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Short, high and yours. Bandeja or smash?
Deep ball, bandeja. Short ball with your weight going forward, smash.
They lift a weak ball that is going to drop just inside the service line while you are already at the net and balanced. What do you play?
Deep ball, bandeja. Short ball with your weight going forward, smash.
Why
The decision is made by two things: where the ball lands and where your weight is going. If you are stepping forward and the ball is dropping in front of the service line, you can hit down through it. Aimed low into the side glass, the rebound flies up and out and is close to unplayable. Behind the service line, the same swing is a low-percentage shot that also loses you the net.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Do not learn the smash before the bandeja. Get the ball in front of your head and hit down and through. The target is the court, not the roof.
Intermediate
Aim the smash into the side glass low, around knee height, roughly halfway between the net and the service line. That is the rebound that jumps up over the fence.
Advanced
Choose your exit. Low into the side glass for the ball that goes out through the side opening, flat and hard at the body when they are already deep, and the kicked smash into the corner when you want the wall to do the work.
Common questions
They lift a weak ball that is going to drop just inside the service line while you are already at the net and balanced. What do you play?
Smash it, aiming at the side glass. Deep ball, bandeja. Short ball with your weight going forward, smash. The decision is made by two things: where the ball lands and where your weight is going. If you are stepping forward and the ball is dropping in front of the service line, you can hit down through it. Aimed low into the side glass, the rebound flies up and out and is close to unplayable. Behind the service line, the same swing is a low-percentage shot that also loses you the net.
Why not drop volley it short over the net?
A drop off an overhead ball is a coin flip with a small target, and if it sits up you are the one in trouble.
What should a beginner do here?
Do not learn the smash before the bandeja. Get the ball in front of your head and hit down and through. The target is the court, not the roof.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Choose your exit. Low into the side glass for the ball that goes out through the side opening, flat and hard at the body when they are already deep, and the kicked smash into the corner when you want the wall to do the work.
What do the rules say?
A smash that bounces and then leaves the court through the side opening or over the fence wins the point outright: the famous "por tres" and "por cuatro".
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.
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.
intermediateWhen do you play a vibora instead of a bandeja?
The vibora is the bandeja with teeth: taken earlier, hit across the ball, aimed to skid off the side glass.