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Where does the bandeja go?
Bandeja: deep and cross-court, landing near the glass. It buys time and keeps the net.
You are hitting a bandeja from around the service line. Where should it land?
Bandeja: deep and cross-court, landing near the glass. It buys time and keeps the net.
Why
The bandeja is not a point-winner. It is the shot that lets you take a lob without giving up the net, and its target reflects that: deep, usually cross-court, landing in the last two metres so that the opponent has to play it from the back and cannot attack. The slice keeps it low after the bounce and low off the glass. While it travels, you recover to the net position. A bandeja that lands short invites a chiquita or a drive at your feet; one that is hit hard and flat reaches the glass with pace and comes back. Deep, controlled, cross-court, then move.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Aim your bandeja at the far corner, diagonally across the court. Deep matters more than hard.
Intermediate
The target is the left-side player's backhand corner: cross-court from the left half, down the line from the right. Practise landing it in the last metre and a half.
Advanced
Change the target when they read it. A bandeja down the line, or one that dies at the base of the side glass, resets a defender who has started cheating cross-court.
Common questions
You are hitting a bandeja from around the service line. Where should it land?
Deep and cross-court, near the glass. Bandeja: deep and cross-court, landing near the glass. It buys time and keeps the net. The bandeja is not a point-winner. It is the shot that lets you take a lob without giving up the net, and its target reflects that: deep, usually cross-court, landing in the last two metres so that the opponent has to play it from the back and cannot attack. The slice keeps it low after the bounce and low off the glass. While it travels, you recover to the net position. A bandeja that lands short invites a chiquita or a drive at your feet; one that is hit hard and flat reaches the glass with pace and comes back. Deep, controlled, cross-court, then move.
Why not short and angled, to win the point outright?
A short bandeja is a chiquita for them. The shot is about holding the net, not ending the point.
What should a beginner do here?
Aim your bandeja at the far corner, diagonally across the court. Deep matters more than hard.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Change the target when they read it. A bandeja down the line, or one that dies at the base of the side glass, resets a defender who has started cheating cross-court.
Puzzles like this one
They lobbed you deep. Smash it or play the bandeja?
Deep ball, high hands: bandeja. The shot exists to keep you at the net, not to win the point.
intermediateShort, high and yours. Bandeja or smash?
Deep ball, bandeja. Short ball with your weight going forward, smash.
intermediateYou are hitting a bandeja. Cross-court or down the line?
Bandeja cross-court and deep by default. It buys margin, and it keeps you covered while you recover.