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Your racket slips out of your hand and still hits the ball over. Point?
The racket has to be in your hand when it meets the ball. The wrist strap is a rule, not a decoration.
Diving for a ball, the racket flies out of your hand, strikes the ball and the ball lands in their court. What is the call?
The racket has to be in your hand when it meets the ball. The wrist strap is a rule, not a decoration.
Why
If the racket leaves your hand during the point, or the strap breaks, you lose the point on the spot. If the racket leaves your hand and then touches the ball, you lose the point, even if the ball would have been a winner.
The rest of the reasoning
The wrist strap is compulsory for the same reason: a racket that leaves a hand on a padel court is a hazard to three other people standing within a few metres, so the rules require it to be tethered and require it to stay in your grip when it strikes the ball.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Wear the strap every single point. It is a rule, and a loose racket on a small court is how people get hurt.
Intermediate
Racket slipping is usually a sweaty grip. Change the overgrip more often than you think you need to.
Advanced
A racket that turns in your hand on off-centre contacts is a grip-size problem. One extra overgrip is the cheapest fix in the sport.
Common questions
Diving for a ball, the racket flies out of your hand, strikes the ball and the ball lands in their court. What is the call?
Their point: the racket left your hand. The racket has to be in your hand when it meets the ball. The wrist strap is a rule, not a decoration. If the racket leaves your hand during the point, or the strap breaks, you lose the point on the spot. If the racket leaves your hand and then touches the ball, you lose the point, even if the ball would have been a winner. The wrist strap is compulsory for the same reason: a racket that leaves a hand on a padel court is a hazard to three other people standing within a few metres, so the rules require it to be tethered and require it to stay in your grip when it strikes the ball.
Why not replay. It was an accident?
Accidents are not lets. The strap exists precisely so this does not happen.
What should a beginner do here?
Wear the strap every single point. It is a rule, and a loose racket on a small court is how people get hurt.
How does this change for an advanced player?
A racket that turns in your hand on off-centre contacts is a grip-size problem. One extra overgrip is the cheapest fix in the sport.
What do the rules say?
The ball must be struck with the racket held in the hand, attached to the wrist by its strap. Since 2026 a dropped racket or a broken strap loses the point at once, even if the racket never touches the ball.