One position a day, answered for every level. Not sure of yours? Take the test
They have pushed you into the back corner and you are hitting from behind the service line, off balance. What now?
New to the words? The glossary explains every one →
Bad position, simple shot. High, deep, cross: buy time and get your feet back.
Why
The corner is where points are lost by players trying to be clever. Off balance and behind the service line you cannot generate the precision a winner needs, so the job changes: survive this ball and get back into position. High and cross gives you the longest flight time and the largest landing area, which means the maximum number of seconds for you and your partner to recover. It is a boring shot that keeps you in a point you were losing.
What this means at your level
Beginner
When in doubt, up and deep. There is no shame in it, and it wins more points than any winner you were considering.
Intermediate
Recover while the ball is travelling, not after it lands. The whole value of a high ball is the time it buys, and you only get that if you use it.
Advanced
Vary the height rather than the direction. A flatter, faster lob from the corner is harder to attack than a floater and does not advertise that you are in trouble.
Your last seven days
Kept on this device. A puzzle you missed is still there to read.
More ways in
Rapid Fire
Ten positions, eight seconds each. The decisions you make on court, at court speed.
five a dayTrainer
Five puzzles chosen for what you get wrong, and a coaching note at the end.
6 minutesWhat level are you, really?
Twelve positions, a band on the 1–7 scale, and what would move you up.
on courtSettle it
Every rules argument at the club, answered in one line. Show them the screen.
a gameThe Rally
Play a padel point. Pick the shot as the ball comes; the coach tells you what decided it.
the wordsGlossary
Bandeja, víbora, chiquita, por tres: with the Spanish and a puzzle for each.
One padel position a day
Every morning there is a new position on this page: four players, a ball, and one decision to make. Pick an answer and you get the reasoning: which option was right, why the other ones lose the point, and what the same situation asks of you as a beginner, as a club player and as somebody who has been playing for years.
It takes about ninety seconds. Do it before your next match and you will start seeing these positions on court instead of finding out about them afterwards.
How the levels work
- Beginner: positions about where to stand, when to lift, and what the walls actually do. If you have played fewer than fifty matches, start here.
- Intermediate: shot selection under pressure: bandeja against smash, when to move in, where the lob goes.
- Advanced: patterns, the chiquita, reading contact points, and the exceptions to every rule above.
Every puzzle answers all three, whatever level it is filed under. One a day, and your last seven stay on this device. For the rest, read the guides.
Recently
The ball is going back glass then side glass. Where do you stand?
A double wall spits the ball out later and wider. Start deeper and wider than feels right.
intermediateWhen is a víbora the right overhead?
The víbora is a fast, side-sliced overhead for a lob slightly short of a bandeja. Aim it into the side glass so it dies.
intermediateA smash is coming at you. What is your job?
You are not trying to win this ball. You are trying to still be in the point two shots from now.
advancedThe returner keeps hitting the same cross-court drive. Do you poach?
A repeated pattern is a poach. Move as they commit, finish through the middle, partner covers your line.
beginnerFirst serve missed. What does the second serve look like?
Second serve: same motion, same slice, safer target. Never a slower flat pat.
intermediateThe chiquita: which net player's feet?
Chiquita at the deeper net player, or the weaker low-volleyer. Room to dip is what makes it work.