Former professional player and founder of  Padel Stuff ,  Andoni Bardasco  offers  unique educational approach  around an often misunderstood concept: the famous  “extra ball”  at the padel. In the company of  Fred Theulé , well known on  Padel Magazine  and team member  Padel Stuff , he returns to this strategy too often reduced, wrongly, to a simple ball return. And if we should rather talk about  “priority to the second ball”  ?

 A strategy misunderstood by amateurs? 

"There is always a priority for the second ball. But it's true that people who don't really understand the  game plan  padel players have a little trouble realizing that it is a  strategy , and that it's not just about giving the ball back."

It is with this sentence that Andoni begins the debate. Many  amateur players  confuse  patience  et  passivity , forgetting that in padel,  slow down the game  is often a  tactical weapon .

 The “extra ball”, or time management as a strategic key 

"The extra ball, it's not about passively defending." Andoni explains that the real basis of padel is the  control , the  management of time  and the intelligent use of the  technical toolbox  :  trips ,  right hit ,  reverse ,  flight ,  lob ...

"We slow down the game not to survive, but to create the conditions favorable to a  controlled attack  »

"Sometimes you don't have much choice, you don't have any options. The opponent attacked us very well, and our toolbox isn't very complete, so we just have to  return the ball  to the other side and play one more ball. But that's not the most typical thing in padel. What we do, a lot of times, is slow down the game to gain control."

“The basics of padel are control and time management. And to achieve all of this, we have our toolbox. Our toolbox is our  technical Our technique is our movements and our specific gestures: forehand, backhand, volley, lob… Depending on the quality of our technique, we will have more choices. And we will be able to manage more  directions  and the  speeds  balls to gain that precious time in padel, which is the  management of time  »

Understanding the "extra ball" in padel: slow down to attack better

 A method, a philosophy: slow down to act better 

"This shouldn't be understood as playing slow balls and just sending them back to the other side of the field. Not at all. Besides, if we look  Premier Padel , we see a lot of slow balls. And right after these slow balls, players manage to move, to change their position while the ball is in the air, floating. And then they find the  winning move  that they are looking for. So sometimes playing that slow ball is the best way to attack our opponents  »

"Maybe there's a tiny bit of  ignorance  on the  game plans , on the  structure of padel . And that's a bit of a shame. Besides, that's what we want to do. With our  training , we want to have the most  coaches  who are knowledgeable about these aspects of padel and who can pass them on to students, to beginners, so that padel is a more attractive sport for everyone."

"Obviously, the player who slows down the game to create time, he must do something to  enjoy this time . Because otherwise, it's time offered to the opponent. And that doesn't interest us at all. But on the other hand, taking advantage of this time, yes. So we create time, and then we have to know what to do with it. That's why it's very important to have the  game plans  padel very clear in his head, and to be able to take advantage of all these situations that we create.

 Rethinking the term: from “extra ball” to “second ball priority” 

"The term 'more Spanish ball' doesn't mean anything. I would rather speak of a  priority to the second ball  »

Andoni proposes a change of  vocabulary  to help better understand reality  strategic  padel: each point is a  exchange chain , and every ball can be an opportunity to  regain control .

“The third ball is the second of the second, the fourth is the second of the third… It’s a logic of  management of time , no simple defense.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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