Padel smash: flat, por tres and por cuatro

When to smash and when to play a bandeja

In tennis, an overhead hit hard enough usually wins. In padel the back glass returns the ball, so power only wins if it gets the ball out of the court or past the opponents before they can reach it. Before you swing, check three things.

• Where is the ball? Short lobs, landing in front of or around your service line, can be smashed. Deep lobs cannot, not usefully.
• Where are you? In front of the ball and balanced. Jumping backwards is a bandeja or a lob off the back glass.
• Where will it end? On the floor near the net, out over the side, out over the back, or at somebody's feet. If you cannot name it, you are hitting a hard bandeja that will come back.

For most club players the right ratio is something like one smash to every four or five overheads. The rest are bandejas and víboras.

What a good smash looks like

1. Preparation. Sideways turn, non-hitting arm up pointing at the ball, racket up and behind in a position close to the trophy position of a serve.
2. Footwork. Side steps or crossover steps to get behind the ball. On a short lob, a small scissor kick (push off the back leg, land on the front) lets you hit in the air.
3. Contact. At full reach, in front of the hitting shoulder. Higher and further forward than a bandeja.
4. Swing. A throwing motion: the racket drops behind, the elbow leads, the forearm turns over (pronation) and the wrist whips the racket head through the ball.
5. Finish and recovery. Racket finishes across the body, then straight back to the net position. A smash from near the net that does not end the point needs you ready for the next ball.

Grip: continental

All the padel smashes use the continental grip, the same as the volley and the bandeja. It allows pronation, which is where the racket-head speed comes from, and it lets you add spin for the rulo or the por cuatro without changing hands. A forehand grip gives you a flat push with the palm and no whip.

The flat smash: finishing near the net

The flat smash (remate plano) is for short lobs you meet close to the net. Contact high and in front, a full whip, and the ball driven down steeply. Targets, in order of safety:

• At the feet of the nearer opponent. A ball bouncing hard at the feet is almost impossible to play before it reaches the glass.
• Into the open space at an angle. A steep angle toward the side makes the ball bounce and leave the court over the side, or hit the side glass so low that it cannot be played.
• Through the middle. When both opponents are deep and wide.

Cue: hit down on the ball. A flat smash that bounces deep is just a fast ball for the other side.

Por tres (x3): out over the side

A smash por tres, written x3, is hit flat and angled so that after the bounce the ball flies out of the court over the side wall. Once it leaves the court the opponents can only play it by running out through the door, where the court and the rules of the event allow it, so a good x3 usually ends the point.

• Which lobs. Short to medium lobs, taken around or inside your service line, ideally with your body moving forward.
• Technique. Flat and very fast, with a full whip. Hit the ball from its side rather than dead behind it, so it travels diagonally toward the side of the court.
• Target. A bounce around the opponents' service line, angled toward the side wall. Too short and it does not reach the glass with enough pace; too deep and it hits the back glass without coming out.

Por cuatro (x4): out over the back

A smash por cuatro, x4, bounces and rises high enough to go out over the back wall. It needs a very short lob, so you can hit down steeply from close to the net, and topspin so the ball jumps after the bounce. The back enclosure is four metres high on a standard court, which is why the shot is harder than it looks on television.

• Technique. Contact high and in front, the racket brushing up and over the ball as in a kick serve, then a full pronation. The ball should bounce steeply around the opponents' service line.
• When not to. From behind the service line, or from any lob you have to move backwards for. A failed x4 is a high, slow ball off the back glass.

The rulo: the topspin smash

The rulo is a heavy topspin smash that makes the ball kick high off the bounce and come off the back glass at an awkward height and angle. It is less of a winner and more of a pressure shot, useful on medium lobs where an x3 or x4 is not on. The swing is the x4 swing, hit less steeply and with more brushing.

Common smash mistakes and how to fix them

• Smashing from too deep. The ball comes back off the glass and you are out of position. Fix: behind the service line, play a bandeja unless the lob is very short.
• Letting the ball drop. Contact at head height turns the smash into a mistimed bandeja. Fix: get behind the ball early and hit at full reach.
• No turn. Facing the net and swinging with the arm. Fix: sideways first, non-hitting arm up, then swing.
• Pushing instead of whipping. A stiff wrist and no pronation give a slow, flat ball. Fix: think of throwing the racket head at the ball, edge first, then turning the face over.
• Trying the x4 off everything. Fix: only from very short lobs and close to the net. Otherwise flat to the feet or a bandeja.
• Hitting the glass on the full. A smash that hits the back or side glass before bouncing is your point lost. Fix: aim for the bounce, not the glass.
• Watching it. Fix: recover to the net after every smash. Good opponents return more of them than you expect.

Smash drills without a court

The smash is a full whip, so it responds well to shadow reps, and it needs a ceiling. With your own racket, swing only where there is clear air above you; indoors under a normal ceiling, hold a phone like the grip and keep the full arm path. The full home session is in padel training at home and the method in shadow swing drills.

• Trophy hold, 10 reps. Turn, non-hitting arm up, racket dropped behind, hold for three seconds. Balance first.
• Shadow smash with footwork, 15 reps. Split step, turn, two side steps back, scissor kick, smash, two steps forward.
• Flat, x3, x4 in sequence, 5 rounds. Flat and down, flat and angled, then brushing up for the kick. The difference is where the racket meets the ball, not how hard you swing.
• Shoulder care. Fifteen band external rotations each arm before any overhead session.

Here the hit sound and the speed are a good fit, because a smash lives on the whip. A pushed smash stays silent, and with Pro your top smash speed gives you a number to push against. What the app cannot tell you is where the ball would have gone: it does not see the ball or the court, and its 3D Shot Analysis covers forehand, backhand, serve and volley, not overheads.

Smash drills on court

• Short-or-deep decision. A feeder mixes short and deep lobs. Short means smash, deep means bandeja. Any smash from a deep lob costs a point.
• Feet target. Short lobs, flat smash at a towel placed just in front of the opponents' service line. Ten reps.
• x3 practice. Very short lobs to your forehand side. Count how many leave the court over the side. Five out of twenty is a good start for a club player.
• Smash and recover. After every smash the feeder plays a fast low ball; you must volley it from the net.

Related guides

• How to hit a bandeja
• How to hit a víbora
• How to lob in padel
• How to volley in padel
• Padel training at home: drills without a court