The volley in padel is a shot that may not seem very spectacular or eye-catching, but it is of crucial importance in this sport. As you know, in padel the winner is whoever dominates the net and volleys, both drives and backhands, it is essential for this. In this article we are going to focus on the drive volley.

The main aim of the volley is to move and get your opponents out of position with offensive shots and make it hard for them to return them so that you can get a comfortable shot and end up winning the point. You must really be aware that most points are won this way.

If you properly learn how to hit the drive volley you will see that your level of padel improves, you will note that you have the initiative and dominate points.

Tactical aspects:

1st Where to aim the ball?

The volley allows you to choose between several options: parallel, crossed, to the fence, to the back of the court, seek a rebound on 2 walls or even do a drop shot. The best choice will depend on how you read both the game and how your opponents are positioned at the time and how the ball comes to you. If you have a slightly advanced level try to put spin on the ball, this will make it much harder for your opponents to hit an optimal return.

Technical aspects:

1st How to position yourself to hit the drive volley in padel?

Depending on where the ball comes to you, your position of the court will be different. If it comes from the opponent in front of you, parallel, you may be very close to the net. On the contrary, if it is hit across, your position will be a little further back, around 2 metres. In any case, your body must be facing towards the area from where the ball will come to you.

By being close to the net, normally you have less time to prepare the shot than when you are at the back of the court, so it is crucial for you to be active, with your legs bent, taking little activation jumps, shifting your weight forwards, to the tips of your feet, and holding the racket with both hands in front of you at chest height. One detail to bear in mind is that the racket needs to be slightly tilted towards your backhand, thus you will be ready to react if a ball comes very fast at your body.

When you read that the ball is coming for you to volley to your right, you need to slightly move your shoulder back and raise the racket. The preparation needs to be very short in order to give you time to hit the ball in front of your body. It is important to grip the racket firmly, having an overgrip will make it easier for you in optimum conditions.

You need to move your non-dominant hand forward, pointing towards where you are going to hit the shot. At the same time as the point of impact you need to take a little step forward with your left foot (if you are right-handed) towards the direction where you are going to aim the shot, this will give your shot greater power.

2nd When to hit the ball with a drive volley in padel? 

You need to try to ensure that the point of impact is always in front of your body, adjusting to the height the ball comes at. It also depends on where you want to aim your shot, for example, if you play in the backhand zone and you want to hit the shot parallel you will be further forward, and on the contrary, if you want to play it crossed you need to let the ball come a little further in.

At the end of the drive volley, generally the racket should end up over the non-dominant hand. This should serve as a guide, however often it is not possible as the racket comes from very high up or with too much power to finish the shot like this.

To finish, remember to recover your initial position after volleying in order not to be left out of position, too close to the net.

In these videos you can clearly see how our stars from #TeamNox do it. We hope that our tips will help you to improve, NOX makes you improve!