Let's talk technical at padel. The volley is one of the most used shots because it is one of the offensive shots. Since those who take the net have thepsychological benefit, let's take a look at this phase of the game.

Learning to make a beautiful volley is not easy. We are not going to talk about the pure and hard technique on the fly, but rather be aware of certain important aspects so that it is as effective as possible depending on the moment.

We’re going to take a video from Carolina Navarro training in the net a few years ago. Regardless, the technique is perfect therefore, to copy.

The waiting position

It's the starting point. If you take a good look at Carolina, her pala is in front of her in the high position, wrist broken up, the highest part of the pala at the level of the sternum. Her heels never touch the ground, even when she is waiting for the ball.

Prep time

We are going to talk about “classic” flights. Both on the forehand and backhand sides, the preparation is short, that is to say that when the support foot is placed on the ground, the pala follows the movement. For Carolina who is right-handed, we will talk about the right foot during the forehand and the left foot during the backhand.

This first step is really very important to first get closer to the ball, but especially to delay and impact the ball either with more control, more power or 50/50.

In this video we’re talking about training a professional player who tries to make a difference on every hit. You will observe that on certain strikes Carolina arms his pala much larger to “slap” the ball. For beginners to intermediate players, it is better to focus on the “classic” volley.

The strike

This is where everything gets really interesting. If you look closely, you will see Carolina often have different footwork.

Sometimes she will put her foot before, before hitting, sometimes she will put her foot before after hitting, and sometimes at the same time as hitting. Why ?

The answer is simple. With the same work of the upper body, we can print different flights, all this, only by modifying our footwork.

If the front foot lands on the ground before the impact with the ball, we will rather seek control, especially during our first end after a serve or during low ends.

If the front foot lands on the ground after the impact with the ball, we will seek more speed from our ball. They will generally be volleyballs played at shoulder height and in front of us, for very crossed areas.

If the front foot lands on the ground at the same time as the strike, we will seek the compromise control / power. This is what we will do for most of the flights we will have to make. Moving our opponents, preparing the point are the most common.

Conclusion

This video is really an example of this important work to do with our legs. Carolina Navarro is looking for intensity, but imagine that the rhythm is less intense, we could all manage, with a little practice, to achieve these volleys of control, power or 50/50, only with our legs.

At work !

 

Julien Bondia

Julien Bondia is a teacher of padel in Tenerife (Spain). Columnist and advisor, he helps you play better through his tutorials and tactical/technical articles padel.

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