When I first started playing padel one of the things that attracted me to the game was how easy it was to learn to play. The simple underhand service meant that I could play a game on my first visit to a padel court. My opponent would play an easy service, I’d return and our group would be off playing a game of padel.
It was only when I progressed to playing against stronger opponents that I realized that a softer, easy service can often lead to my service getting broken. So I set about learning how to do this too.
If your opponent plays an easy service in padel you should take the advantage by playing a strong return of service that pins your opponent back into the corner while at the same time taking the dominant at-net position together with your partner.
Let’s take a look at your options for taking advantage of an easy service so that you can win more points in padel.
The Service In Padel Is More Than Just A Point-Starter
This was the first mindset shift that I had to make. When I started playing padel I’d view the service and the return of service simply as a way to get the point started rather than the first opportunities to gain the advantage of a dominant position at the net.
If you have the service, then playing a good service is a chance for you and your partner to immediately gain the net position.
Likewise, if you are receiving and can play a really good return of service it will allow you as the receiving pair to take the net position and dominate the point immediately.
Use An Easy Service To Take The Advantage
Instead of responding to an easy service with an equally easy return of service, take advantage of the situation to gain yourself a dominant position on the court.
If you receive an easy service, it gives you that opportunity to play a really good return of service and gain control of the point. If you do this enough times you will get chances to break service.
Move Into Position Quickly After Returning An Easy Service
When you play a strong return against an easy service, most of the time you will do so with forward-momentum. Use that momentum to get right up to your net position quickly.
If you move fast enough you will be able to gain your ideal net position and be standing ready with your weight up over the balls of your feet and your racket up in front of you in the ready position.
When you do start moving quickly to the net it is important that your partner moves to the net as well so that you don’t leave a diagonal channel of space for your opponents to exploit. I cover this in greater detail in my article here on World Padel Insider called Moving As A Pair On The Padel Court.
How To Dominate An Easy Serve/Volley Combination
Sometimes your opponent may elect to come up to the net behind an easy service. You can capitalize on this. The slower easy service gives you the time to adjust your return of service based on what you see happening on the court.
If you see your opponent rushing at the net behind an easy service you can use their forward momentum against them by placing a controlled lob over the head into the corner they have just vacated.
Doing this will force your opponent to stop and double back and likely play a rushed shot. You and your partner would have come to the net behind your lob and will have the dominant court position for the next part of the point.
What I have seen happening in my social games is that when I play this kind of lob return of service a few times against an easy serve/volley combination, my opponents become reluctant to come to the net behind a service – even a good service.
Avoid The No-Mans-Land Area When Returning An Easy Service
There is an area on the padel court that many refer to as no-mans-land. It is that area of the court where you are too far forward to play your normal forehand or backhand but you are also too far from the net to be able to play a volley.
The padel version of no-mans-land begins at the service line and extends toward the net for approximately two meters or 6ft.
The trouble with no-mans-land is that it is the area of the court where the ball bounces most of the time. Standing there means needing to play every shot from down at your feet. Playing one shot from no-mans-land as a half volley on your way to the net can still work, but the longer you stay there the greater the chances are that you will make an unforced error.
The Importance Of Having A Good Service
As you can see from what has been covered in this article, when you play an easy service it gives the receiver the opportunity to dominate and ultimately win the point. Therefore, if you want to win more points on your service it is important to play consistently good services.
My downfall on my service in padel has been trying to play a really great service all the time. The problem of a really great service for someone like me is that it is a low percentage shot, meaning that there is a good chance of hitting a fault. Going for a great shot that is occasionally in is not the best approach as so many of my lost games have shown.
It’s more important to be consistently good, than occasionally great.
Nick Bare
Luckily for you, World Padel Insider has you covered with articles to help you improve your service in padel.
If you play consistently better on the backhand side of the court and your partner on the forehand, or vice versa, then it can be worth your while to learn about the Australian formation when setting up to play the service in padel. Here is the article that covers what the Australian formation is and how to play it so that you and your partner can leverage your strengths as players.
I have also written an article explaining how to improve your padel service so that it can be more consistently good.
And finally, as regards your padel service, this article teaches you about the best angles to play your padel service so that you can win more points.
I almost forgot, be sure to read about the unique rules of the padel service that include a little-known rule that you can use to your advantage when playing a service up the center of the court.
