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Outdoor court, strong wind. How does the game change?
Wind: flatter lobs with margin, patience at the net, and do not trust the glass rebound. The high ball is the casualty.
You are playing outdoors in a strong crosswind. What adjustments matter most?
Wind: flatter lobs with margin, patience at the net, and do not trust the glass rebound. The high ball is the casualty.
Why
Wind affects the high ball most, which in padel means the lob and the overhead. A high lob into the wind hangs and drops short into the smash zone; a high lob with the wind sails long into the glass. The adjustment is to lob flatter, with more margin on depth, and to choose the target by wind direction: deeper into the wind, shorter with it. At the net, the overhead becomes harder to time, so the bandeja replaces the smash more than usual. The glass rebound also changes, because the ball arrives with a different pace than it left with. Outdoor padel in wind is won by the patient pair.
What this means at your level
Beginner
In wind, hit your lobs lower and a bit shorter than usual. High balls do strange things.
Intermediate
Note the wind at each change of ends. Into the wind, lob deeper and smash more; with it, lob shorter and bandeja more.
Advanced
A crosswind curves the lob. Aim a metre upwind of your target and let it drift back. Same for the wide serve into the glass.
Common questions
You are playing outdoors in a strong crosswind. What adjustments matter most?
Flatter lobs with margin, patience at the net, distrust the glass. Wind: flatter lobs with margin, patience at the net, and do not trust the glass rebound. The high ball is the casualty. Wind affects the high ball most, which in padel means the lob and the overhead. A high lob into the wind hangs and drops short into the smash zone; a high lob with the wind sails long into the glass. The adjustment is to lob flatter, with more margin on depth, and to choose the target by wind direction: deeper into the wind, shorter with it. At the net, the overhead becomes harder to time, so the bandeja replaces the smash more than usual. The glass rebound also changes, because the ball arrives with a different pace than it left with. Outdoor padel in wind is won by the patient pair.
Why not nothing: wind is the same for both pairs?
The same conditions, but the pair that adjusts wins. The high lob into the wind is the shot that gets smashed; with it, the one that goes long.
What should a beginner do here?
In wind, hit your lobs lower and a bit shorter than usual. High balls do strange things.
How does this change for an advanced player?
A crosswind curves the lob. Aim a metre upwind of your target and let it drift back. Same for the wide serve into the glass.
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.