Padel vs squash
Both sports use walls, but one has a net, a doubles format and tennis scoring while the other is a two-player game played against a front wall. Here is how they compare on official numbers.
Padel and squash are both enclosed racket sports where the walls matter, but they are different games. Padel is played by pairs across a net on a 20 m by 10 m court, with a solid perforated racket, an underhand serve and tennis-style scoring. Squash singles is played on a 9.75 m by 6.4 m court with no net, a strung racket, and point-a-rally scoring to 11. In padel the ball must bounce on the opponents’ side before it can use a wall; in squash every shot has to reach the front wall.
Key takeaways
- Padel: net, pairs, 20 m by 10 m, solid racket, 15/30/40 scoring, best of three sets.
- Squash: no net, singles, 9.75 m by 6.4 m, strung racket, games to 11, normally best of five.
- Padel walls come into play after the ball has bounced; in squash the front wall is the target of every shot.
- The padel racket has hard size limits (45.5 cm total length); a squash racket can be 686 mm long.
- Squash players pick up wall reading and positioning quickly in padel; the net game and the underhand serve are new.
Side-by-side comparison
Padel figures come from the International Padel Federation (FIP) Rules of Padel, revised December 2025. Squash figures come from World Squash’s court and racket specifications and its 2025 Rules of Singles Squash.
| Feature | Padel (FIP) | Squash singles (World Squash) |
|---|---|---|
| Court size | 20 m long by 10 m wide, interior | 9.75 m long by 6.4 m wide |
| Net | Yes: 0.88 m at the centre, 0.92 m at the ends | No net; a tin 480 mm high runs along the base of the front wall |
| Players | Two pairs (four players) | Two players in singles |
| Racket | Solid, perforated; max 45.5 cm long, 26 cm wide, 38 mm thick | Strung; max 686 mm long, 215 mm wide, 500 cm² strung area, 255 g |
| Serve | Bounce the ball, strike at or below waist height, diagonal into the service box; second serve allowed | Drop or throw and strike, to the front wall between service line and out line; a bad serve loses the rally |
| Scoring | 15/30/40, sets to six games, best of three sets | Point-a-rally to 11, win by two from 10-all, normally best of five |
| Rest between points | Maximum 20 seconds | Play is continuous; 2 minutes between games |
The court: 200 square metres against about 62
The FIP rules define a padel court as a rectangle 10 metres wide by 20 metres long, measured inside the walls, divided by a net with service lines 6.95 m either side of it. The net must be 10 m long and 0.88 m high at the centre, rising to 0.92 m at the ends. The ends of the court are 4 m high in total, with the first 3 m a wall (glass, brick or other uniform material) and the last metre metal fence. That is 200 square metres by our arithmetic, shared by four players.
World Squash’s court specification gives the international singles court as 9,750 mm long by 6,400 mm wide, with a diagonal of 11,665 mm and a minimum clear height of 5,640 mm. The front wall line is 4,570 mm above the floor, the back wall line is 2,130 mm and the service line on the front wall is 1,780 mm. The tin at the base of the front wall is 480 mm high, with a lower 430 mm tin preferred for PSA-sanctioned tournaments. Our arithmetic puts the floor at about 62 square metres for two players, so each squash player has roughly 31 square metres to cover and each padel player roughly 50.
One caution: World Squash says it is publishing new specifications product by product during a 2026 transition year, with a wall, door and tin specification published in October 2026. The dimensions above come from its full court specification document, so check World Squash’s court page if you are building a court. For padel courts, our padel court size guide covers the space you need around the court.
The walls: the biggest difference in how points work
This is where the two sports feel similar from the stands and play completely differently. In squash, a return is good if the ball is struck before it has bounced twice on the floor and reaches the front wall above the tin and below the out line, without having bounced on the floor first. It may hit the side or back walls on the way, but the front wall is the target of every shot. There is no opponent’s side of the court: both players share one box.
Padel has a net and two sides. Under the FIP rules, the ball must bounce on the opponents’ ground first. After that it may hit the walls or fence and stay in play, provided it is returned before its second bounce. If a player’s return, directly or off their own walls, hits the opponents’ walls or fence without bouncing in the opponents’ court first, the point is lost. The metal mesh matters too: on a serve, the ball touching the fence before the second bounce is a fault.
The practical result is that padel’s walls are a defensive tool, giving you a second chance when the ball bounces past you. Squash’s walls are the whole game, because you are always hitting toward one. Squash players will recognise the rebounds; see our padel rules guide for exactly what counts as in play.
Rackets and balls: a hard size limit versus a strung frame
The FIP rules require a padel racket made of a head and handle, no longer than 45.5 cm in total and no wider than 26 cm or thicker than 38 mm. The hitting surface is perforated with holes of 9 to 13 mm in the centre, with larger holes allowed around the edge, and both faces must be flat. A non-elastic cord of up to 35 cm must be fixed to the handle and worn around the wrist, and its use is obligatory. The padel ball is a rubber sphere 6.35 to 6.77 cm across and 56.0 to 59.4 g, with a bounce of 135 to 145 cm when dropped from 2.54 m onto a hard surface.
World Squash’s racket specification allows a much longer, strung frame: a maximum length of 686 mm, a maximum width of 215 mm, a maximum strung area of 500 square centimetres, a maximum weight of 255 g and a maximum depth of the frame of 26 mm. Strings must be gut, nylon or a substitute and not metal, and the frame and any bumper strip must not mark the court. World Squash publishes separate ball specifications that we do not summarise here.
In practice this means a squash racket gives you reach and a long swing, while a padel racket is short, solid and about touch. Our guides to padel racket weight and balance and how to choose a padel racket go into what to buy.
The serve and the scoring
A padel serve starts with a bounce. The server bounces the ball within their service box, strikes it at or below waist height with at least one foot on the ground, and sends it diagonally over the net into the receiver’s service box. If the first serve is not valid the server gets a second. In squash, the server drops or throws the ball and strikes it from inside a service box with one foot in contact with the floor, sending it to the front wall between the service line and the out line so that it bounces first in the opposite quarter-court. World Squash’s rules treat a serve that does not comply as a fault and award the rally to the receiver.
Scoring is the other big difference. The FIP rules describe padel scoring as 15, 30, 40 and game, with deuce, and allow organisers to choose advantage, star point or golden point. The first pair to win six games by a margin of two wins a set, with a tie-break at six games, and the match is the best of three sets. World Squash singles uses point-a-rally scoring: the winner of a rally scores a point and serves next, a game is played to 11 points with a two-point lead needed from 10-all, and a match is normally the best of five games, though it may be the best of three. Our padel scoring guide walks through the padel options.
Rest rules also differ. The FIP rules allow a maximum of 20 seconds between points, while the World Squash singles rules allow a maximum of two minutes between games and ask for continuous play within a game.
Singles, doubles and who you play with
The FIP rules are written for pairs, which is why padel is almost always a doubles game; our can you play padel singles page covers the exceptions. Squash is mainly known as a singles sport, though World Squash also publishes separate international doubles rules and a doubles court diagram. If you want a social sport where you always have three other people on court, padel is built for that. If you want to play with one other person or on your own against a wall, squash is the natural fit.
Eye protection
World Squash’s singles rules state that protective eyewear is mandatory for all doubles and junior events it sanctions. Padel has no equivalent rule in the FIP text we read, but the sport has its own eye-injury risk from a fast ball in a small enclosed space, which we cover in our padel eye protection guide. If you are coming from squash, you may already own certified eyewear.
Which should you choose?
Choose padel if you want to play with friends in groups of four, like the idea of tennis scoring and a more social pace, and want a racket sport where walls give you a second chance. Choose squash if you want a faster, one-on-one game with continuous rallies and a smaller court. Many players do both: the footwork, anticipation and wall awareness transfer in each direction, even though the strokes and tactics differ. Neither is a replacement for coaching, and our padel lessons for beginners guide explains what a first session looks like.
If you are comparing padel with other sports, we also have guides to padel vs tennis and padel vs pickleball.
FAQs
Is padel the same as squash?
No. Both are racket sports in which walls can be part of play, but padel is played by pairs on an enclosed 20 m by 10 m court with a net, a solid perforated racket and tennis-style scoring. Squash has no net: the ball is hit against a front wall, scoring is point-a-rally to 11, and the racket is strung.
Which court is bigger, padel or squash?
Padel. The FIP rules give an interior of 20 m by 10 m (200 square metres by our arithmetic). World Squash’s singles court is 9.75 m by 6.4 m, about 62 square metres. Padel is built for four players and squash singles for two.
Do squash skills help in padel?
Some do. Reading a ball off a wall, moving to the back of the court and getting the racket ready early all transfer. Others do not: padel has a net, a solid racket, an underhand serve and a rule that the ball must bounce on the opponents’ side before it can touch a wall.
Is padel scored like squash?
No. FIP padel uses tennis-style 15, 30, 40 and game, with sets to six games and matches best of three sets. World Squash singles uses point-a-rally scoring, with games to 11 (win by two from 10-all) and matches normally best of five games.
Can I use a squash racket for padel?
No. A padel racket is solid, perforated and limited to 45.5 cm in total length, 26 cm in width and 38 mm in thickness. A squash racket is strung and can be up to 686 mm long, so it is a different tool, and the FIP rules specify a padel racket for padel play.
Which sport is easier to start?
Many beginners find padel easier to start rallying because the court is enclosed and the serve is underhand, as our padel vs tennis guide explains. Squash has its own learning curve, and we have not seen head-to-head data comparing the two, so treat that as an editorial view, not a measured fact.
Last updated November 4, 2026 · PadelAnywhere Editorial
Sources
- International Padel Federation, Rules of Padel (December 2025 revision): padelfip.com
- World Squash, Court Specifications (full court specification document and 2026 transition notice): worldsquash.sport
- World Squash, Racket Specification: worldsquash.sport
- World Squash, Rules of Singles Squash 2025 (scoring, serve, return, intervals, eyewear note): worldsquash.sport