Play tailored, what's this ? What does that mean ? Do we have to play like this in order to develop our game? Here are some answers. Must we all play like the Spanish ? Not sure. It is true that the experience of Iberians and Argentines gives them a leg up on the rest of the players. But do we have to copy them to try to overcome them? Or is there a way to create our own identity ?

The answer, maybe your instructor will give it to you, maybe you will find it on your own, or maybe this article will help you. The idea would therefore be to start from a simple game base, which once internalized and automated, will allow us to access our game, our desires, our identity: nice, isn't it?

From the bottom of the runway

At the bottom of the track there is no point in rushing, you simply have to play the opponents and if possible the one who is in your diagonal.

In an organized way, try to play your exits from windows, forehands and backhands outside your comfort zone in a fairly slow way towards the player posted in your diagonal. At first, this will allow you to understand the game without really putting yourself in difficulty. Then you will understand over time that following certain defensive shots, it is better to play a forehand or backhand volley. Finally comes the turn of the balls that you can impact directly or out of the window from this comfort zone. In this case, after impact you will already be placed to receive the new ball from the opponents, so you can afford some madness.

From the net

Net we may believe that we have to be aggressive as soon as possible and that may be a mistake. During your evolution, understand that the goal is above all to move the opponents outside their comfort zone and then slide the ball into the hole they will have left. So, in the first place, the diagonal to wear down this player who is standing up to you. We will start from the principle that the balls that we will have to play from the center of the track will have to be sent towards the center of the opponent's track, and that the balls that we will have to play from the side of the grids will have to go in the direction of the first background glass . This technique allows us 2 things: the first to always make the opponents play outside their comfort zone, the second to play simple by impacting the ball always in front of us.

Martita Ortega stolen Adidas 3.1 2022

If we analyze this phase of play at the net: imagine that we are a right-hander posted on the right and that we have just moved the opponent from our diagonal towards the center. This one plays us on the backhand. What to do ? In most cases you will try to play where the player is not, ie towards the corner. And here is the error. Often you will make a mistake or your ball will hit the side window and the opponent will resume position with why not a lob. In fact this error appears because you are tempted by the winning point. You go to meet the ball, you hit it in front of you, but to find the area of ​​the angle, you have to act with your wrist. It is a difficult and uncomfortable situation, and therefore, the fault will occur more frequently.

The idea to avoid this would therefore be to simply replay this backhand volley towards the center, or more aggressively, if the height allows it, towards the player in front of you (with the risk that this player changes diagonal), or, if the ball comes on your forehand, to play this time in the direction of the angle because, in a simple way, you will impact in front of you.

Conclusion

We would say that simple play is the basis from which you will avoid tactical errors that will cause unforced errors or pressure from your partner. Create a good base down the court, inside and outside your comfort zone, then at the net with easy areas to play with your forehand and backhand. For beginners it is the best way to have fun on the track and for more advanced players a good basis to create your own identity.

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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