Playing the middle, the longline, practicing por trés is all valid but…what should our posture be like on a padel court?
For amateurs who want to learn and constantly improve their level, it is important to address 360 degrees everything that affects our performance, from the choice of technical materials, accessories, technical gestures, mental approach and no less important is the posture of our body on the court.
We share with you the advice and considerations of Horacio Alvarez Clementi, the coach of Maxi Sanchez and Matias Diaz, for an initial approach that will allow you to see the first benefits immediately.
If you are reading our mental attitude articles, you know that having a good body posture helps right away to give opponents the feeling of having a fighting spirit, which is crucial for the match. As well as instilling in ourselves feelings of certainty and effectiveness.
And if we can give an impression of consistency and strength just by the way we use our bodies, why shouldn’t we take advantage of that?
Getting back to the most effective posture at our game, here are a few tips!
You should move whenever the ball is in play and throughout the entire game. Tiptoe to be naturally inclined to move forward or with hops that keep your muscles active and responsive.
The balance of the body should be slightly rotated forward. For the same reason we stay in motion on our legs, finding ourselves projected forward allows us to be quicker in moving around the court.
The head and shoulders follow the rest of the torso, keep them slightly bent and forward.
The tip of the paddle should be high, almost at nose level. Padel strokes, especially under net, require a short preparation. It is therefore essential to optimize the movement to disperse as little energy as possible, as well as to be on the ball at the right time.
The elbows should always remain close to the body. The weight to the ball is given by the whole body movement, it is not just a matter of arm power.
The body should be in a light tension situation the entire time we are on the court. Easy when the game is focused on us, essential when we are not directly involved in the game so that we don’t find ourselves standing still and lost on the court as a great target.
You should keep your gaze straight ahead, making the best use of your peripheral vision (which you can choose to train with specific exercises). Fundamental aspect that allows you to react to extreme situations (the partner has smoothed a ball or in the end he realized he could not catch it), as well as helps you to react quickly in situations of abnormal bounces or changes in speed decided by the opponents.
Maintain a squatting posture (certainly not when high balls are coming in). At the amateur level it is not uncommon to find players who, either at the net or at the back of the court, stay upright like ibexes. As we have written, the effectiveness of the shot in padel does not depend so much on arm strength as it does on your ability to properly use and exploit your entire body. A squatting position allows you to significantly improve your defense and to better manage shots that require the support of leg thrust (such as the globe).
Sure, for many of us it’s challenging to even think about being so in motion for the 90′ of play on the court, staying in a near squat most of the time will probably prevent us from sitting normally for the entire following week but, as with all things it’s a matter of conditioning (repeating an action to the point where it becomes automatic) and training!
So don’t give up, it will be harder at first but it will gradually train you.
Good padel to all
by Roberta Lozza
source: Horacio Alvarez Clementi
