What do you say to your partner?

The first scenario in which you should talk to your partner is when you get lobbed. You and your partner have to go to the back of the court, but if you want to know where you should place the ball, you want to know where your opponents are. Your partner is able to scan your opponents and tell you the exact place where they are. In this way you are able to give them a harder time.

Understanding your partner is the first step is good communication. In a short period of time you want your partner to explain the situation as detailed as possible. If you understand your partner, this will be easier! You want to words like “net, close, backwards” immediately when your partner tells you these. If your opponents are not on one line together, you want to know immediately which one is behind or in front. You can do this by agreeing on which person you talk (either the left or right person) and just say “in front” or “behind”.

The most common error we see is that the partner start communicating whenever the ball is about to get hit. In padel, this is way too late and the communication becomes worthless. Try to communicate when the person is preparing the swing, so the communication is valuable for them. Also if you’re about to play a smash, it’s nice if your partner tells you where you opponents are.

If you tell your partner where your opponents are located, it is important that you actually look at them. A lot of people still look at their partner while telling them where the opponents are. Because of this, they are not prepared on the next move of the opponents. This still happens on the highest level, but try to keep it in mind!