Home › Puzzle › The balls feel dead. Change them or play on?
The balls feel dead. Change them or play on?
Dead balls change the game. Agree to change them between games. Tournaments set the interval; friendlies use judgement.
Halfway through a friendly match the balls have gone soft and lobs are falling short. What is the right call?
Dead balls change the game. Agree to change them between games. Tournaments set the interval; friendlies use judgement.
Why
Padel balls lose pressure fast, faster on hot days and on abrasive courts, and a dead ball changes the game: lobs fall short and get smashed, smashes do not carry out over the glass, the bounce off the wall dies. In tournaments the balls are changed at set intervals and when one breaks. In club play, the convention is to agree a change between games when the balls are visibly soft. New balls also behave differently for the first few points, livelier off the glass, easier to hit long, so the pair that adjusts fastest after a change picks up a game.
What this means at your level
Beginner
If your lobs keep landing short and you are hitting them well, the balls may be soft. Suggest changing them between games.
Intermediate
With new balls, aim your lobs a metre shorter for the first game and your smashes a metre longer. They will fly.
Advanced
Keep a can in the bag for exactly this. Playing the third set with dead balls is a decision, and it usually favours the pair with the weaker overhead.
Common questions
Halfway through a friendly match the balls have gone soft and lobs are falling short. What is the right call?
Suggest changing them at the end of the game. Dead balls change the game. Agree to change them between games. Tournaments set the interval; friendlies use judgement. Padel balls lose pressure fast, faster on hot days and on abrasive courts, and a dead ball changes the game: lobs fall short and get smashed, smashes do not carry out over the glass, the bounce off the wall dies. In tournaments the balls are changed at set intervals and when one breaks. In club play, the convention is to agree a change between games when the balls are visibly soft. New balls also behave differently for the first few points, livelier off the glass, easier to hit long, so the pair that adjusts fastest after a change picks up a game.
Why not play on. It is the same for both pairs?
It is the same for both pairs, and it is a worse game for both. Padel with dead balls is not padel.
What should a beginner do here?
If your lobs keep landing short and you are hitting them well, the balls may be soft. Suggest changing them between games.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Keep a can in the bag for exactly this. Playing the third set with dead balls is a decision, and it usually favours the pair with the weaker overhead.
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.
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.
advancedThey 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.