Padel court lines cause more disputes than almost any other aspect of court construction. Not because the rules are complicated — they are not — but because contractors often apply them from memory rather than from the FIP specification, and the errors go unnoticed until a competitive player arrives and questions why the service box feels wrong.
This guide covers the complete FIP line specification for a padel court: which lines exist, their exact positions, the paint type that survives Indian conditions, how lines are applied, and what a repaint costs. If you are building a new court, commissioning a resurface, or checking whether an existing court is correctly marked, this is the reference you need. See the full padel court construction cost guide for the wider build budget context.
Which Lines a Padel Court Actually Has
Padel courts have far fewer lines than most people expect. There is no service line at the back, no tramlines, and no doubles/singles distinction — the entire court is one playing surface.
The complete line set for a regulation padel court:
- Service line: One line parallel to the net, 6.95m from the net on each side of the court. Runs the full 10m width.
- Centre service line: A single line perpendicular to the net, running from the net to 20cm past the service line (total length 7.15m). Divides the service zone into two boxes.
- Sidelines: The two 20m lines running the length of the court — these are the boundary lines, coinciding with the base of the side glass walls.
- Baseline: A single 10m line at each end, parallel to the net. This marks the court boundary at the back wall.
That is the complete set. No additional lines. The walls are live playing surfaces — a ball off the back wall glass is in play whether it lands before or after the service line. There is no equivalent to the tennis baseline service line at the back of a padel court.
FIP Dimension Specs: Service Line, Centre Line, Widths
The critical measurement is the service line: exactly 6.95m from the net, on each side. This is the number most often wrong on Indian courts — errors of 30–50cm are common when contractors measure from the wrong reference point.
Measure from the net post base to the service line near edge, not from the wall. The net post sits on the sideline; measure 6.95m along the sideline to place the service line. Use a steel tape, not a builder's tape — 20m builder's tapes stretch and introduce 2–4cm error over the full court length.
Full FIP specification summary:
- Court overall: 20m × 10m
- All lines: 5cm (50mm) wide
- Service line: 6.95m from net (each side), full 10m width
- Centre service line: perpendicular to net, from net face to 20cm past the service line (total 7.15m from net, but the line itself measures from net to 20cm past the service line junction)
- All lines white
- Net width: 10m; height: 0.88m at centre, 0.92m at posts
| Line | Correct Spec | Common Error |
|---|---|---|
| Service line distance | 6.95m from net | 6.5m or 7.0m (measuring from wrong reference) |
| Centre service line | Net to 20cm past service line | Omitted entirely, or stops at service line |
| Line width | 5cm (50mm) | 3–4cm (using floor-marking tape) |
| Paint type | UV-stabilised acrylic for artificial turf | Spray paint, road marking paint, standard floor paint |
| Back wall baseline marking | Baseline line at 20m mark only | Extra service line added at back (incorrect, not in FIP) |
Paint Type for Artificial Turf: What Works and What Does Not
The paint must be UV-stabilised acrylic formulated specifically for PE monofilament artificial turf. This is not a marketing distinction — it is a chemistry one. Standard acrylic floor paint, road-marking paint, and spray paint all fail on artificial turf, and most fail within one Indian summer.
Artificial turf fibres are made from polyethylene (PE), which has a waxy, non-porous surface. Ordinary paints require surface porosity to form a mechanical bond. UV-stabilised turf acrylic uses a different binder system — a modified acrylic emulsion — that adheres to PE fibre surfaces without porosity. It also contains UV absorbers that prevent the colour (white) from yellowing under Indian solar intensity (6–7 peak sun hours in North India).
The sand infill in padel turf is an additional abrasive. Every foot shuffle and slide grinds silica sand across the line surface. A non-turf paint scratches off in 3–6 months under this abrasion. A turf-grade product survives 2–3 years. The cost difference between the two products at the volume needed for a court repaint is approximately ₹3,000–5,000. The labour difference in repainting every 5 months versus every 2–3 years is enormous.
How Lines Are Applied: New Courts vs Existing Turf
On a new court, lines are applied after the turf is laid, seamed, and sanded — never before. On existing courts, lines can be repainted directly on turf in good condition without removing the sand infill.
New court process: turf is fully laid and seamed, sand infill is brushed in and levelled to the correct depth (typically 20–25mm), court dimensions are measured and marked with chalk lines, and then paint is applied with a line-marking roller or specialised line-marking machine in two passes. The paint dries in 2–4 hours in North India conditions. A second coat is applied after 24 hours. Total line marking on a new court: 4–6 hours of skilled labour.
Repaint on existing turf: the existing faded lines are cleaned with a stiff brush to remove sand and debris. Chalk reference lines are snapped along the full width. Fresh turf acrylic is applied in two coats. If the existing lines are in significantly wrong positions (a common finding on courts built without careful measurement), the old lines must be covered with a broader paint layer before the correct lines are applied — this adds cost and requires two contrasting passes.
Mini-story — Delhi, 2025. A club in South Delhi had its padel court built by a contractor who measured the service line from the back wall rather than from the net. The resulting service line was 6.5m from the net on one side — 45cm short of the FIP spec. Play on the court felt "odd" to experienced players but no one could identify why until a visiting coach measured the service box. The correction required painting over the existing line with a broad base coat and repainting all lines from scratch — a ₹28k job that would have cost ₹0 with correct measurement at build time.