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Your partner got pulled wide. Where do you stand?
The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle.
Your partner has been dragged out to the left side wall to dig out a ball. You are on the right. Where should your feet be?
The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle.
Why
Two players cannot cover ten metres of width standing where they started. The moment your partner is dragged to a side wall, the court in front of them opens, and the biggest and most likely opening is the middle. Slide across, stay level with your partner, and let them have the narrowest line down your outside: the line you can see and that has the least court to land in.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Imagine a three-metre rope between you and your partner. If they move, you move, or the rope snaps.
Intermediate
Move as the ball leaves their racket, not as it arrives. If you slide late, you arrive in the new position after the ball does.
Advanced
Slide, but do not over-slide. Against a pair that hits well down the line, take the middle two thirds and leave the outside. You want them attempting the low-margin line, not the free middle.
Common questions
Your partner has been dragged out to the left side wall to dig out a ball. You are on the right. Where should your feet be?
Slide across towards the middle. The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle. Two players cannot cover ten metres of width standing where they started. The moment your partner is dragged to a side wall, the court in front of them opens, and the biggest and most likely opening is the middle. Slide across, stay level with your partner, and let them have the narrowest line down your outside: the line you can see and that has the least court to land in.
Why not step forward to the net to cut the angle?
Going forward on your own while your partner is stretched wide gives them a lob over you and a pass through the gap.
What should a beginner do here?
Imagine a three-metre rope between you and your partner. If they move, you move, or the rope snaps.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Slide, but do not over-slide. Against a pair that hits well down the line, take the middle two thirds and leave the outside. You want them attempting the low-margin line, not the free middle.
Puzzles like this one
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In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.
beginnerA ball comes down the middle. Who takes it?
The middle ball belongs to the forehand: decided before the match, not during the point.
beginnerYou are stranded on the service line. What do you do?
The service line is a doorway. Split-step on it if you must, but never live there.