Padel Magazine - At padel, both in attack and defense, it is essential to know how to play with the walls. We will try in this article to answer your questions posted on our forums (on the site's forum or our facebook page).

We'll give you clues as to how and when to separate from the wall or rotate that on yourself to put the ball back into play.

- If you receive a low speed ball, bouncing on both walls, and where the ball has a small angle or stick more or less to the sidewall, separate laterally from the wall to play without spinning yourself.

- However, if you get a fast ball that bounces a lot, use the spinning motion. It is more complicated than lateral displacement, which requires coordination and a good ball reading, but the advantage is that you will be positioned on the next shot.

- The other question that arises for players of a certain level is: "If I can not read the ball and do not know if the ball will stick the side wall or spring with an open angle (S ' open or lock yourself to the corner) after the bounce on the bottom wall, what should I do? "

In this situation, the initial placement is the key: Indeed, in defensive position, it is better to be a little behind the baseline line at about 1 to 2 meters of the side wall.

Then, it will be better not to deviate too much from the side wall and being ready for a rapid rotation in case the ball finally had an open angle (Ball taking the direction of the center of the court).

[highlight] THE POSITION: THE BASIS OF DEFENSE [/ highlight]

Previously, we saw that we had to master the positioning. A talented and misplaced technical person will always be less effective than a person my technique but well placed.

This defense position allows you to better anticipate the direction of the ball.

The basic position of the defense is between the service line and the bottom wall. In this position, you can stretch more easily to get balls sticking to the side wall or bottom wall.

However, professional players practice an aggressive defense. Their position is sometimes more advanced. This position is between the baseline line (service line) and a position slightly in front of this line. Obviously you have to be able to anticipate the effect of the ball and therefore the direction of it.

The effects of balls are such that you have to read the opposing game to anticipate the effects given to this ball.

Professionals use this aggressive defense to facilitate their return to the net because obviously the points will win the net and not the other way around.

[highlight] READ THE BALL [/ highlight]

To read the ball and therefore anticipate the bounce of the ball on the walls (side and bottom) must take into account 3 elements: The angle, the speed and the effect of the ball.
The first two elements are those that are acquired most quickly with practice.

- If it is a cross stroke, it will at least anticipate a course in the direction of the side wall and therefore not too much sticking on pain of being in the path of the ball.

- If, on the contrary, the ball has little angle or takes the direction of the center of the field, it will probably be necessary to anticipate a ball bouncing on the wall of the bottom.
But beware, the effects of balls can deceive the player and completely call into question his trajectory. Does the ball have a side effect, cut, topspin or flat? Is the player left-handed or right-handed? The analysis of the effects of balls is much more complicated, and it will certainly take many hours of training to correctly anticipate these effects ...

[highlight] The rotation technique [/ highlight]

You have to be able to dance with the ball to make a good ball rotation. More precisely, one turns with the ball. The ball must always be in the player's viewfinder. If the ball is lost from sight, it is impossible to anticipate anything and to position oneself accordingly.

The most common mistake is to perform only a simple twist on oneself, omitting the lateral displacement that will certainly achieve for an optimal position during the impact of the ball.

During the rotation, we go behind the ball. The player is back to the opponents. He will have to make small steps of readjustment. At the end of this rotation, avoid as much as possible to play the ball behind you. At the end of the circular movement, the ball must be located as much as possible in front of you to achieve as professional aggressive defense and eventually change the course of the point.

A frequent mistake: Play the ball back to the opponents. This position is to be avoided because even if you manage to return the ball, there is a good chance that the shot after, you lose the point. By playing like this, you do not open the possibility of winning the point.

In the video above, Miguel Lamperti explains in pictures how to play after a rebound on the side wall.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.