Rules
Padel ball size, bounce, and high altitude
Direct answer
An official padel ball is a rubber sphere 6.35 to 6.77 centimetres in diameter and 56.0 to 59.4 grams. From a 2.54-metre drop it should bounce 135 to 145 centimetres. At venues more than 1,000 metres above sea level, a high-altitude ball with a lower bounce range may be used.
Players often blame the racket when the can is tired. Balls have a specification. Once they leave it, a new carbon face will not save the rally.
Numbers below follow the FIP Rules of Padel.
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The standard (sea-level) window
The ball is a rubber sphere with a uniform surface, in white, yellow, or another colour that contrasts with the court. Diameter: 6.35 to 6.77 cm. Weight: 56.0 to 59.4 grams. Internal pressure sits in a stated band.
A new ball should bounce between 135 and 145 cm when dropped from 2.54 m onto a hard surface. Official competitions use models approved by the International Padel Federation.
High altitude
Above 1,000 metres, thinner air makes a standard ball bounce higher. The rules allow a high-altitude type with a lower bounce band on the same drop test (more than about 122 cm and less than 135 cm).
Most Pakistani clubs are not at that altitude. If you travel to a mountain venue, ask which can they opened. Mixing types in one match will feel chaotic.
Club reality: heat and old cans
Heat cooks pressure. A can left in a car in Karachi in June is not the ball from a laboratory drop test. If every smash is long and every lob sits, change the balls before you change the racket.
Open a fresh can more often than you think you need to. Three or four players hitting for ninety minutes in heat will take a can out of its bounce window. “FIP approved” on the tube is about the model meeting spec when new — not a promise that yesterday’s open can still plays like that.
If you split sessions between a cool indoor cage and a hot outdoor one, expect the same racket to feel different. That is the ball and the foam, not a reason to panic-buy a stiffer carbon. Spec in a consultation for where you play most.
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