Padel Techniques: How to Move, Defend and Control the Net

Technique overview

The techniques below cover the situations that repeat in almost every rally. This page deals with how the body and racket produce each of them. If you want the catalogue of shot names, purposes and situations instead, read the guide to padel shots.

Ready position and footwork

Every technique on this page starts from the same posture. Stand with your feet a little wider than your shoulders, flex the knees and keep your weight forward on the balls of your feet. Hold the racket in front of your body with both hands, roughly at chest height, rather than letting it hang beside your hip. From there the racket reaches either side without a wind-up.

Watch the opponent’s contact rather than the ball leaving your own racket. As the opponent strikes, make a small split step so you land just as the ball is hit and can push off in any direction. Turn the shoulders as soon as you know which side the ball is coming to; that turn is the whole preparation for most padel strokes. Use short adjustment steps in the last metre so the ball arrives at a comfortable distance instead of on top of you.

Recovery is part of the shot. Reposition as soon as contact finishes rather than watching where the ball lands, because in an enclosed court the reply often comes back faster than the ball you sent. The LTA’s technique guidance treats this cycle of prepare, contact and recover as the basis of each stroke.²

The padel serve

What the rules require

The serve has fixed conditions under the FIP Rules of Padel, and a technique that breaks them costs the point regardless of how it looks.¹

• Bounce the ball on the ground behind the service line before striking it.
• Strike the ball at or below waist height.
• Keep at least one foot in contact with the ground at the moment of contact.
• Serve diagonally into the correct service box.
• The serve may rebound from the glass after landing in the box and remain good.
• A serve that touches the metal fence before its second bounce is a fault.
• The receiver must let the serve bounce before returning it.

Practical technique

Begin side-on and balanced, with your feet behind the service line and your weight settled. Drop the ball with a controlled bounce so it returns to a repeatable height near your hip. Keep the swing compact, contact the ball slightly in front of your body and finish with the racket travelling toward your target rather than across it.⁴

Depth matters more than speed. A serve that lands deep in the box, or that finishes tight to the side glass, gives the returner an awkward rebound and less time. Move forward after serving, but stop under control as the returner strikes so you can play the first volley from a balanced position rather than arriving mid-stride. No single serve location beats every opponent; some returners handle the side glass comfortably and prefer to lob, so watch the first few returns and adjust.

Forehand and backhand groundstrokes

Both sides follow the same sequence. Recognise the side early, turn the shoulders, take the racket back a short distance only, and contact the ball slightly in front of your leading hip. Push through the ball with a firm wrist instead of whipping the racket, finish balanced, then recover toward the middle of your half.³ Large tennis-style follow-throughs are the single most common carry-over problem: they arrive late in a court this size and leave you out of position for the rebound.

The second decision is whether to take the ball after the bounce or after the glass. The service line is a useful decision line while you learn. A deep or fast ball that passes that line with pace is usually easier after the glass, because the rebound removes speed and gives you time. A shorter or slower ball is usually better taken directly, before it dies near the wall.

Treat the line as a learning aid rather than a rule. Ball speed, angle and spin all change the outcome: a slow high ball can be worth taking after the glass, and a fast flat ball can rebound so far that it is easier to intercept before the wall. The judgement improves faster than the technique does, so give it repetitions on court.

Playing after the back glass

The legal sequence is fixed. The opponent’s shot bounces on your side of the court, rebounds from the back glass, and you return it before it bounces on the floor a second time.¹ Nothing about the glass extends the number of floor bounces you are allowed.

Start far enough from the wall that the ball can travel behind you and come out into space. If you stand beside the glass, the rebound arrives on top of your body and there is nowhere to swing. Prepare the racket as the ball passes you, turn side-on so your hitting shoulder faces the wall, and use small adjustment steps while the ball is behind you. Lower your body for low rebounds rather than dropping only the racket head.⁸

Let the rebound do part of the work. The ball already carries forward momentum off the glass, so a short push is usually enough. When you are under pressure, prioritise height and depth over pace: a controlled ball down the middle resets the rally, while a flat attempt from behind the baseline rarely does.

A useful first drill: one player feeds slow, deep balls past the service line. The defender lets each one rebound from the glass and returns ten controlled balls through the middle. Only add pace once the rebound can be judged consistently.

The lob

The lob relieves pressure, pushes opponents away from the net, buys time to move forward, and can turn a defensive rally into a neutral or attacking one.⁶ It is the shot that converts good defence into a change of position, which is why it repays practice more than any winner you can hit from the back of the court.

Prepare below the ball, bend through the legs, and move the racket from low to high with the face slightly open. Give the ball enough height to pass above the net players comfortably rather than at their reach. Aim to land it beyond the service line without driving it so hard that it bounces off the back glass into an easy overhead. Then recover and read the reply: if the lob is deep and the opponents turn, both of you can move forward together.

A cross-court lob travels along the diagonal and has more court length available, which makes depth a little safer. It still needs height and control; a cross-court lob without height simply gives the opponent a wider angle to attack from.

Volleys and net technique

At the net, keep the racket head above the height of the net band in your ready position, so the racket does not have to travel upward before it travels forward. Contact the ball in front of your body, keep the racket path short, and step through with the opposite foot when there is time.⁵ Block the fastest balls with a firm, still racket face. Push manageable balls deep toward the opponents’ feet or the back glass. Add controlled slice only when your timing allows it, not as a default.

Recover the racket to the ready position immediately after each volley, because exchanges at the net are usually decided by whoever is late first. Move laterally with your partner as the ball changes sides, keeping a similar depth. When one player pushes forward alone, a diagonal gap opens behind the other and the opponents can play straight through it.

Bandeja, víbora and smash

Overheads are decisions before they are techniques. The lob you receive determines which one is available, and choosing the aggressive option from a poor position is how net positions are lost.⁷

Terminology and exact execution vary between coaches and between countries, so treat the names as shorthand for a purpose rather than as a fixed technical standard.

Bandeja

Prepare as soon as the lob starts to rise. Move back under and slightly behind the ball so it stays in front of your hitting shoulder, keep the racket high, and cut across the back of the ball with controlled slice. Aim deep, toward the opposite back corner where possible. The shot should carry your body forward again toward the net rather than leaving you stranded behind the service line, and you should finish roughly level with your partner.

Víbora and smash

The víbora sits between the two: a more aggressive path with side-spin, used when the lob is short enough to pressure but not short enough to finish. Recover according to the reply rather than assuming the point is over.

Select the smash carefully. It works when you can get fully under the ball and reach up at full extension with balance. A deep defensive lob played from a stretched position is a bandeja, not a smash. Plan for the rebound as well: many smashes come back off the back glass, so finish the shot expecting to play again rather than watching it.

Movement with a doubles partner

Partners move forward and backward together, and adjust sideways together as the ball changes sides. If your partner is pulled wide to the side glass, you shift toward the middle to cover the space they left, then both of you recover.

The middle belongs to the pair, not automatically to one fixed player. Who takes a central ball depends on handedness, reach, overhead strength and the line the ball is travelling on. Decide those defaults before the match, and call for the ball early, while it is still rising, rather than as it drops between you. Recovering position is part of every shot; a good stroke followed by a static two seconds usually costs the point anyway.

Older coaching often claims that the right-side player is always the defender and the left-side player is always the attacker. That is too rigid. Sides are chosen for handedness, backhand quality, overhead preference and how the pair covers the middle, and plenty of successful pairs share the attacking role. For more on early positioning habits, see the beginner tips guide and the drills in our reaction speed guide.

A practical learning order

Add techniques in an order where each one supports the next.

1. Ready position and compact groundstrokes.
2. Serve and return.
3. Back-glass returns.
4. Controlled lobs.
5. Forehand and backhand volleys.
6. Movement as a pair.
7. Bandeja.
8. Víbora and attacking smashes.

Beginners do not need every advanced overhead early. A player who defends off the glass, lobs with height and volleys deep will win more club matches than one who can hit a spectacular smash and little else. The overheads become worthwhile once you already hold the net often enough to defend it.

Five drills

Each drill fits inside a normal court booking and needs no special equipment beyond balls. Run one or two per session rather than all five.

If you run these with a group, the free padel tools build the rounds and scoring so nobody sits out longer than necessary. A racket that suits your swing also helps the compact technique above; our racket database and the wider gear section cover balance and weight.

Common technique problems

Frequently asked questions

What padel technique should a beginner learn first?

Start with the ready position and a compact groundstroke. Get those two right, prepare early, contact the ball slightly in front, return to position, and every technique you add later gets easier.

Why are padel swings shorter than tennis swings?

The court is smaller and enclosed, so the ball arrives sooner and often rebounds off the glass. A short racket path gives you time to read the bounce and control direction instead of chasing pace you don't need.

When should I let the ball hit the back glass?

Let deep or fast balls go past you and play them off the rebound; it buys you time and slows the ball down. Take shorter or slower balls directly off the bounce, before they die near the glass.

How do I improve my padel volley?

Keep the racket head above net height, meet the ball in front of your body, and push through it rather than swinging at it. Block the fast ones, aim the manageable ones deep, and get the racket back into position straight away.

What is the difference between a bandeja and a smash?

A bandeja is a controlled, sliced overhead you use to hold the net when the lob is good. A smash is an attacking overhead played at full reach on a lob you can comfortably get under.

How do I hit a deeper padel lob?

Prepare below the ball, bend through your legs and move the racket from low to high with a longer follow-through upward. Get the height above the net players sorted first, then worry about depth beyond the service line.

Should padel partners move together?

Yes. Both players move forward, back and sideways at a similar depth. Advance alone and you open a diagonal gap behind your partner that opponents will find and use.

Can you serve backhand in padel?

Yes. The rules require a bounce behind the service line, contact at or below waist height and at least one foot on the ground, but they say nothing about a forehand. A backhand serve is legal as long as those conditions are met.

Is power or control more useful in padel?

Control wins more often. The walls keep the ball in play, so placement, height and depth force errors more reliably than raw pace. Power only pays off once your position and timing are already sound.

How often should I practise each technique?

Short, regular blocks beat one long session. Spend ten to fifteen minutes of each hour on court on a single technique, keep the rest for points, and move on once the movement holds up under pressure.

Sources

• 1. International Padel Federation — Rules of Padel, Service rules, faults, the use of the walls and the fence, and the conditions for a ball remaining in play.
• 2. LTA Padel — Padel techniques guide, Index of the LTA's coaching guidance for each padel stroke group.
• 3. LTA Padel — How to play padel forehands and backhands, Preparation, swing length, contact point and recovery for both groundstroke sides.
• 4. LTA Padel — How to serve in padel: expert tips, Serve stance, bounce, contact height and where to place the ball.
• 5. LTA Padel — Volley tips and techniques, Ready position, compact racket path, contact in front and net positioning.
• 6. LTA Padel — Tips to play and improve padel lobs, Low-to-high racket path, height, depth and the tactical use of the lob.
• 7. LTA Padel — Essential tips on padel overheads, bandeja and the smash, Differences between the bandeja, the víbora and the smash, and when each is the safer choice.
• 8. LTA Padel — How to play off the back glass in padel, Spacing from the glass, early preparation and judging the rebound.