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Court positioning

Padel / Popular

Hold attack and defence positions and move as a pair.

What coaches agree on

  • Move together as a pair, following the ball as one unit: when the ball is central you both cover the middle, and whichever of you is cross-court from the ball takes the middle while the other holds the line.
  • Recover to your base position immediately after every shot, whether you stepped in at net or dropped back to defend, rather than pausing to watch where the ball went.
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Common mistakes

  • Getting stuck in no-man's-land, the territory around the service line between the net and the back court, leaves you too far back to volley properly and too far forward to defend, so cross it quickly rather than settling there.
  • Standing right up at the net instead of near the second post leaves a big space behind you that's easy to lob and hard to recover for.
  • Reaching, leaning, or running straight at the ball instead of shuffling your feet into position is what actually puts you out of position for the shot.