Padel Tips - why should we train padel in the winter
There is a big drop off in the number of players that play and train padel in the winter. In the colder and wetter conditions. This is because padel is simply a more fun game in the hot dry conditions of the summer! However, this article will show you some benefits of playing in the cold and wet conditions, and some padel tips to use when training so that you improve your game!
Your defence will improve
When playing in wet conditions, the balls lose their grip on the walls which makes it unpredictable to judge what bounce will happen off them. If the ball is placed at medium to slow pace towards the wall and doesn’t bounce too close to it, then the ball will come down fast off the wall rather than bouncing upwards or forwards. This makes it very tricky. It is hard to get as lots of people cannot judge the bounce. However, with enough practise you will find that you will be able to dig out these tough balls in the wet. When summer comes, your defence will be a lot more improved and you will be able to get back low balls with ease.
When the ball is played at a fast pace and bounces just before the wall, you may find that the ball flies off the glass a lot faster than usual, this also makes it tougher to get back as you have to react quicker and try and take the pace out of the ball. If you can practise this, then by the summer, your defence will be much better. You will feel as if you have much more time.
Tips for padel in the winter
The tips are similar for summer, but a little more extreme. So, the slower the ball comes to the wall, the closer you want to be to the wall. However, the majority of the balls that are played to the wall you will need to stay very tight and compact to the wall in order to judge the bounce and play it. With low balls make sure you bend your knees more so that you can get very low. Lots of players bend their back which could cause an injury. It also means you won’t be able to get down to the ball as easily. Prepare your racket lower as well. The majority of the balls will come very low and will be hard to attack off the back wall.
you can focus on technique
During the winter, we also lose grip on the racket face and ball. So, it is harder to get lots of spin on the ball. We have to focus more on technique. In order to make sure our shots are better. It is a good time to try and focus on our volleys, bandejas and viboras. With the smash not a big part of the game as the ball will not bounce. It is better to focus on these technical shots. If we use the winter to play our technical shots flatter with less spin and a better shape and technique, when we come back to the summer, the shot will be very technically good, and then we can add the spin back and make it different level!
tips for padel in the winter
You should play your shots flatter in the winter as it hard to get good spin, and we don’t need to play with loads of spin either as the ball goes down off the glass anyway. It is important to play flat when defending, so this is a great chance to learn. Going forward with your volleys and bandejas, keep the shape of the shot the same, but take a bit of the spin off the shot.
What racket should i use?
It might be an idea to choose another racket for the winter as with the wet balls you want to get more grip on the ball. So, a rough surface racket that is slightly heavier would be a bit more suitable for winter play. Nox and Adidas rackets are great for this! The adidas Adipower 3.0 is a great choice for the winter months due to its rough surface.
Overall, padel is important to keep training over the winter, as it will improve you as a player as you are playing a much harder game compared to the summer! Take these tips on board as well and possibly consider changing racket.
Author – Ewan Ramsden
