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You have served. Where do you go now?
Serve and go. The serve exists to get you to the net, not to win the point.
You hit a good serve to the deuce side. What is your next move?
Serve and go. The serve exists to get you to the net, not to win the point.
Why
The padel serve cannot be a weapon, so its whole purpose is to start the point with your pair at the net. The server hits and moves forward immediately, arriving at the net position as the return is struck, ready to volley. If the return is a lob, you have to deal with it, but you deal with it from an advancing position with your partner beside you, which is far better than being caught on the service line. Serve, go, split-step as they hit.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Hit the serve and take three quick steps forward. Then stop and get ready as they hit the return.
Intermediate
Get the split step right: your feet land together just as the returner makes contact, so you can move either way to the volley.
Advanced
The serve targets the return you want: wide into the glass to force a lob you can bandeja, or at the body to get a slow return you can volley low and deep.
Common questions
You hit a good serve to the deuce side. What is your next move?
Follow the serve to the net, straight away. Serve and go. The serve exists to get you to the net, not to win the point. The padel serve cannot be a weapon, so its whole purpose is to start the point with your pair at the net. The server hits and moves forward immediately, arriving at the net position as the return is struck, ready to volley. If the return is a lob, you have to deal with it, but you deal with it from an advancing position with your partner beside you, which is far better than being caught on the service line. Serve, go, split-step as they hit.
Why not go to the net only if the serve was good?
By the time you have judged the serve, the return is on its way. Go every time; adjust when you get there.
What should a beginner do here?
Hit the serve and take three quick steps forward. Then stop and get ready as they hit the return.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The serve targets the return you want: wide into the glass to force a lob you can bandeja, or at the body to get a slow return you can volley low and deep.
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.
intermediateYour partner got pulled wide. Where do you stand?
The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle.
beginnerYou have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.