When serving you must give this stage of the game the importance it deserves: a great amount. A service executed in a game of padel is the only shot that occurs in 100% of the points and of which you have full control. For this reason, executing a good serve is essential to face your matches with more security and confidence. The goal is not to perform direct serving points which, if you get any, are of great help, but to start off the point with a certain advantage.

Tactical aspects:

1º Where to direct the serve?

For your serve to be a sure success, it is essential that you can vary the area where you direct it so that your opponent never knows where to return.

As a general rule, when you serve from the right side you should serve sometimes looking for the "T" and sometimes for the side wall. From the left side it is better to take the side wall to avoid a comfortable return on the part of your rival.

Sending a powerful serve towards the opponent’s body every now and then will also make you more unpredictable and can cause your opponents to make more mistakes.

2º Is it better to use a slice effect or flat serve?

It is very important to be able to give a slice effect to the ball so that, once it bounces off the wall or when it bounces on the ground, it does not rise, which in turn makes things more difficult for the receiver to return it.

3º Power

It goes without saying that if you already master the technique then the more power you use the better, but if not and you have to choose between power and precision, you should definitely choose precision. Try to bounce the ball as close to the line as possible and in the same way, as close to the wall as possible.

The combination of these three concepts: direction, spin and speed are your tactical tools to master this shot.

Technical aspects:

1º Preparation of the shot

We should place our feet so that the tips of our toes face the same way that we want to direct the ball, the left foot slightly forward (if you are right-handed) and the knees slightly bent. The position of the racket must be high, the elbow must be at shoulder height. Normally, use a continental grip.

2º Executing the shot

You have to drop the ball, separate from the body whilst leaving a little space in front of you. You have to try to hit it at the highest point without exceeding the height of your waist to master the best possible angle. At the same time, you must lower the racket and try to make the cut slice stroke so that the ball, while moving forward, turns towards us. At the moment of executing the shot, you should try to move your weight forward.

To finish the shot, let the racket follow its path towards the opposite shoulder and take advantage of the inertia to run towards the net and get yourself in position to volley.

You can see part of our Team Nox doing the movement in slow motion, take a good look and put the technique into practice.

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