Foundations · where every shot starts

Padel is played in a crouch. Continental grip — hold the racket like you are shaking its hand — knees soft, racket up in front of your chest, weight on the balls of your feet. From here every shot in this reference is one move away.

Key points

• Continental grip for everything at this stage — it serves, volleys, defends and lifts without changing hands
• Racket head above your wrist, held out in front — never resting at your hip
• Split-step the instant your opponent strikes, so you land ready to move either way
• Stay low between shots: tall players are late players

Common errors

• The “frying-pan” grip — it flatters the forehand and ruins everything else
• Standing upright between balls
• Letting the racket drop below waist height while waiting

Foundations · know the box you fight in

The court is 20m by 10m, split by a net 88cm at the centre. Service lines sit 6.95m from the net, with a centre line running back to the glass. The back walls are 3m of glass with 1m of mesh above; the sides step down from glass into mesh. The walls are not the boundary — they are part of the game.

Use the Tactical camera above to study the markings, then Through the glass to see the court the way spectators — and waiting players — see it.

Key points

• A ball off YOUR back or side glass is alive — play it after the bounce
• A ball that flies directly into your OPPONENTS’ glass without bouncing is out
• The mesh is live too, but the rebound is unpredictable — respect it
• Corners (glass meeting glass) produce the hardest reads on the court

Foundations · counting the game

Padel scores like tennis: 15, 30, 40, game — six games win a set, best of three sets, tiebreak at 6–6. At 40–40 the professional standard is the golden point: one point decides the game, receiver picks the side. Some club play still uses traditional advantage — the scorecard widget in a later section supports both.

Key points

• Serve: underarm, struck at or below waist height after one bounce, diagonally into the opposite box, two attempts
• The server alternates sides each point, like tennis
• Golden point at deuce is standard on the pro tours
• You lose the point if the ball bounces twice, hits you, or you hit it directly into your own glass

The ground game · the only shot you fully control

The padel serve is underarm and it is not a weapon — it is an invitation to the net. Bounce the ball behind the line, cut it at waist height with slice, aim the bounce toward the side glass, and follow it in. A serve that drags the returner wide and low has done its whole job.

Key points

• Struck at or below waist height, after one bounce, from behind the service line
• Slice is standard — it keeps the bounce low and pulls the ball into the glass
• The side-glass serve is the classic pattern: the rebound plays the return for you
• Serve and GO: the serving pair takes the net, every time

Common errors

• Trying to serve for aces — pace without placement feeds the returner
• Striking above the waist (a fault) or bouncing the ball on the line
• Admiring the serve instead of moving in behind it

The ground game · your bread and butter

The padel forehand is COMPACT. The glass behind you punishes long backswings, so the racket goes back short, the shoulders do the turning, and contact happens out in front at waist height with a firm wrist. Low over the net, deep through the court.

Key points

• Shoulder turn early, backswing short — think “punch”, not “swing”
• Contact in front of your body, racket face slightly closed, drive through the line
• Aim low and deep: a net-skimming drive is hard to volley and harder to counter
• Recover to ready before the ball lands — the point is not over

Common errors

• Tennis-length backswings — the glass and the pace of padel punish them
• Contact late, beside the hip, spraying the ball up
• Over-hitting: in padel the drive builds the point, it rarely ends it

The ground game · where they will test you

One hand, continental, a touch of slice. Opponents hunt the backhand, so it has to be reliable before it is pretty: shoulders turn, the racket travels a short path across the body, and the ball is met firmly out in front and pushed low over the net.

Key points

• One-handed with the same continental grip — no grip change under pressure
• A little slice is your friend: it keeps the ball low and buys control
• Contact in front, wrist firm, push THROUGH the target
• When rushed, shorten everything — a blocked backhand deep is a fine shot

Common errors

• Running around it — that opens the whole court behind you
• A loose wrist at contact, floating the ball up to the net players
• Big flourishing finishes that leave you unready

The ground game · the most important shot in padel

The globo is not a panic ball — it is the sport’s great equaliser. Played from the legs with an open face, lifted high AND deep over the net pair, it turns defence into attack in one stroke: they retreat, you and your partner walk in and take the net they just lost.

Key points

• Get under the ball: knees bent, racket face open, contact out in front
• Height and depth together — a lob over their reach that lands inside the back metre
• The moment it clears them, move forward WITH your partner and claim the net
• A deep globo that dies off the back glass is effectively unreturnable

Common errors

• Short lobs — a short globo is a bandeja invitation
• Lobbing flat and fast: give it real height, time is the point
• Watching your lob instead of advancing behind it

At the net · the wall you become

The padel volley is a block, not a swing. Racket in front, a small turn, and a firm punch through the ball with contact in front of your eyes. You are not trying to end the point — you are keeping the net and making them play every ball off their back glass.

Key points

• No backswing. None. The racket starts in front and stays in front
• Firm wrist, contact ahead of your eyes, body weight drifting forward
• Depth beats power: a long volley pins them on the glass
• Recover the racket to your chest instantly — volleys come in pairs

Common errors

• Swinging at volleys — the classic tennis habit the glass will punish
• Dropping the racket head and scooping the ball up
• Standing flat-footed after contact

At the net · when the ball sits up

When the return floats, step in and take it high and early. Still compact — but now the punch travels down and across, angled at the side glass or the gap between opponents. In padel, placement finishes points; muscle mostly finishes rallies you were winning.

Key points

• Step IN and take the ball at its highest playable point
• Punch down through contact — short, firm, decisive
• Targets: the side glass at their feet, or the seam between the two players
• Stay tall after contact; if it comes back you are still in charge

Common errors

• Winding up — the big cut that lands in the mesh
• Hitting hard at the middle of their glass: it rebounds back into play
• Attacking balls that are still below net height

At the net · the shot that keeps the net

The bandeja — the “tray” — is padel’s signature: a shoulder-height, sliced overhead played side-on, whose only job is to answer the lob WITHOUT giving up the net. It travels deep, stays low off the bounce, and dies off the back glass while you hold your ground.

Key points

• Turn side-on immediately and point your free hand at the ball
• Contact at shoulder height, slightly in front — a firm slice, not a smash
• Deep and unhurried beats fast and flat: let the glass kill it for you
• Land moving forward — the bandeja exists so you can KEEP the net

Common errors

• Smashing lobs you should tray — the smash gives the rebound away
• Letting the ball drift behind your head
• Hitting it square-on like a serve in tennis

Walls & overheads · cp-13

The víbora is the bandeja’s venomous sibling: same family, different intention. Hit further behind the ball with a snapping, slingshot action, it loads side-spin instead of pure slice — so it travels flatter, bites the side glass, and skids low instead of sitting up. It lives on the left side, on lobs that give you time.

Key points

• Wrap the preparation further behind you than a bandeja — the snap comes across the outside of the ball
• Contact lower and further in front than the bandeja, wrist firing through
• Target the side glass low, toward the back corner — the skid is the weapon
• Choose it when the lob is short and you have time; rushed víboras are framed víboras

Common errors

• Playing it square-on — no turn, no snake
• Aiming it like a bandeja (deep middle) and wasting the spin
• Over-using it: the recovery is slower than a bandeja’s

Walls & overheads · cp-14

The flat smash is padel’s most honest shot: maximum force, maximum risk. Hit down hard and the ball comes off the floor, climbs your opponents’ back glass — and very often returns over their heads into play. The clip shows the whole transaction, price included.

Key points

• Turn and prepare EARLY — racket up before the lob peaks
• Full extension, contact high and in front, hit down through the ball
• Reserve it for short lobs and slower club glass; on fast glass it donates the rebound
• Watch the rebound in the clip — if it beats your net position, the smash was the wrong choice

Common errors

• Smashing deep lobs from behind the service line
• Contact drifting behind the head — the ball flies long or into the net
• Choosing power when the bandeja would keep the net for free

Walls & overheads · cp-14

Por tres — “out the three” — is the smash that leaves the court over the three-metre side wall. Same swing as every smash in the family; the difference is angle: a steep bounce close to the side glass that kicks up and over. When it goes, the point is simply over at club level.

Key points

• One swing for the whole smash family — the target changes, not the technique
• Angle across your body so the bounce happens close to the side wall
• The bounce must KICK — hit down steeply and let the court do the lifting
• Best from mid-net positions on lobs that sit toward your hitting side

Common errors

• Trying to clear the wall on the full — the classic finish needs the bounce
• Hitting it flat and long instead of steep and short
• Attempting it from deep positions where the angle does not exist

Walls & overheads · cp-14

Por cuatro — “out the four” — is the sport’s exclamation mark: the smash whose bounce climbs the full four-metre back wall and leaves. It needs everything the flat smash has, plus a lob short enough and a strike steep enough to send the rebound vertical. Watch it arrive from behind the glass.

Key points

• Only truly short lobs offer it — deep balls never bounce high enough
• Hit hard AND steep: the height comes from the bounce angle, not from aiming up
• Commit fully — a half-hit por cuatro is just a flat smash with worse position
• Know the venue rule: at most clubs the exit ends the point outright

Common errors

• Choosing it on ego when por tres was available and easier
• Contact drifting behind the head in the excitement
• Forgetting position: if it stays in, you must still be somewhere sensible

Walls & overheads · cp-15

The chiquita is the little ball with a big job: a soft, low, dying delivery into the net players’ feet at the service line, forcing an upward volley — and buying you and your partner the walk to the net. It is the third answer, alongside the drive and the globo, and often the smartest.

Key points

• Sink low with soft hands — touch, not lift; the face barely open
• Target the seam at their feet around the service line, forcing the volley UP
• Play it from balance, usually off a comfortable mid-court ball
• The chiquita is a ticket: the moment it lands, advance together

Common errors

• Floating it — a high chiquita is an attack-volley donation
• Playing it under pressure from deep, when the globo was the percentage ball
• Landing it and staying back, wasting what it bought

Walls & overheads · cp-16

The bajada — “the descent” — turns your own back glass into a launch pad. A deep, high ball comes off the wall; instead of resetting, you drop back with it, let it fall, and drive it downhill at their feet. The wall did not save you — it armed you.

Key points

• Read it early: turn and travel back WITH the ball, racket prepared
• Give the glass room — the rebound needs space to become playable
• Strike as it falls, contact forward and firm, driving DOWN the hill
• Targets: the nearest volleyer’s feet, the middle seam, or the bajada por tres for advanced players

Common errors

• Crowding the glass and getting jammed by the rebound
• Over-hitting — the bajada is placement travelling downhill
• Choosing it on low rebounds that were a salida all along

Walls & overheads · cp-17

Salida de pared — the exit off the wall — is the skill that finally separates padel players from visiting tennis players. The drive that beat you is not gone; it is coming back. Drop-step away, give it room, wait through bounce and glass, and play the exit like the extra second it is.

Key points

• Move AWAY from the glass as the ball passes — space is everything
• Wait: floor… glass… THEN it is yours, lower and slower than it looks
• Exit deep by default; lift the globo instead when they crowd the net
• Practise both wings — matches choose the wing for you

Common errors

• Turning fully away and losing the ball behind you
• Snatching at it early, before the rebound has finished arriving
• Standing where the ball wants to be — the classic beginner jam

Walls & overheads · cp-18

The side glass and the corners are the court’s trick angles — until you learn their grammar. Side-glass rebounds mirror their entry; corner double-walls (side-then-back, back-then-side) flatten and slow. This sequence shows a full double-wall read from above: see the line early, step off it, and the exit becomes an ordinary forehand.

Key points

• Side glass mirrors the entry angle — take the exit line, not the ball line
• Double walls slow the ball down: corners give you MORE time, not less
• Step off the exit path and wait balanced; the read is the shot
• Study this one on the Tactical camera — corner geometry makes sense from above

Common errors

• Chasing the ball into the corner instead of meeting its exit
• Panicking at the second wall — it is the friendlier bounce
• Guessing: watch the ball onto the first glass before committing

Positioning & movement · cp-19

Padel defence is a formation, not two individuals: side by side, roughly a metre off the back glass, each player owning half the court — and the gap between you never changing. Watch the tactical view: when the ball moves, the PAIR moves, like two players holding one piece of string.

Key points

• A metre off the glass — close enough to use it, far enough to see it
• Slide together: the gap between partners stays constant as the pair shifts
• Each player owns a half; the shaded zones show what that actually covers
• The middle is agreed BEFORE the point: the player diagonal to the ball takes it

Common errors

• Drifting apart under pressure and opening the middle corridor
• One player retreating to the glass while the other holds mid-court
• Watching the ball instead of moving with it

Positioning & movement · cp-19

The attack line sits two and a half to three metres off the net: close enough to volley everything, far enough to turn and answer the lob. It is home — every shot you play from the net, you return here. Spacing is three to four metres apart, staggered half a step with the ball.

Key points

• Two-and-a-half to three metres off the net — not touching-distance
• Three to four metres apart: cover the court, not each other
• Shade with the ball — ball-side player tighter, partner guarding the lob
• Return to the line after every shot; net play is a series of homecomings

Common errors

• Creeping onto the net until the first lob wins outright
• Standing level with your partner with no stagger — the lob seam opens
• Wandering forward after a good volley and never coming home

Positioning & movement · cp-20

Padel points are won in the four metres between the two lines. The globo goes up, and the instant it clears the net pair’s reach, both defenders GO — together, through the middle third without stopping, arriving staggered on the attack line as the opponents retreat. The transition zone is a corridor, not a home.

Key points

• The trigger is the lob clearing their reach — not the bounce, not hope
• Move as a pair: both go or neither goes
• Cross the corridor moving; split-step only as the ball is struck
• Arrive staggered and racket-up — the advance ends in the volley position, not a jog

Common errors

• One player advancing while the partner spectates from the glass
• Stopping in the middle third to admire the lob
• Advancing on a short globo that was always coming back with interest

Positioning & movement · cp-19 · cp-24

The seam between two players is where club points go to die — unless the pair has a rule. Here it is: the middle ball belongs to the player DIAGONAL to the striker, which usually means the left-side player’s forehand. Watch the seam pulse, the left player claim it, and the partner hold.

Key points

• Decide the rule before the match; shout it early in the point — “mine” beats footwork
• Diagonal takes the middle: the cross-court player sees the ball longest
• The claiming player steps ACROSS, the partner holds their half — never both, never neither
• On the left–right question: this rule is half of why side roles matter (cp-24)

Common errors

• Both players leaving it out of politeness — the classic club point
• Both players swinging at it — rackets meet, ball passes
• The right-side player reaching across a stronger left-side forehand

Drills · trains cp-17

The bread-and-butter salida drill: coach feeds from the net, the player gives room, waits through floor and glass, and exits DEEP into the painted zone. Depth is the score — pace is nothing. The zone is the whole point of the drill: it turns “good exit” from an opinion into a number.

Key points

• Ten feeds per wing, then swap — the backhand glass needs more reps, not fewer
• Score a point only when the exit lands inside the zone; five from ten to progress
• Progression: slower feeds → match-pace feeds → feeds with side-spin into the corner
• Regression: hand-feeds from mid-court until the drop-step is automatic

Common errors

• Feeding too fast too early — the drill teaches patience before pace
• Letting the player creep toward the glass between reps
• Counting pretty exits that land short — short exits get punished in matches

Drills · trains cp-12 · cp-21

The classic two-player engine: one lobs from deep, the other bandejas into the painted deep zone, the back glass returns the ball, and the cycle continues. It trains both ends of the sport’s central duel at once — the lobber learns height and depth, the net player learns to answer without surrendering ground.

Key points

• Ten clean cycles, then swap roles — both jobs are the drill
• The bandeja must land in the zone; a short bandeja resets the count
• Full turn every rep — square bandejas do not count, even on rep twenty
• Progression: the lobber starts aiming at the backhand shoulder

Common errors

• Rushing the cycle — rhythm beats rate; this is a quality drill
• The net player drifting backwards rep by rep until they defend from mid-court
• Smashing when tired — the moment the bandeja becomes a smash, stop and reset

Drills · trains cp-10 · cp-21

Two at the net against one defender deep. Every volley must land in the deep band painted across the back of the court — depth resets the defender and keeps the rally alive, which is exactly the pressure the pair needs to learn to sustain. Angles end the drill early and teach nothing.

Key points

• Twenty balls, then rotate the defender — everyone does the hard job
• One point per volley landing in the deep band; angled winners score zero
• The pair slides together between volleys — the tactical camera shows the gap holding
• Progression: the defender may lob, forcing bandeja decisions mid-drill

Common errors

• Volleying for winners — the drill trains sustained depth, not highlights
• The non-volleying partner spectating instead of sliding
• The defender feeding politely — the drill needs honest drives

Drills · trains cp-06

A basket of balls and one painted pocket where the side glass meets the service box. Every serve follows the full routine — bounce, breathe, slice — and only a serve that bounces then takes the glass inside the pocket scores. The partner holds the net throughout so every rep is match-real.

Key points

• Five from ten into the pocket before the target moves — then repaint it at the T
• The routine is non-negotiable: same bounce, same rhythm, every ball
• Serve and IN every rep — finishing flat-footed makes the rep a fault
• Track the score across sessions; serving improves when it is measured

Common errors

• Chasing aces — pace without the glass is a return-practice gift
• Skipping the follow-in when “just serving” — the serve IS two movements
• Practising only the deuce side — matches are played on both

Scoring & match play · cp-03 · cp-25

A live padel scorecard that speaks the rules of cp-03: tennis-style points, six-game sets, tiebreak at six-all — and the golden-point rule as the professional default, with the traditional advantage system one toggle away. Run it courtside during practice sets, or use it in lessons to teach the scoring flow hands-on.

Key points

• Golden point ON is the pro-tour standard: 40–40 becomes a single deciding point, receiver picks the side
• The serve marker tracks which pair serves and which side the next point starts from
• Sets record as chips as they finish; the match closes at two sets
• Undo exists because courtside fingers miss — use it without shame

Scoring & match play · cp-23 · cp-25

Six match situations, drawn on the tactical map: your pair in blue, opponents in grey, the ball in volt with its incoming line. Read the situation, call the shot, and get the coaching answer — the same decision tree the tactics courses build, compressed into a two-minute test you can retake until the reads are automatic.

Key points

• Every scenario is a pattern from the tactics block — the answers cite the rule, not just the shot
• Score six from six before you trust your instincts at golden point
• Wrong answers are the syllabus telling you which course to reopen
• Coaches: run it with students BEFORE the tactics courses as a placement read

Foundations · cp-05

Padel footwork is a hundred small steps, not ten big ones. The split-step — a small hop timed to the opponent’s strike — lands you wide, low and neutral, able to go either way for the cost of one step. Between balls: shuffles that never cross the feet, and always the recovery back to base.

Key points

• Split-step on EVERY opponent strike — serve, volley, smash, all of them
• Land wide and low; tall landings are late landings
• Adjustment steps between balls — feet never cross, hips never rise
• Recover to base before admiring anything you just hit

Common errors

• One big lunge instead of three small steps — balance dies at contact
• Skipping the split when tired: that is exactly when it pays most
• Recovering by watching instead of moving

Foundations · the language of the sport

Padel speaks Spanish, and the reference does too — every term below is used throughout the courses exactly as the sport uses it. Learn the words and half the tactics come free.

Terms

• Bandeja — “tray”: the shoulder-height sliced overhead that answers the lob without giving up the net
• Víbora — “viper”: the side-spin overhead that skids off the side glass
• Remate — the smash; the flat, full-power overhead
• Por tres — a winner out of the court over the three-metre side wall
• Por cuatro — a winner out over the four-metre back wall
• Rulo — the topspin smash that kicks forward off the glass rather than out
• Globo — the lob: padel’s great equaliser
• Chiquita — “little one”: the soft ball into the net players’ feet
• Bajada — “the descent”: attacking the high rebound off your own back glass
• Salida de pared — the exit off the wall; playing the ball after your glass
• Contrapared — deliberately playing the ball into your OWN glass to send it back over
• Dormilona — “the sleeper”: the disguised drop shot that dies over the net
• Punto de oro — the golden point: one point decides the game at 40–40

The ground game · cp-07

The most-played shot in padel after the serve. The serve arrives twice — floor, then glass — and the block return plays the second arrival: a firm, one-handed push deep through the middle that lands before the server’s follow-in does. Depth turns their first volley from an attack into an apology.

Key points

• Stand deeper and wider than a rally position — respect the glass serve
• Play the ball off the glass, not before it: the second arrival is slower and yours
• Block deep through the middle by default — it beats the incoming pair’s angles
• A return past the service line has already won the exchange more often than not

Common errors

• Chasing the serve onto the glass and getting jammed
• Swinging at a return that only needed a wall of a wrist
• Aiming for return winners — depth is the winner

The ground game · cp-07

They serve, and both opponents come in — because that is the plan, every time. The lob return makes the plan expensive: lifted early with an open face, high over the server’s partner and deep, it turns their confident follow-in into a backwards scramble while you and your partner walk into the net they abandoned.

Key points

• Decide it BEFORE the serve — the lob return is a plan, not a reaction
• Open face, no backswing, lift from the legs like a globo
• Over the partner’s side, deep enough to die near the glass
• The moment it clears them, advance together — the return bought the net

Common errors

• Lobbing short and feeding the easiest bandeja in tennis-club history
• Deciding mid-swing — the half-lob half-drive helps nobody
• Watching your lob instead of cashing it

At the net · cp-10

The ball that dips at your shoelaces as you arrive is padel’s honesty test. Below the band there is no attack — only knees, an open face, and a firm lifted block deep. You are not trying to win the point here; you are refusing to lose the net.

Key points

• KNEES, not wrist: get the eyes down to the ball’s level
• Racket face open under the ball, wrist locked, contact in front
• Deep by default — a lifted block past the service line resets everything
• Rise back to the attack line immediately: the low volley is a visit, not a move

Common errors

• Bending from the waist with straight legs — the classic frame factory
• Trying to angle winners from below net height
• Staying down after contact and eating the next ball at head height

Walls & overheads · cp-17

Matches choose your wing for you — and they choose the backhand, relentlessly. The backhand glass exit is the forehand salida mirrored: drop-step off the wall turned the other way, wait through floor and glass, and push a firm one-handed exit deep crosscourt. Control is the whole shot; power off the backhand wall is a donation.

Key points

• Same law, mirrored: move AWAY from the glass and let the ball come back to you
• Slice loaded — the backhand exit lives on control and depth
• Deep crosscourt by default: the longest court, the safest net clearance
• Drill both wings equally; the backhand needs MORE reps, not fewer

Common errors

• Turning so far you lose the ball behind your shoulder
• Muscling it — the backhand exit punishes ambition
• Exiting short crosscourt into the left-side player’s víbora

Walls & overheads · cp-22

Their smash is not the end of the point — that is the sport’s best-kept secret. Never race it to the bounce: retreat, let your four-metre glass eat the pace, and meet the long slow rebound with a dead racket, back deep. Every smash you return costs them belief, and belief is what smashes run on.

Key points

• Do NOT swing at a smash — your glass is the better defender
• Turn and retreat early; watch the ball onto the wall, not into your feet
• Dead racket, block deep, nothing fancy — alive beats impressive
• If it threatens por cuatro height, sprint early or concede it — half-measures lose both

Common errors

• Meeting the ball before the wall does and eating the pace yourself
• Blocking short and gift-wrapping the second smash
• Turning your back fully and losing the flight

Drills · trains cp-07

A server serves match-real to the backhand glass; their partner holds the net; the returner’s only score is depth. The deep band across the far court is painted in — a return that lands in it scores one, anything shorter scores zero, however pretty. Ten to the backhand, ten to the body, rotate.

Key points

• Only the deep band scores — the drill is a ladder of depth, not of highlights
• Every rep runs the full read: give room, wait, block
• Progression: server adds pace, then serves to the body, then mixes
• Track the score across weeks; return depth is the most measurable stat in padel

Common errors

• Polite serving — the drill needs the serve the returner fears
• Counting net-cord winners that landed short
• The net partner statue-ing instead of pressuring the return

Drills · trains cp-15 · cp-20

Two ghosts hold the net; a strip is painted at their feet. The rep is two things or nothing: the chiquita lands in the strip, AND the player walks in behind it. You do not score for the shot — you score for arriving. That is the entire tactical truth of the chiquita in one drill.

Key points

• Strip + arrival = one point; strip without the walk = zero
• Same low shape every ball — balance is the pre-requisite, not the goal
• Progression: start from deeper, then add a feeder who varies pace
• Overhead camera: watch the advance happen THROUGH the middle third

Common errors

• Floating it above the band and calling it touch
• Landing it and standing still — the drill exists for the walk
• Playing it off balance from balls that wanted the globo

Drills · trains cp-20

The pair defends until a lob clears the net players — then the drill begins. One point only when BOTH players cross the attack line before the opponents’ next touch, arriving staggered with rackets up. Stopping in the corridor voids the rep. Ten points, rotate pairs, repeat until the trigger is automatic.

Key points

• The trigger is the lob clearing their reach — coaches call it out loud at first
• Both across the line or no point: the drill scores the PAIR, not the runner
• Cross the corridor moving; the split-step happens at the line, not in the middle
• Progression: opponents may counter-lob, forcing a mid-advance decision

Common errors

• One player sprinting while the partner admires the lob
• Camping in the middle third “just in case”
• Advancing on short lobs that were always coming back with interest

Drills · trains cp-22

The coach smashes from the net, basket in the corner; the defender’s contract is simple — never swing, always return. The glass takes the pace, the dead racket blocks the rebound into the painted deep band. Only depth scores. Ten smashes, swap. Pairs that defend smashes win Sunday matches.

Key points

• If the racket meets the ball before the wall does, the rep is void
• Only blocks landing in the deep band score — heroics score zero
• Progression: coach varies smash angle, then mixes in the víbora
• Count returns-per-ten across sessions; watch the number climb

Common errors

• Flinching forward at the bounce instead of retreating
• Blocking short and feeding the second smash
• Swinging when tired — the contract is the drill

Coaching sequences · cp-27

The 90-minute session as a designed object: six stages from arrival to debrief, each with its job and its clock. Step through it here; the session-plan templates in cp-27 are this sequence with your content poured in.

Key points

• One technical target per session — the arc exists to serve it
• The competitive close is not a reward; it is where the skill gets glued in
• The debrief writes next week’s plan for you

Coaching sequences · cp-31

RAMP, translated onto a padel court with rackets in hand: Raise, Activate, Mobilise, Potentiate — then Ball-on, so the warm-up ends inside the game. Sixteen minutes that protect shoulders, knees and the whole session that follows.

Key points

• No static stretching before play — that currency spends after the session
• The bandeja and víbora live in the T-spine: mobilise what today demands
• Rally counts give the warm-up a scoreboard

Coaching sequences · cp-26

The correction loop that separates coaching from commentary: observe in silence, pick ONE fault, cue it externally, rep it, feed back on what changed, and let the ball flight cast the only vote. Step through the chain — then run it on court until it is reflex.

Key points

• External cues — what the ball or racket should do — change movement fastest
• One cue per block of reps; volume is not a coaching tool
• If the flight did not change, change the cue, never the loudness

Coaching sequences · cp-27

Five rungs from hand-feed to open play, with the 8-out-of-10 rule deciding every move up or down. Every drill in this reference sits somewhere on this ladder; every session climbs it.

Key points

• One variable per rung: pace, then placement, then spin
• 8/10 success moves up; 4/10 moves down — the ladder has no ego
• Open play is the exam, not the classroom

Coaching sequences · cp-30

The beginner’s first hour, engineered: welcome, the glass tour, grip and ready, a ten-shot rally inside minute fifteen, a taste of real points — and the rebook before they leave. Clubs are won in this hour; step through it until you could run it asleep.

Key points

• Success in minute ten sells the next ten years
• Do not coach during their first taste of winning a point
• “Same time next week?” is a coaching skill — practise it