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When should you hit the flat smash?
Flat smash: short lob, high contact, close to the net. Otherwise it comes back off the glass.
You are being lobbed repeatedly. When is the flat, hard smash the right choice rather than the bandeja?
Flat smash: short lob, high contact, close to the net. Otherwise it comes back off the glass.
Why
The flat smash in padel is a shot for a specific lob: short enough that you can hit it in front of you, close to the net, from a high contact point. From there it can be hit steeply down to bounce and go out over the back glass, or to die off the side glass, and it wins the point. Hit from further back, or from a lower contact, the same swing sends the ball into the back glass at a height the opponent can play off the rebound, and now they have a free ball. The smash is the most over-used overhead in club padel, and the bandeja is the most under-used.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Smash only when the lob is short and you are close to the net. Deep lob, bandeja. You will lose fewer points immediately.
Intermediate
The smash target is the corner, aimed to bounce and exit over the back glass. Down the middle it rebounds.
Advanced
A smash that cannot go out should be hit to the side glass with spin, or not at all. Choose the target before you jump; the swing follows.
Common questions
You are being lobbed repeatedly. When is the flat, hard smash the right choice rather than the bandeja?
Short, high lob, close to the net. Flat smash: short lob, high contact, close to the net. Otherwise it comes back off the glass. The flat smash in padel is a shot for a specific lob: short enough that you can hit it in front of you, close to the net, from a high contact point. From there it can be hit steeply down to bounce and go out over the back glass, or to die off the side glass, and it wins the point. Hit from further back, or from a lower contact, the same swing sends the ball into the back glass at a height the opponent can play off the rebound, and now they have a free ball. The smash is the most over-used overhead in club padel, and the bandeja is the most under-used.
Why not whenever you feel strong and the ball is above you?
Feeling strong on a deep lob produces a smash that hits the back glass and comes back for a free point. The lob has to be short.
What should a beginner do here?
Smash only when the lob is short and you are close to the net. Deep lob, bandeja. You will lose fewer points immediately.
How does this change for an advanced player?
A smash that cannot go out should be hit to the side glass with spin, or not at all. Choose the target before you jump; the swing follows.
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.