The Key to a Phenomenal “Dance of Couples” in Padel: Teamwork that will Certainly Leave your Enemies Speechless
It’s always astonishing to see the pro-players zoom back in fourth on the padel court. Every time I watch one of the matches on the World Padel Tour I am amazed at how easily the players seem to be able to cover the whole court.
The question is, how can we actually do this in real life? How can you make sure you and your partner can cover all the gaps that your enemies would want to take advantage?
We break down the secret to double coordination in padel:
It’s as easy as cha-cha-cha! Move forward and backward as a pair.
The usual default position in a padel court is that there’s a player up front and the other diagonally at the back. This leaves a diagonal weak spot in front of the back player and at the back of the player at front. Staying in this position can easily leave you at the mercy of your opponents with a cross-court block volley.
But don’t worry, that were not here to tell you to stand in certain positions. We’re here to lead you to the secrets to winning this dynamic game as a team. So sit back and relax and enjoy the ride!
First, let’s look at ways where you can take advantage of the diagonal court blind spot for your opponents while preventing that from happening to you.
After the default position for receiving the serve, always be quick to adjust to the direction of the ball. When you are receiving, both you and your partner will take up your back-court positions.
You do not want to create that vulnerable diagonal across your side of the court especially when you fully expect your opponents to be taking up the dominant net position behind their service.
You need to be able to move up the court and take control of the net position. Remember that you need to be doing that as a pair so that you don’t leave the diagonal weakness on your side of the court.
If you have an excellent high lob or a fierce passing shot that reaches far back in your team’s arsenal, reach for the net as a pair.
If one of you plays an excellent high lob or a passing shot that forces one of your opponents to run back from the net. It will be a good idea to move up to the net alongside your partner.
This position will limit your opponent’s ability to play a strong shot when they have just run to the back of the court. Moving up to the net as a pair will allow you to take advantage of that weaker shot and go for the kill.
This move will also eliminate the open diagonal blindspot on your side of the court. Better yet, if your opponent’s partner doesn’t move back as well, it will create a weakness in their position that you will be able to exploit on your next shot.
Now, what happens if both of you are at the net?
If you and your partner are at the net and you get lobbed, you can either stay at the net or drop back with your partner.
Take note that when your partner has been lobbed and is running back to recover the ball, they will face the back of the court. You should cover for your partner as he tries to salvage the backcourt shot.
Keep facing forward so that you can tell your partner where the opponents are moving on the court. One deadly mistake that will cost you points is that you both face backward wholly, leaving the return shot without a precise trajectory of where the enemies are.
If your opponents stay at the back of the court, you both don’t have to drop back to invite your opponents up to the net. If your opponents stay back, your partner has an excellent chance to return to the net position after returning the ball.
What happens when that’s not the case, and they face you head-on? Well, brace yourself and tighten that grip!
If your opponents come up to the net behind their lob or passing shot, then the best move for you would be to drop back to more or less level with your partner. This is so that you can close off that diagonal line of weakness on your side of the court.
In padel, one player will cover the forehand half of the court, and their partner will cover the backhand half of the court. That means if you get lobbed on your side of the court, it remains your ball.
