How Many Points Is a Safety? Football vs Padel
A safety is worth 2 points in American football, but padel has no safety score. Learn what counts as a point and follow a simple padel scoring sequence.
A safety is worth 2 points in American football. Padel has no scoring play called a safety. The NFL’s 2026 rulebook, Rule 11, lists a safety as two points. Under NFL rules, a safety during the conversion attempt after a touchdown is instead worth one point.
If you’re checking the term while learning padel, here’s what to count instead.
How points work in padel
Each rally won counts as one point, whether it ends with a winner or an opponent’s error. In a regular game, the score labels progress through love (zero), 15, 30, 40, game. Those numbers are labels—not different rewards for different shots. Padel’s official scoring rules contain no safety or two-point bonus play.
Try this simple sequence, with your pair serving and the server’s score called first:
| Rally result | Score to call |
|---|---|
| Neither pair has won a point | Love–love |
| Your pair wins the first rally | 15–love |
| Your opponents win the next rally | 15–15 |
| Your pair wins the next rally | 30–15 |
| Your pair wins again | 40–15 |
| Your pair wins again | Game |
Checkpoint: moving from 30 to 40 means you won one more point, not ten points.
At 40–40, the way you finish the game depends on the match’s scoring format: advantage, golden point or Star Point. In a standard tie-break, points are counted numerically—0, 1, 2, 3—and the first pair to reach at least seven points with a two-point margin wins. Both are covered in the FIP rules.
For help calling the score before your next serve, use our padel love-scoring guide.