We often hear on the edges of the courts that the Padel has changed, that it's too fast, more aggressive. But what is it really?

Romain Taupin, Padelonomics, studied the first 6 games of the final of the Master Final 2020 between Belasteguin-Tapia and Lebron - Galan. A match with 3 ultra offensive players (Fernando Belasteguin has a game a little more old-fashioned with his bandeja particular).

By taking a closer look at the points of the WPT, the lob is always very present. To qualify, we can say that the final was played in Menorca in rather slow conditions. The defenders were therefore not as afraid of smashes as in Madrid in the middle of summer (700m above sea level and sometimes nearly 40 degrees).

Lob Graphic Padel WPT Match

By counting the number of lobs, we found that the lob is still present and in quantity. More than one in 5 shots is a lob, without lob volleys.

On the other hand, what changes compared to the padel from 10 years ago is the ball speed. The physique of the players has changed, they are sharpened, consequently, the strikes of balls are more intense it is obligatory.

What has not changed is the old adage that goes: “easy ball I lob, hard ball I play at the bottom”.

Le padel the future is that players will play less with the glass because of the speed of the ball. However, the lob is a trump card in the world's best pair game!

 

Alexis Dutour

Alexis Dutour is passionate about padel. With his training in communication and marketing, he puts his skills at the service of padel to offer us articles that are always very interesting.