8 Beginner Padel Tips: How To Win More Matches
Beginner padel players will come to padel and have to process a lot of new information. That feeling of playing your first few matches and winning is great, so here are 8 beginner padel tips, to help you win more matches.
1. Play With Better Players
The first of the beginner padel tips is to play with better players.
You may not notice it, but when you play with better players, your level will go up, and when you play with worse players, your level will actually go down.
When you are put in a high intensity environment with players that are better than you, your game will improve as you are in a much tougher situation.
You will learn SO much as well, just by watching and observing what the better players do.
Good mindset is key
When you play with better players, a good mindset is key. Don’t give up on a ball or play a certain shot just because you think that the opponent is better.
Play the ball, not the opponent.
If you lose a point think about it…
Make sure you actually analyse why you lost the point, a dangerous mindset to have in padel is “there was nothing I could have done there” instead think “how could I have got that back” or “what went wrong in that point”.
If you have the first mindset, then you won’t improve as quickly as you want to.
2. Book Lessons With Coaches
Coaches will help fix your technique and give you hundreds of tips and tactics.
I would advise having a 1 on 1 session, rather than having 2-4 students with 1 coach.
This isn’t to say that group sessions aren’t beneficial, because they are.
But a 1 on 1 session is a lot more personal, and the coach can spend a lot more time teaching you what you need to fix.
For example, in a group session of 4, you can’t stop the session to work on one person’s technical shot. But in a 1 on 1, you spend half the lesson fixing that.
I used to coach up to 25 clients a week before I started my online padel store right here!
Technique is important
Technique is really important!
With good technique, your shots will be:
- Harder to get back
- More effective
- Feel more natural
- More consistent
3. Learn The Walls
The walls can be really hard to learn, especially if you come from a tennis background. Your natural instinct is going to be to run back with the ball instead of staying where you are or even moving forward.
The walls are CRUCIAL for you to learn.
The wall is your friend as well, it can help you win a LOT of points, especially when you get to a higher level.
This can be hard, so below are some beginner padel tips for the walls.
Beginner Padel Tips For The Walls
- Stay relaxed
- Prepare the racket early
- Judge the pace and depth of the ball (harder and deeper will cause a bigger bounce)
Watch out for spin, if the ball is played with topspin then the ball will rise of the wall, if it is played with slice then the ball will go down after the wall.
If you are struggling with the walls, then just focus on trying to get the ball back, don’t try and do anything special with the ball, just focus on getting it over that net at medium pace.
4. Learn Basic Positioning
The next of the beginner padel tips is to learn basic positioning.
Positional play is probably the biggest mistake for beginner players. No matter what background you come from, without tips, your positioning will be wrong.
Two key things to remember in padel positioning.
Both of these I have written full articles on to why they are important. Feel free to check them out.
To sum it up, avoid no man’s land because it is tough to volley and defend from there.
For the net, you need to realise that this is where we are going to win 90% of our shots. You have SO many options when you are the net, compared to at the back of the court.
Go to the net at these situations:
- After the serve
- If you or your partner lobs the opponents
- If you hit the ball past the white line
I bolded the last one because if at any point you play the ball past the white line on the opponents side, you should be at the net.
Focus your game on “how can I get to the net” rather than “how can I win the point’
Do this, and you will win more matches.
5. Continental Grip
This one is a little more technical and if you don’t already have the continental grip, then it is going to take a few weeks to get used to.
The continental grip allows us to play the technical shots in padel a lot easier.
Now for beginners, you don’t have to worry about the bandeja, vibora, and kick smash yet.
So why does it matter?
Well, at some point you will need to learn these shots, so it is great practise to get a good habit with your grip now.
Benefits of the continental grip:
- Allows you to have more spin
- More acceleration
- Helps technique across all shots.
- Gives you the best dexterity and maneuverability .
6. Play Consistently With Consistency
This is my favourite of the beginner padel tips, I use it in my own game and it helps me win the most matches.
When you play consistently, you get a good rhythm going and create momentum. This helps you not get out of practise, and be more ready than all of your opponents.
Consistency will help you win a lot more matches. If you focus on getting every single ball back with minimum mistakes, then you WILL win a lot more games.
You will beat people on the same level, or even better than you.
You could play someone, who is better than you technically, but beat them just by returning more balls than them.
Play the middle - beginner padel tips
One of the best beginner padel tips is to play the middle.
The middle is very low risk. With high reward.
How many times in a match have you left a ball that is going down the middle because you think your partner is going to take it?
This happens a LOT, so why not exploit it for the opposition.
Play the middle constantly, it is such an easy way of getting points.
Low risk as well, if the shot doesn’t go directly in the middle, it will still go to the opponents, compared to…
If you play a shot down the line, and it goes wrong, it is most likely going to go out, by hitting the side wall first.
Benefits of playing the middle:
- Low risk
- Opponents might leave it due to poor communication
7. Take The Pace Off Your Shots
A common one for beginner padel players, hitting the ball too hard. You don’t need to at all!
You can play an entire game with 50% power on all your shots, and win.
There are only a few instances where we need to hit the ball hard.
- Kick smash
- Flat smash
- Aggressive vibora/bandeja/volley
These are all rare occasions for a beginner, we don’t need to do this.
Instead, your main focuses for a beginner should be:
- Positioning
- Consistency
- The net game
- Building up technique
Think about how hard you can hit the ball. Now halve it.
That is the pace you need to play at.
Watch this world padel tour clip, now this is professional level, but still notice a lot of the shots at at 50% power, some of them are even 20% power.
8. Get Equipped
The last of the beginner padel tips is to get equipped.
Find the right racket for YOU, by either taking our quiz here at EverythingPadel, read our racket reviews or contact me personally on Whatsapp at +44 7704048874. I will choose something good for your game!
A padel racket that suits your game will allow you to reach your full potential, you could be being held back by something that is not perfect for you.
Get some good sports clothing, I recommend lightweight, and breathable.
Other items that will help you win more matches are:
- Padel grips
- A padel bag
- Padel shoes
Hope you learned something!
Padel is back soom, for any beginner players out there, this is what you should focus on!
“8 beginner padel tips: how to win more matches” – Ewan Ramsden
Ewan Ramsden
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Great Tips …and insane points on the amazing video !