When it comes to returning the service in padel, a lot has to to with how good of a service it is. However, the most important factor is making sure that you get the ball back into play. You won’t win any points by making unforced errors with your return of service.
Where to hit the padel return? Depending on your level and how difficult it is to control the return of service, here are your three options in increasing difficulty:
- Block the ball back crosscourt to the feet of your opponent who played the service.
- Play a high lob over the heads of your opponents as they come up to the net.
- Play your return high to the backhand of the player at the net. High backhand volleys are the most difficult to play aggressively.
Let’s take a closer look at these key strategies that you can use for your return of service and how to incorporate them in a practical way next time you step onto the court.
Risk vs Reward
When you play your return of service you will want to weigh up the ratio between risk and being safe.
For example you don’t want to take a massive risk trying to put your opponents under pressure when the odds are that you will miss the shot and give a freebie point to your opponents.
At the same time, if your return of service is too safe, all you will do is give your opponents a nice easy ball that they can attack. This will put you and your partner under a lot of pressure.
When you are a beginner player your primary objective will be to simply return the service so that you can keep the ball in play. The easiest return to play is blocking the ball back cross-court with very little back swing, especially if your opponent has not come up to the net behind their service.
What Are The Two Service Court Formations That Players Can Use
The two service court formations are the standard formation and the Australian formation.
The Australian formation is where both players are on the same side of the court when the service is played. You see this style of play a lot on the professional circuit where each of the players in the team will be either a specialist at the forehand or the backhand court.
In this formation, if you are a specialist forehand court player and your partner is serving you will stay at the net position on the forehand side of the court. For the points where your partner serves from the forehand side of the court both of you will be on the same side of the court. After serving your partner then moves across to their side of the court for the remainder of the point.
Understanding The Strategic Difference Between The Standard And Australian Service Formations
When you play in the standard service formation, your opponent will have the space to block the return cross court back to the server.
However, when playing the Australian service formation you already have a player at the net on the side of the court where the service has been played. What’s more, that player at the net will move across slightly after the service to cover the center line.
In this instance a return of service that is just blocked back cross-court will be punished by the player covering the net at the center line.
The temptation when returning the service against the Australian service formation is to instead block the service back up the line into the empty half-court.
The trouble with this is two-fold. Firstly, your opponent that has just served will be storming up to the net and fill what was a vacant space on the court. Your return of service that was blocked back will be an easy volley to play.
The second problem that you will have is that after playing your return, you will be out of position against the side glass. That leaves your partner with the task of covering almost the entire court.
What To Do Against The Australian Service Formation
Because your opponent is rushing the net on your side of the court it puts all of their momentum forward, opening space behind them.
This creates the opportunity for a lob up the same side of the court where you are if you are able to play one off the service that you are receiving.
What you will see when you watch matches on the World Padel Tour is that players routinely play a lob down the line against a service from the Australian service formation. It must be noted that these are highly skilled and experienced professional players that are able to play a lob against a superb service that is tight against the side glass that I would likely not even get my racket anywhere near.
If the service is relatively weak and your opponent is slow to get up to the net then you will have the option of blocking your return down to their feet.
Dealing With A Service That Comes Down The Center
When it comes to service down the T there are a couple of other things that you need to consider.
You also need to consider where your opponents are on the court. They could be playing the Australian formation or the normal formation on their side.
So, if they serve down the T and you hit your return hard and flat to them you will soon realize that you are completely out of position. You have been drawn to the center of the court with your momentum pulling you away from your corner. That gives an easy target for your opponents to hit the ball past you for a winner.
Most of the time the most prudent return against a service that comes down the T is to hit a fairly high lob. That will give you and your partner the time to get back in position covering your sides of the court.
If the service is a little weak you may be able to play a really good attacking lob as a return of service. That will give you and your partner the opportunity to take the net position away from your opponents and start to dominate the point.
Something that I have been able to do in my more beginner level games against a service down the T is to return the ball up the center of the court. That is because I am playing against players standing in the standard service position where one is tight to the glass covering the return down the line and the player serving stays wide after the serve. So when neither covers the center, use that to your advantage.
I imagine that this tactic will likely fail against experienced padel players.
The High Return To The Backhand Of The Net Player
If you watch the professionals you’ll see another type of return they often hit.
That is a return of service played high to the backhand volley of the net player. The reason being that it is a very difficult volley to hit in an attacking way.
So if you’re at a fairly good level, hit your return nice and high to the backhand volley of the player at the net. The chances are that they won’t really be able to do much with the ball. Most of the time they will only be able to hit a neutral volley and then continue the point. This gives you the time to start building the point from your side.