Underarm serve
The underarm serve is the only legal way to start a point in padel. You bounce the ball behind the service line, then strike it with the racket below the level of your iliac crest (the top of your hip bone). Get either part wrong and the serve is a fault, exactly like a fault in tennis.
What is the underarm serve?
An underarm serve is any serve struck with the racket head at or below waist height. In padel, that motion is mandatory.
The FIP rulebook specifies that the ball must bounce once on the floor first, then be struck at or below the height of the iliac crest, the bony ridge along the top of your hip. That single rule is what separates padel’s service motion from tennis’s overhead serve.
Why does padel use it?
The underarm rule is the great equaliser. A booming overhead serve would dominate the smaller court, kill rallies and price beginners out of the game. By forcing the server to start the point low and slow, the rule pulls the focus toward placement, spin and tactics rather than raw power.
It is also one of the reasons rallies in padel last longer than in tennis at every level.
How to do it correctly
Stand behind the service line on the correct side of the centre line. Drop or bounce the ball on the floor behind the line, let it bounce once, then strike it diagonally into the opposite service box.
Contact must be at or below the iliac crest, with both feet behind the line at the moment you hit. A common cue: if you can see your racket above your belt buckle at contact, the serve is too high.
Coach tip: Set your contact point first, then build the rest of the serve around it. Players who try to add speed before they have the height under control are the ones who get foot-fault and high-contact calls in matches.
Common mistakes
Three faults trip beginners. Contacting the ball above the iliac crest, which is the most common umpire call at amateur tournaments. Stepping on or over the service line before contact (a foot fault). And skipping the bounce, especially in fast-paced practice rallies. The serve is the only shot in padel where the ball must bounce before you strike it.
