A shot inspired by basketball but which is used more and more in paddle. The rolled arm deserves its place in manuals. If you are neither a fan of tray neither of Smash, you have an option with this Hook.

While we are positioned at the net, our opponents try to lob us over our heads. It is impossible to make a bandeja and it is also impossible to make a smash. What to do? If we let the ball bounce, we will have difficulty defending because the lob will tend to end its course, lifeless, against the back glass. So the best option would be the Gancho.

What is gancho?

From the Spanish “hook”, the gancho is a curled arm used in basketball that will allow us to touch the ball in a high way, behind our body, above our non-dominant shoulder, which will prevent us from losing the ball. attacking position at the net. This gancho will be slow because we will impact the ball slightly behind us. This slowness of the ball and the somewhat topspin effect, from the bottom up, will mean that we can find an angle and / or simply push our opponents back to the bottom.

Please note: you will notice that a ball played with a slow gancho will bounce off the back glass and tend to “die”, complicating the defense.

How to realize it?

Be careful not to abuse the Gancho. It is a useful move but which, when used too much, is quite easy to block due to its slowness. On the other hand, when the element of surprise is successful, it can pique your opponents in their organization.

Bea Gonzalez high ball gancho bandeja WPT

So, you are positioned at the net and you think you are going to play a volley and you are surprised by a lob. You do not have time to prepare the bandeja, so you simply put yourself in profile by jumping as high as possible. The arm work will be quite simple. Your pala will make a loop from your waiting position, pala in front of you, to the point of impact above you, passing behind. Why behind? Because if you raise your pala directly by passing in front of your body, you will play a badminton-type shot (if you manage to touch the ball), which will offer a bounce that is very easy for your opponents to negotiate. Passing behind will give you more speed, precision and effect.

Finally, what will make the difference in your gancho will be the action of the wrist. The impact will tend to be high, behind our head or over our non-dominant shoulder, and to avoid “offering” the ball to the opponents, your wrist will be the last link. Having flexibility in the wrist will allow you to strike the ball and find the angle necessary to disturb opponents. Speed ​​will remain the role of the arm.

The gancho is not an essential shot in the padel arsenal, but it allows you to get out of embarrassing situations as well as to surprise opponents in their assault on the net. It is often a shot made in a moment of distress, but which can be worked on in training for greater efficiency the day you have to use it. Professional players do not hesitate to devote time to it, like here with Veronica Virseda.

Julien Bondia

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

On the same subject

Tags