3 Padel Tactics to Dominate Your Game

Wondering How to Dominate Your Padel Game? We’ve Shared Three Easy Tactics to Help You Outsmart Your Opponents

If you’re a Padel player, you may often find yourself wondering – 

“How can I be a better player?”

Honestly, we believe that there’s no magic wand that’ll help you dominate your game. 

But there are a few Padel tactics that you can keep in mind and practice to dominate your game. And in the end remember to communicate with your partner.

Maybe, your posture is wrong.

Or maybe you’re not identifying your opponent’s weaknesses – which you can capitalize on.

We want to help you become the master of Padel.

To help you improve your game, we’ve put together this blog post, where we’ll be putting in front of you a few Padel tactics that you can use to outsmart your opponents.

3 Padel Tactics to Dominate Your Game

Looking forward to dominating your Padel game? Wondering how to do that? Allow us to help you out. Throughout this section, we’ll be looking at three Padel tactics that’ll help you outsmart your opponents:

• Master Popular Padel Shots Like Bandeja, Chiquita, Vibora & Dropshot
• Don’t Be Afraid to Capitalize on Your Opponent’s Weaknesses
• Make Your Opponents Move

Master Popular Padel Shots Like Bandeja, Chiquita & Vibora

Whether you’re a beginner or advanced-level player looking forward to mastering his/her game, there’s always room for improvement. Padel players have been using techniques like Bandeja, Chiquita, and others to win their games.  

Which Padel techniques are we referring to? Here are a few of our favorites:

• Bandeja
• Chiquita
• Vibora
• Dropshot

Let’s touch down on each of these Padel techniques one by one.

Bandeja – Turn Defense into Offense

Bandeja is a Spanish word for “tray.” The player holds his/her Padel racket like a tray – such that drinks can be put at the top – which is why it has been named “Bandeja”. 

It’s more of a defensive shot than an offensive one. So, if your back is against the wall, you can hit the Bandeja shot to turn your defensive position into an offensive one. 

Bandeja is difficult to learn but with practice, you’ll be able to master it and once you know how to hit Bandeja, you’ll successfully learn how to retain your net position.  To hit the Bandeja shot, players should turn their body – just like it’s explained in the video above, put the racket up high such that the face of the racket points to the side of the court, keep your left arms up such that your chest stays up, move your feet back to the position that helps you contact in front of your body. Playing this shot can help you get back your net position; allowing you to win a losing game. 

Chiquita – The Art of Hitting Your Opponent’s Feet

Want to change the rhythm of the game? Or maybe you want to draw your opponent forward – helping you lob them easily? 

Chiquita’s your best shot. 

It’s a very useful Padel shot – any level of Padel player can master it with practice. The Chiquita shot is nothing but a slow baseline shot where one side hits a slow shot to their opponent’s feet. And when you hit the ball at your opponent’s feet, they’ll hit the ball from a downwards-to-upside position. 

It’s a great shot that you can use to slow down the game. You can use it to either hit an offensive shot back (if you manage to reach quickly) effectively or find a better defensive position with your partner. Also, it’s a great shot to bring your opponent forward and change the game’s rhythm. 

Vibora – Put Your Opponents Under Pressure

If you’re close to the net and want to put your opponents under pressure, Vibora is an aggressive shot you can hit. Bandeja involves putting the racket high up. Whereas, while hitting a Vibora shot, the racket will be behind your head, and to hit the ball, you’ll have to rotate more with your upper body. 

Hitting this shot can help you press your opponents as you’ll be hitting somewhat of a side spin and slice shot – making it tough for opponents to defend. 

Most players find Vibora and Bandeja to be almost similar – but it’s not. Allow us to share the differences between both shots:

• Vibora is an aggressive shot whereas Bandeja is a defensive one. If you want to confuse your opponents and put them under pressure, hitting Vibora is the way to do it. However, on the other hand, if your wall is against the back and wants to turn your defensive position into an offensive one, you need to master Bandeja.
• To hit a Vibora, you put your racket behind your head and hit the ball in a linear way. However, when it comes to hitting a Bandeja, your racket is high up with its face pointing to the side of the court. 

The Dropshot – Beat Them Softly

Dropshot involves hitting the ball softly such that it lands close to or just over the net. However, it’s risky yet effective.

When you time it right and if you’re in a perfect position, then you can score against your opponents.  

If you are seeing your opponents backing onto the glass, then that’s the right time you should hit the Dropshot. On the other hand, if you are far too back, then there’s no point in hitting the Dropshot – as your opponents will have enough time to come forward toward the net. 

Also, never Dropshot on a ball underspin. Perform a drop shot against the top-spin shots. 

Alongside this, some other popular Padel shots that you can master are:

• The Smash
• The Shot in 3
• The Volley

Also, let’s not forget the basic shots like the Serve, Lob, and others. You can only master these shots with practice.

Don’t Be Afraid to Capitalize on Your Opponent’s Weaknesses

“When you find your opponent’s weak spot, hammer it.”
– John Heisman

Ignoring your opponent’s weaknesses is a big mistake most players make. And we’re not just talking about Padel but in any sport – whether it’s wrestling or football. 

Yes – you need to focus on your game. But you need to focus more on what mistakes your opponent is making, and what he/she fears the most while playing the game. Does your opponent struggle with the walls? Or maybe he/she is afraid of high balls?

You’ll only know when you observe. 

It’s good if you know your opponent already and have been closely watching their other games. 

But what if you don’t know your opponent?

In that case, you need to learn about their weaknesses while playing the game. 

If you’re playing with new opponents – players who you have literally zero knowledge about, then try hitting different smashes. Learn whether they have a strong backhand or not. Play different shots like Vibora and Chiquita. 

That’s the only way you’ll be able to identify your opponent’s weaknesses and capitalize on them.

Make Your Opponents Move

Think of Padel as a mind game. If you want to win, you need to confuse your opponents. You need to make them feel tired. 

When they get confused and tired, they’ll make a mistake. And that’s something you need to capitalize on. 

On the other hand, if you want to avoid your opponents making you move around the court or manipulating you during the game, then a good strategy is to work with your partner. Both of you need to sync with each other – as it’s really important to work as a team. 

Both partners should motivate each other. Some tips to consider in order to work well with your partner are:

• Work as a pair. 
• Discover each other’s strengths and weaknesses. 
• Hang out with each other. Don’t just be Padel buddies.
• Practice with each other – a lot.
• Communicate with each other.

One big problem most teams face is a lack of communication. If you want to win the game, you need to communicate with each other – as simple as that. 

Let’s say you want to slow down the game. But your partner goes ahead and hits the Vibora shot. 

No – that’s not the right way of playing Padel. You need to communicate with your partner – that’s the only way both of you will win the game. 

Dominate Your Padel Game with PADEL1969 Rackets!

While we’ve shared the three critical Padel tactics throughout this post, there’s one more thing you need to do – if you want to outsmart your opponents, you need to keep practicing. 

Like Lebron James once said, “The best teacher in life is experience.”

Perfecting your shots may take months, if not years, of practice.

Keep practicing your shots and you’ll get better eventually.

Other than the Padel tactics we’ve mentioned above, it’s equally important to equip yourself with high-grade Padel rackets. At PADEL1969, we build and manufacture top-grade and superior Padel rackets that are tried, tested, and recommended by professionals.

And we’d love nothing more than for you to try them out. 

Our Padel rackets are handmade in Spain. At the same time, we offer worldwide shipping with a lifetime warranty. That’s how much we believe in our products.

Don’t wait around!

Explore our store today!

---

PADEL1969 welcomes you to a platform where you will have complete and authentic information about how this sport was invented and evolved. 

Moreover, if you plan to participate in Padel sports, our website has the best quality equipment including racquets and balls to maximize your performance.

Make sure to visit our start padel site to clear any confusion related to the fastest-growing sports activity known as Padel. Follow us on Instagram @padel1969official.