Au padel : “The wall is your friend”

[box type = ”shadow”]Kristina Clément, Coach of the Monegasque Federation of padel, technical consultant Padel Magazine, several times member of the French team of padel, and NOX ambassador [/ box]

AU PADEL THE WALL IS YOUR FRIEND. I will try to address how to play with this wall when you discover this sport. In this article we will discuss the back wall. How to play with? How to apprehend it when you start padel ?

What is the greatest peculiarity of padel ? In addition to the small racket without string, it is to play on a ground surrounded by walls and to have to hit balls which come out of a wall, even of several walls ...

When the majority of us come from tennis, we are a little lost, destabilized by these walls and simply prefer to avoid them by playing if necessary in a half volley or volley from the back of the court…. Big mistake!

When you are a beginner, without racket sport experience, you also look at these walls with a dubious eye and with a lot of apprehension…. Big mistake too!

« The wall is your friend Is my favorite phrase when I present the walls to new players in padel...

The reaction in general is immediate and unanimous: the people in front of me smile and gently laugh at me.

Then begin my demonstration and explanations why the wall is a BIG friend to padel.

1- The wall has the advantage of reducing the speed of the ball and often turning a complicated fast ball - which bounces in the feet - before the wall into a ball much easier to play after the wall.

2- Wall gives you more time to organize

3- The wall always gives you the possibility to continue the point and defend when you are caught in speed in the rally or passed through the net ... The wall gives you a second chance!

4- The wall can give you counter-attack balls while you're in the back of the court.

For all these reasons, in order not to play tennis on a padel and give you the opportunity to progress quickly, you have to accept to play with the walls and integrate it as quickly as possible into your game.

The walls are arranged in 4 categories:

The back wall
The side wall
The double wall which closes (rebound on the window of the bottom then side window)
The double wall that opens (rebound on the side window and window of the bottom).

1^st step: play with the back wall

Get in the habit of letting the ball pass when it is long, taking as a benchmark a rebound after the service line (which crosses the width of the court) to play it after the wall. Obviously, you will miss the first few times and it will seem strange to you to play a ball that comes from behind but you will quickly realize that it is much easier than it seems if you respect the following 3 principles:

* prepare as soon as possible (when the ball is still in front of you) by putting yourself in profile with the racket placed behind you at your hip and stay positioned halfway between the glass and the line in the case of a ball at "normal" height and speed, hitting the wall straight. (soon, we will discuss the placement to adopt with fast balls, slicées, soft, ...).

The sooner you arm your arm, the easier it will be for you ...

* wait for the ball to come out of the wall and overtake you because you always have to hit the ball in front of you (and not behind you which is the most common mistake and makes it very difficult and not very controllable). Be patient, do not rush so that your point of impact is always in front of you.

* accompany after the strike the gesture as far as possible towards where you want to play and without forcing, gently because you will use the speed of the ball.

Try it… and you will see that the results are very fast and positive for tennis players as well as beginners who have just learned to do a forehand / backhand…

2th stage: play with the side wall…. explanations in a future article

Kristina Clément - NOX PADEL

Kristina Clément

Kristina Clément discovers the padel in July 2006 in his club in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Two years later, she played her world debut of padel… Who could believe it? Technician, tactician, Kristina offers you always detailed news.