Home › Puzzle › The ball bounces twice before it reaches your back glass. What happened?
The ball bounces twice before it reaches your back glass. What happened?
Two bounces on the floor is the point, wherever it happens. Slow balls have to be taken before the wall.
You wait for a ball to come off the back glass, but it bounces a second time on the floor before reaching the wall. What is the situation?
Two bounces on the floor is the point, wherever it happens. Slow balls have to be taken before the wall.
Why
The glass is part of the court, but the rule about the second bounce does not change: if the ball touches the floor twice on your side, the point is over, whether or not it reached the wall. Waiting for a rebound on a ball that was never going to reach the glass is one of the commonest ways beginners lose points: the ball simply dies in front of the wall. The read has to happen early: a slow ball, especially with slice, will not come back out, so it has to be played before the wall.
What this means at your level
Beginner
If the ball is slow, do not wait for the wall. Go and hit it before it bounces again.
Intermediate
The decision point is as the ball crosses the net: fast enough to reach the glass, or not? Decide then, not when it lands.
Advanced
The short, slow volley that dies before the glass is a deliberate weapon. Against a pair that uses it, hold a slightly forward defensive position and be ready to step in.
Common questions
You wait for a ball to come off the back glass, but it bounces a second time on the floor before reaching the wall. What is the situation?
Point lost: two bounces. It was too slow to wait for. Two bounces on the floor is the point, wherever it happens. Slow balls have to be taken before the wall. The glass is part of the court, but the rule about the second bounce does not change: if the ball touches the floor twice on your side, the point is over, whether or not it reached the wall. Waiting for a rebound on a ball that was never going to reach the glass is one of the commonest ways beginners lose points: the ball simply dies in front of the wall. The read has to happen early: a slow ball, especially with slice, will not come back out, so it has to be played before the wall.
Why not play on. It has not reached the glass yet?
The glass does not extend the point. Two bounces anywhere is the end of it.
What should a beginner do here?
If the ball is slow, do not wait for the wall. Go and hit it before it bounces again.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The short, slow volley that dies before the glass is a deliberate weapon. Against a pair that uses it, hold a slightly forward defensive position and be ready to step in.
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.
beginnerCan you volley the return of serve?
The return of serve must bounce. It is the one ball in padel you are not allowed to volley.