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They are camped at the net and you cannot lob. What now?
If you cannot lift it over them, make them lift it for you. The chiquita is a slow ball at their feet.
You are at the back with a low ball. Both opponents are at the net and one of them is a very good smasher. The lob is not on. What do you play?
If you cannot lift it over them, make them lift it for you. The chiquita is a slow ball at their feet.
Why
A chiquita is a soft, low, dying ball played into the feet of a player at the net, usually cross-court. It has no pace to use, and it is below the tape, so their only options are a defensive block or a lift, and the moment they lift, the ball you get back is the one you can attack. It is the second door out of defence, and against a big smasher it is often the only one.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Do not worry about this one yet. Get the lob deep and consistent first; the chiquita is the shot you add once your lob is being read.
Intermediate
Play it cross-court and aim to have it land around their service line, dying. Then take two steps in: the whole point is to move forward behind it.
Advanced
Chain it. Chiquita, they block, you take the block early as a low volley into the same feet, and you are in on the third ball. The chiquita is a sequence, not a single shot.
Common questions
You are at the back with a low ball. Both opponents are at the net and one of them is a very good smasher. The lob is not on. What do you play?
A chiquita: slow and low into their feet, then move in. If you cannot lift it over them, make them lift it for you. The chiquita is a slow ball at their feet. A chiquita is a soft, low, dying ball played into the feet of a player at the net, usually cross-court. It has no pace to use, and it is below the tape, so their only options are a defensive block or a lift, and the moment they lift, the ball you get back is the one you can attack. It is the second door out of defence, and against a big smasher it is often the only one.
Why not hard drive down the line?
A drive from the back at a set volleyer is the shot they want. It arrives fast and comes back faster.
What should a beginner do here?
Do not worry about this one yet. Get the lob deep and consistent first; the chiquita is the shot you add once your lob is being read.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Chain it. Chiquita, they block, you take the block early as a low volley into the same feet, and you are in on the third ball. The chiquita is a sequence, not a single shot.
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.