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You are moving forward behind your lob. When do you stop?
Advance, then split-step exactly as they hit. Where you are does not matter; when you stop does.
Your lob is good and you and your partner are advancing. At what moment do you stop moving forward?
Advance, then split-step exactly as they hit. Where you are does not matter; when you stop does.
Why
The transition from back to net is not a run to a spot; it is a run interrupted by their shot. As the opponent plays their overhead, you split-step wherever you have reached, usually around the service line, read the ball, and then continue forward if it is short or ease back if it is deep. Players who run all the way to the net without stopping get caught by the deep bandeja behind them; players who stop too early, at the baseline, waste the lob. The rhythm is move, stop as they hit, move again.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Walk forward behind your lob and do a little hop as they hit the ball. Then decide where to go.
Intermediate
Time the split to their contact, not to the ball's flight. The half-second between is where the ball gets past you.
Advanced
Against a pair with a deep, reliable bandeja, split a step earlier, around the service line, and be ready to retreat. Against a pair that hits short, split closer and be ready to close.
Common questions
Your lob is good and you and your partner are advancing. At what moment do you stop moving forward?
As they make contact, wherever you are. Advance, then split-step exactly as they hit. Where you are does not matter; when you stop does. The transition from back to net is not a run to a spot; it is a run interrupted by their shot. As the opponent plays their overhead, you split-step wherever you have reached, usually around the service line, read the ball, and then continue forward if it is short or ease back if it is deep. Players who run all the way to the net without stopping get caught by the deep bandeja behind them; players who stop too early, at the baseline, waste the lob. The rhythm is move, stop as they hit, move again.
Why not when you reach the net position, and not before?
If you are still running when they hit, the ball is past you before you can react. The stop is timed to their shot.
What should a beginner do here?
Walk forward behind your lob and do a little hop as they hit the ball. Then decide where to go.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Against a pair with a deep, reliable bandeja, split a step earlier, around the service line, and be ready to retreat. Against a pair that hits short, split closer and be ready to close.
Puzzles like this one
Both of them are at the net. What is the highest-percentage ball?
Only the lob moves a net pair backwards. Everything else invites them forward.
intermediateYour partner got pulled wide. Where do you stand?
The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle.
beginnerYou have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.