Pokaždé když podávající strana podává, přijímající strana čeká.

Pokaždé když means every time that / whenever.

It is made of:

• pokaždé = every time
• když = when

So literally, the start of the sentence is something like Every time when..., but in natural English we usually say Whenever... or Every time....

A small note on punctuation: in standard Czech, you would very often write this as Pokaždé, když... with a comma after pokaždé.

Because když podávající strana podává is a subordinate clause.

Czech normally separates subordinate clauses with commas, so:

• Pokaždé když podávající strana podává, přijímající strana čeká.

The comma marks the end of the when-clause and the start of the main clause.

Also, many teachers and grammar books would prefer:

• Pokaždé, když podávající strana podává, přijímající strana čeká.

That version shows the clause boundary even more clearly.

Usually yes, in standard written Czech.

So the more standard punctuation is:

• Pokaždé, když podávající strana podává, přijímající strana čeká.

Why? Because když podávající strana podává is a subordinate clause, and it is attached to pokaždé. Czech often separates that kind of clause with a comma before když.

So the sentence you were given is understandable, but many native speakers and editors would expect the extra comma.

They are forms derived from verbs and used like adjectives.

• podávající comes from podávat = to serve / to hand over / to submit, depending on context
• přijímající comes from přijímat = to receive

Here they mean:

• podávající strana = the serving side
• přijímající strana = the receiving side

These are often called present active participles or participle-like adjective forms. In normal learner-friendly terms, you can think of them as the side that is serving and the side that is receiving.

Because Czech often builds these meanings with an adjective-like form plus a noun.

So instead of one fixed noun, Czech may say:

• podávající strana = the serving side/party
• přijímající strana = the receiving side/party

This sounds formal and neutral. It works well in rules, instructions, legal language, and technical descriptions.

In a sports context, other wordings are also possible, depending on style:

• podávající hráč = the serving player
• přijímající hráč = the receiving player

But strana is useful when you mean a side, team, or party, not necessarily one individual person.

Here strana means side or party.

It does not mean a page of a book here, even though strana can also mean page in other contexts.

In this sentence:

• podávající strana = the side that serves
• přijímající strana = the side that receives

This use is common in formal language, games, rules, negotiations, and legal contexts.

Because Czech uses the present tense for habitual, general, and rule-like statements, just like English does.

So:

• podává = serves / is serving
• čeká = waits / is waiting

Here the meaning is not one single event happening right now. It is a general rule or a repeated situation:

• Whenever the serving side serves, the receiving side waits.

So the present tense is exactly what you would expect.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Czech.

• podávat = imperfective
• podat = perfective

In this sentence, the action is repeated or habitual:

• every time the serving side serves

For repeated or ongoing situations, Czech normally uses the imperfective verb, so podávat is the natural choice.

Using podat would suggest a completed single act, which does not fit as well with pokaždé když in a general rule statement.

The same idea applies to čeká from čekat: it describes a general repeated behavior.

Because those two forms do different jobs.

• podávající describes the noun strana
  → the serving side
• podává is the actual verb of the subordinate clause
  → serves

So the structure is:

• podávající strana = the side identified as the serving side
• podává = performs the action of serving

This can feel repetitive in English, but it is perfectly normal in Czech.

A very literal breakdown would be:

• Every time the serving side serves, the receiving side waits.

They are in the nominative singular.

Why? Because each phrase is the subject of its clause.

• podávající strana is the subject of podává
• přijímající strana is the subject of čeká

Also:

• strana is a feminine singular noun
• podávající and přijímající agree with it

So these adjective-like forms stay in the feminine singular nominative here.

Yes, they do.

They behave very much like adjectives and agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

For example, because strana is feminine singular nominative, we get:

• podávající strana
• přijímající strana

If the noun changed case or number, these forms would change too.

So even though they come from verbs, in this sentence they function like adjectives.

Yes. Czech word order is fairly flexible, although the original version is clear and natural.

For example, you could also say:

• Přijímající strana čeká pokaždé, když podávající strana podává.

That means the same thing, but the focus shifts slightly toward the receiving side waits.

The original version starts with the time condition:

• Whenever the serving side serves...

That is a very natural way to present a rule or sequence.

Here it means when, more specifically whenever / every time that.

Czech když can sometimes overlap with English when in broader ways, but in this sentence the meaning is clearly temporal:

• Whenever the serving side serves, the receiving side waits.

It is not expressing doubt or condition in the sense of if maybe. It is describing a repeated situation.

It sounds fairly neutral to formal.

The biggest reason is the use of:

• podávající strana
• přijímající strana

Those phrases sound a bit technical or rule-based. You might see them in:

• game rules
• official instructions
• legal or procedural writing
• formal descriptions

In everyday speech, people might use simpler, more concrete wording if the context is sports or a game, for example:

• Když jeden hráč podává, druhý čeká.

But the original sentence is perfectly good Czech, especially for formal explanation.