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You have scrambled a ball back off the glass. Where do you go?
Hit, then recover to the middle of your half. Watch the lob from your home position, not from the corner.
You have just played a defensive lob off the back glass from your corner. Where should you move next?
Hit, then recover to the middle of your half. Watch the lob from your home position, not from the corner.
Why
Every defensive shot from the corner has two parts: the shot and the recovery. As soon as the ball leaves the racket, move diagonally toward the centre of your half, a couple of metres inside the back glass, so that you are in position before the opponents hit again. A good lob may let you and your partner advance; a poor one means another defensive ball, and you want to be somewhere you can reach it. Staying in the corner to watch the shot is the most common positional error in club padel.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Hit the ball, then move toward the middle of your side straight away. Do not stand and watch.
Intermediate
Recover as you finish the swing, not after. Movement and follow-through happen together.
Advanced
Read the quality of your lob as it leaves. Deep and high: start moving forward together. Short: recover deep and central, and get ready for the smash.
Common questions
You have just played a defensive lob off the back glass from your corner. Where should you move next?
Back to the middle of your half, off the glass, before they hit. Hit, then recover to the middle of your half. Watch the lob from your home position, not from the corner. Every defensive shot from the corner has two parts: the shot and the recovery. As soon as the ball leaves the racket, move diagonally toward the centre of your half, a couple of metres inside the back glass, so that you are in position before the opponents hit again. A good lob may let you and your partner advance; a poor one means another defensive ball, and you want to be somewhere you can reach it. Staying in the corner to watch the shot is the most common positional error in club padel.
Why not stay in the corner in case it comes back there?
The corner is the one place the next ball is least likely to come, and the one place you can reach least from.
What should a beginner do here?
Hit the ball, then move toward the middle of your side straight away. Do not stand and watch.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Read the quality of your lob as it leaves. Deep and high: start moving forward together. Short: recover deep and central, and get ready for the smash.
Puzzles like this one
The ball is at your feet at the net. What now?
A ball below the net cannot be attacked. Block it deep and wait for one above the tape.
beginnerThe ball is coming off the back glass. When do you hit it?
Move back with the ball, let it pass you, hit it in front of your body.
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.