Are you tired of spending time to the defense ? So let's move on to the attack. You are to the net and have to play stolen. Are they all to be negotiated in the same way?

That's the situation. You are placed on the fly and your opponents make you “work”. We are not going to talk about how to play and impact these volleys but rather trying to understand how to position yourself following a strike.

As you will understand, there are many scenarios but today we will try to separate these volleys into three types: the holding volley, the short volley and the deep volley.

The holding volley

In this case, you will not have the cards in hand.

Opponents overtake you and stare at you. You cannot move forward or backward and therefore your objective will be to put the ball back in the field while waiting for the next shot. Here, you cannot anticipate the next blow because you are no longer attacking but are being attacked. Hold the ball and think that with any luck the next shot will get you back on the offensive.

The Deep Volley

You know it, at padel, if the opponents are forced to defend when exiting the low window, they are normally more hampered than if they have to defend directly. So you make a deep volley, which can be fast or slow, it doesn't matter, but which will force you to play low out of the window.

Here your stance will change to get closer to the net for the next shot. We're only talking about one shot, not two. The fact that your volley is deep can allow you to be very aggressive with the next shot. So we can see some players being very glued to the net to try to get the ball out by 4. It's possible, because their volley, or that of their partner, was very deep, very low and very “pressed”, aggressive.

Garcia Fouré glued fillet

But since this won't always be the case and we need practice to detect these moments, work on this situation: play deep at the glass and get closer to the net to play the next shot. And if the point is not finished, take your place. 

What happens in the event of a lob? Since the defender is not in a comfortable position, his lob will often be high or poorly balanced, which will allow you to hit the ball without too much difficulty. And really in the case of a perfect lob, your partner, who logically will not have come to stick, will be able to defend.

The short end

Nobody is perfect. You are at the net and unfortunately your volley is short. We are not talking about amortization or a deliberate volley at the grid, we are talking about the one that allows opponents to play while advancing. What to do ? Staying in your position would make you suffer, going towards the net would be either suicidal or an invitation to lob, so the most interesting thing would be to take one or two steps back to allow you to anticipate and avoid the breakage.

Let's imagine that we are a right player. I play a short volley which allows the opponent in my diagonal to play a backhand (he is right-handed). What options does he have? Playing aggressive directly to my body. Play fast in the middle. Play the lob. More difficult, play slow towards the grid. With my basic position I can only negotiate one ball correctly, the most difficult for him, the grid. So if I change my stance a little further back, I can control the aggressive ball better on my body because I'll have more time to see it coming.

If he plays a fast ball in the center, I will let it pass to play it out of the window. Certainly I will initially lose the net, but I will expose myself less than if I had touched it while being close to the net, opening the court on the forehand side. For the lob, I will already be in a position that will allow me to better negotiate the bandeja. And finally, for the slow pitch to the grid, I can let it bounce and play it while advancing to retake the net.

It was for my opponent's backhand. Now let's see what happens if he plays forehand. By keeping my position at the net, he can play the lob, look along the line, play cross court to the grid or try to pass in the middle.

In this panel of moves, in your opinion, which ones are most likely to be played? Answer: first the lob, then the short cross to the grid.

So by placing ourselves slightly behind we will correctly negotiate the bandeja, we will be able to play the ball short cross after rebound on the grid, unlike a more advanced position which would ask us to play it in low volley, then we will close the angles for a ball played in the center or for all other shots.

See how, after learning how to volley padel, your position at the net must change to adapt to the situation, finish the point or, on the contrary, reorganize your attack.

In conclusion: if I hurt my opponents, I can move forward but if, on the contrary, I suffer their attacks, I have to place myself in such a way as to slow down this progress. Let's go!

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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