There is one type of volley in padel that not only is relatively low risk, it is also very effective for winning points quickly. The shot I am referring to is the volley down to the fence.
How to improve your padel volley success? Whether you play the drop volley or a more aggressive volley, incorporate the fence in your shot placement to more than double your chances of success. First, force your opponents to the back glass with aggressive play so that you have the space to play the angles you need.
Let’s discuss the volley to the fence. It is one of the most effective volleys in padel.
There are two times that you would normally hit a ball in a way to get the fence involved.
The first of these is if you hit a drop shot where the ball will bounce softly and then the second bounce will either be where the fence contacts the ground, or near the bottom of the fence. This will force your opponent into a split decision between two unpleasant shots.
The second time you hit the ball to get the fence involved is when you play an aggressive shot down to the fence with a bit of slice hoping that the fence is going to react and force the ball down to make it very difficult for your opponent.
The Drop Volley To The Fence
When you play the drop volley and you’re playing it towards the fence more often than not it won’t be from a shot that comes down the center of the court.
So for example, if I’m on the backhand side of the court I could play the short drop volley down to the fence with either my forehand or backhand.
If the ball comes down the center to my forehand I could play the short volley down to either fence. Playing it to my backhand side of the court is the more risky option because moving across to play the forehand volley has opened up a huge gap down the line if my opponent can get to the ball.
The strategically safer drop volley to the fence would be to push the ball cross-court to the opposite fence.
Playing a drop volley down to the fence is easier than the drop shot in the center of the court. When playing a drop volley down the center you need to be extra delicate with your shot and hit loads of spin on the ball or else it will carry too far and give your opponents an easy ball to play.
When playing to the fence you can just block the ball and give yourself a little bit more margin for error. It is still ok if the ball comes up a little higher and carries further because the unpredictable angles coming off the fence still make it effective.
Generally, I won’t hit the drop volley to the fence on my first volley. I will try and block some volleys deep into the corners or at my opponents’ feet to try and force them further back on the court before playing the drop volley to the fence.
The Aggressive Volley To Fence
This is almost always played from the outside of the court as opposed to the drop that is played from the center. I usually play on the backhand side of the court, so this is the kind of shot I play as a backhand volley.
This is when the ball comes on the outside of the court and you’re going to be aggressive and change direction and play the angle down to the far fence. The reason for that is that you are able to get around the outside of the ball and find an angle with far less margin for error than if I was trying to find that same angle from the center.
Playing aggressively to the fence from the center doesn’t work as the ball will be going more down than flat and therefore bounces up higher, making it easier to return. Another reason that it doesn’t work well is that playing aggressively down to the fence from the center means that I have way less space to aim for.
So, as a backhand court player, I’ll play the backhand slice aggressively into the far fence. Conversely, if you play on the forehand side then obviously you’ll do the forehand volley aggressively crosscourt to the far fence.
Do Not Use This As A Defensive Play
You will want to play this on a relatively easy or neutral ball.
You don’t want to play this on a difficult ball because that means you have changed direction and if your shot is not aggressive enough you will have left a massive gap down the center and your partner will have a huge area of the court to defend while you are out of position.
It is not a good idea to play the volley to the fence immediately at the start of the point. You need to create the angle and give yourself space to be able to hit the shot to the fence.
Most often it’s only played once the point has worked and the opponents are forced more to the back leaving space at the front of the court.
Less Force And More Accuracy For Success
You don’t need to hit a really fast aggressive angle, it’s better when you just play accurately when there’s space.
Something to be aware of is that if you do hit the ball down to the fence, most of the time it will put your opponent under pressure. However, there will be times where the ball will pop up and they will have an easier ball.
That means not only must you be very selective about when you play the shot, but you must make sure that you and your partner are in a good position for that next ball.
Again the strategy remains that the point needs to develop so your opponents get forced to the back glass. That then creates the opportunity for the angled volley. Remember, it’s not a hugely risky volley it’s just down so the second bounce is by the fence.
You and your partner then get in a good position so that all possible angles of return are covered. Even if your opponent returns a good shot they will be played out of position, giving you and your partner ample space to apply pressure while still maintaining the net position.