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They cannot play the side glass. Where do you serve?
Serve at the weakness you have found, not at the space you can see.
You have noticed the returner panics whenever the ball comes off the side wall. Where do you serve?
Serve at the weakness you have found, not at the space you can see.
Why
The padel serve cannot hurt anyone with pace, so its only value is placement. A wide sliced serve that lands in the box and then runs into the side glass gives the returner a moving, spinning ball tight to the wall, which is exactly the ball most club players never practise. Keep serving it until they show you they can handle it.
What this means at your level
Beginner
A serve that lands in the box and then hits the glass is legal and it is a great habit to build early. If it hits the metal fence after the bounce, it is a fault.
Intermediate
Use slice. Cut across the outside of the ball so it curves away from the returner and into the wall rather than sitting up off it.
Advanced
Once the wide serve is established, the same motion into the body becomes twice as effective. The pattern is what wins the point, not any single serve.
Common questions
You have noticed the returner panics whenever the ball comes off the side wall. Where do you serve?
Wide, so the ball kicks off the side glass. Serve at the weakness you have found, not at the space you can see. The padel serve cannot hurt anyone with pace, so its only value is placement. A wide sliced serve that lands in the box and then runs into the side glass gives the returner a moving, spinning ball tight to the wall, which is exactly the ball most club players never practise. Keep serving it until they show you they can handle it.
Why not hard at the body, into the hip?
A good serve in general, but it does not touch the weakness you just found. Save it for variety.
What should a beginner do here?
A serve that lands in the box and then hits the glass is legal and it is a great habit to build early. If it hits the metal fence after the bounce, it is a fault.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Once the wide serve is established, the same motion into the body becomes twice as effective. The pattern is what wins the point, not any single serve.
What do the rules say?
A serve may bounce in the box and then hit the side glass and still be good. If it touches the metal mesh after the bounce, it is a fault.
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.
beginnerYou have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.
intermediateWhat do you do with the return of serve?
The return lob is how the receiving pair steals the net. Aim over the player who is still moving.