How do you improve your backhand in padel?

The backhand stroke is one of the most basic yet important shots in padel. As a result, it is key to practice it time and time again when you step on court with your racket, perhaps one from the latest collection.

In this post, we’ll tell you all you need to know about the backhand, and we break it down into two different areas: tactical and technical.

The tactical use of the backhand

This backhand is normally played from the court's more defensive zone, that is, from the back line. There are different ways to play the shot. If you hit it low and with pace, you are looking to go on the attack and take the rally to your opponent. However, you can also play a backhand lob, which is more of a defensive shot and will buy you some time to get into position again. This shot is also performed by hitting the ball and bouncing it off the wall.

The technical aspects: How to play the perfect shot?

The technique behind how to play the perfect backhand in padel can be broken down into five main parts. They are as follows: waiting position, preparation, adjustment steps, hitting and finishing. Let’s take a closer look at each one:

• Waiting position: As you wait to receive the ball, your legs should be open around shoulder-width apart, knees semi-flexed and the racket in front of you at chest level held with both hands.
• Preparation: We turn our shoulders (to the left if we are right-handed, backwards if we are left-handed) so that they remain to one side and at the same time we place the racket at hip height with the non-dominant hand on the heart and face of the rackets facing the side wall.
• Adjustment steps: Once we have placed ourselves on our side, we will take the ball as a reference to place ourselves in the ideal position for hitting. The steps you take to adjust your position on court must be quick and short.
• Hitting: we will throw the racket and our weight slightly backwards in order to generate the power to the shot at the time of impact. The impact of the ball always has to be in front of the body, either without a wall or when it bounces.
• Finishing: Once we have hit the ball, the arm must continue with the course of the shot in a natural way, letting it stop little by little.

Those are the key elements you need to take into consideration. Now it’s over to you to get your racket out of your bag, get on court, and start practising!