Strategy and Tactics
This is the trickiest part of the game for seasoned tennis players. Tennis favors big serving and ground strokes and baseline play, whereas padel rewards finesse, angles and quick hands over brute force. With the smaller court and emphasis on net play, the action is often at close quarters requiring shorter, more compact strokes.
“The No. 1 thing is we have walls and the walls are very useful,” says Juan Martin Diaz, Chief Padel Officer at Reserve Padel. “Tennis players have to learn to let the ball pass and not hit on the rise.”
Diaz is considered one of the sport’s all-time greats—he’s affectionately called “GOAT” around the office—once holding the world No. 1 ranking with his partner (Fernando Belasteguin) for an unprecedented 13 consecutive years. At one point the duo didn’t lose a match for 21 straight months. When he works with tennis players—such as fellow Argentinian and former ATP Top 10er Guillermo Canas—Diaz encourages them to stop hugging the baseline and trying to half-volley shots from the back of the court and to use the walls as another partner on the court.
Part of the difficulty is tennis players have been trained to track the ball. Because of the caroms off the walls, positioning in padel is more nuanced. To paraphrase Wayne Gretzky’s assertion about his hockey sixth sense: In padel you don’t chase the ball, you anticipate where it will be.
“Tennis players focus on the first bounce,” says Diaz. “Padel players need to focus on the second bounce.”
Another critical difference is the approach to a few key shots. The serve still matters in padel—it’s the only time you have complete control over the ball—but because it’s done underhand off a bounce pace takes a backseat to spin and placement. Some players even choose to serve with their backhand because it’s their stronger stroke. Similarly, overhead smashes employ more spin and direction than sheer power.
The lob, or “globo” in padel, also takes on increased significance. Often used more out of necessity in tennis, it’s conceivable to play numerous points and games in a doubles match without hitting a lob. In padel, it’s rare to play a single point without hitting several.
“Normally people think it’s a defensive shot,” says Diaz, “but a good lob creates offense and an opportunity to attack. It’s very important for players to not think of it as a last resort or emergency shot.”
A good rule of thumb Diaz uses is if the ball is above your knee or there’s a high rebound off the glass, it’s a good opportunity to hit a lob. If it’s below the knee, you end up having to wrist the shot and it often won’t have the necessary height and depth to be effective.
