Communicate and the simple fact of informing your partner must be part of your arsenal padel. Let's tackle this subject not necessarily adopted by all.

You start playing padel. You learn how to hit the ball, how to read the trajectories, the rebounds, then you approach the tactics of the game. But do you work on communication? At a high level, if you have had the opportunity or the chance to attend matches of padel, a striking thing is the communication between the players, not between the points, which is normal, but rather during the course of the exchange. Why are they doing this?

The dialogue between the dots

Alayeto world Padel tour

Let's just start. Clapping between the dots brings you closer to your partner. You encourage each other, congratulate, but it also allows you to prepare the tactics for the next point. Direction of service, orientation of play, what type of return will be played etc… a whole lot of information that is part of the things that should be acquired by everyone in order to not play alone, but in pairs.

Communicate during the point

It is a more difficult step to work on, to assimilate, because it is not natural to make someone speak when they are concentrated. We can see in other team sports that we communicate to ask for something (football, basketball, handball, volleyball, etc.) but not necessarily to inform the partner. So it's a new situation to work on. You have to force yourself to make the effort to inform your partner with words, always the same, so that with practice, they are announced with fluidity.

What should I announce? We can focus on two themes: either informing the position of the opponents, or giving the area to play. Depending on the partner you have, he/she will be more responsive to this or that information. A leader or an enterprising person will prefer to be informed of the position of the opponents so that he can make his own decisions and responsibilities. An indecisive person, who tends to doubt his abilities, will react better to orders.

Announce location

Everyone should create their own ads, but to help you, if you have no idea, here are some tips:

– Announce the first name of the opponents (if you know them).

– Announce “yours” or “mine” by talking about the player posted in front of you or diagonally. To do this, agree with your partner in advance so that you are talking about the same player (we don't all have the same logic).

– Announce position. Opponents can stay at the back of the lane, have stopped halfway, be at the net, or be very tight.

– Announce if only one player has come to the net, or on the contrary announce the one who has remained at the bottom.

– Announce if the players at the net are “open”, ie they are sufficiently spaced so that the ball can be slid between them.

– Motivate your partner to accompany you forward.

– Ask your partner to play a ball in a certain way, a lob for example, in order to regain position.

Give orders

By repeating everything listed above, you can announce in a different way by giving orders:

– Play deep on yours

- Bandeja slow, fast

– Powerful, slow smash

– Patience, speed up

Communication is part of padel, but it is to be used with care because even if it can carry your partner and “grow” him on the ground, it can also stress him if it is used badly or too much. So communicate yes, but in an appropriate way. What do you think ? 

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.

On the same subject

Tags