The best padel strokes to win

Padel can be a complicated and challenging sport at a technical level. There is a great variety of strokes available to the player so that they can play the best possible game. But which are the best? The truth is that the best strokes are those that have been best selected and executed. The reality is that there is no one stroke that is better than another in theory. All strokes are the best at some point in the match. You have to know how to choose them and perform them to perfection.

In this article we cannot teach you how to choose the best stroke for each ball, nor how to execute it. The only way to learn both is on the court. However, knowing that every stroke can be the best, we are going to let you know what they are and some basic notions of how to execute them, based on the expertise of our team of instructors at All For Padel.

Padel strokes

• Flat shot. It is usually executed from the back of the court. It is a basic stroke in which the ball goes over the net without rising too high.
• Lob. This stroke consists of overcoming the opponent's partner from above. Our goal is to make them go back to the back of the court. A good lob should reach a considerable height and bounce as close as possible to the back of the court. It is also true that the higher and deeper, the greater the risk of error.
• Back wall shot. This stroke consists of hitting the ball against our own back wall to return it to the opponent's court. It is a defensive stroke that is used in borderline situations in which the ball overcomes us. It is important to provide enough power so that the ball goes over the net and, if possible, reaches the opponent's backcourt.
• Side wall shot. In this shot we bounce the ball off one of our side walls to make it go over the net. It is a very popular shot, especially when subtracting. It is complex, but it is a great solution for balls that are close to the side glass. It is important to visualize the bounce angle to direct the ball where we want it to go.
• Volley. It is a stroke that is executed without bounce. We must use it to attack, so we will perform it near the net to press, to elaborate the point or try to finish it. The ideal height for the volley is chest height.
• Tray. This stroke is used in aerial balls. Like the volley, it is executed before the ball bounces. The gesture that we must perform is descending and diagonal and must find the ball, more or less, at the height of our head. The tray is a very useful attacking stroke to respond to an opponent's lob that is not too deep. A type of tray widely used in high-level players is the viper.
• Backhand. The aim of this stroke is to close the point. It is executed with the maximum possible power. We will hit the ball over the head and with a downward trajectory. There are different types of smashes:

1. Power: In this shot we will try to bounce the ball against the back wall and return to our side of the court.
2. 3 metre smash: The objective of this smash is to get the ball over one of the three meter high side walls. This is most commonly achieved by first bouncing the ball off the back wall at an appropriate angle. You can also look for it directly.
3. 4 metre smash: In this shot we will take the ball out of the court over the back wall, which is four meters high.

Now you know what are the strokes that you must master so that no one can beat you on the court. And, as we said at the beginning, all of them are the best padel strokes because any of them can be the best in a specific situation of the game.