Padel net rules: can your racket cross the net?

Yes, your racket can follow through over the net after you hit the ball on your side. The Canadian Padel Federation's FAQ explains that allowance. It does not let you hit an incoming ball before it crosses, or touch the net while the point is live.

Where was the ball when you hit it?

On an ordinary volley, wait for the incoming ball to cross to your side before contact. Hitting it too early loses the point. The FIP's official foul-shot explanation confirms that rule.

Picture a slow ball near the net. You strike it on your side, then your swing carries the racket across. That follow-through is different from reaching across to intercept the ball before it gets to you. In either case, keep clear of the net and avoid interfering with your opponents.

When the ball bounces back over the net

An opponent's smash can land on your side, rebound off the back glass and travel back over the net. You may reach across to return it before its second bounce under FIP Rule 14(1)(g). You still cannot touch the net, its posts or the opponents' court, and the return must otherwise be valid.

The bounce on your side makes this different from taking an incoming volley early. Our glass-defence guide covers reading those wall rebounds.

What if you touch the net by accident?

You lose the point if the ball is still live. A hand, shirt or racket brushing the net is enough; it does not have to be deliberate. Rule 13(1)(a) also covers the tension cable, net posts and the opponents' court. The FIP tour's TOUCH/NET explanation confirms the loss of point for contact before the point is decided.

Say your volley lands in and looks impossible to reach, but your racket clips the net before the ball's second bounce. If the ball is still live, your pair loses the point despite the difficult shot you have left your opponents.

Touching the net after the point has ended does not trigger that live-ball penalty. If you disagree about the call, ask whether the ball was still in play when the touch happened.

The doorway-post exception

Where out-of-court play is authorized, Rule 13(1)(b) makes the dividing vertical doorway post above 0.92 metres neutral. Players may touch or hold that part. It does not make the whole post neutral, or permit touching the net or cable.

For a disputed volley, ask where the ball was when struck and whether anything touched the net while it was live. Receiving serve has a separate bounce requirement, covered in our padel return-of-serve rules.