e.g. the ceiling) is 6 metres (19 ft 8 in).