Most people improve at padel in fits and starts. You have a great session, then three flat ones, and it is hard to know what to actually work on. Better still, padel is a game of a few big priorities, and if you sort those in the right order you get better a lot faster. Here is a simple plan for a beginner working up to a solid club player.
Priority one: fix your positioning
More points are won and lost by where you stand than by how hard you hit. If you take one thing from this article, make it this. Move with your partner as a pair, keep the gap between you sensible, and control the middle of the court together. When you are defending at the back, give yourself room to let the ball come off the glass. When you win the net, hold it and do not drift back for no reason.
A simple habit that pays off: after every shot, reset to a good position rather than admiring where the ball went. Our tactics for beginners guide goes deeper on this, and it is the single best return on your time early on.
Priority two: learn to use the glass
New players panic when the ball goes past them towards the back wall. Padel is built around the glass, and letting the ball bounce and come off the wall to you is completely normal, often the better option. Spend some sessions just getting comfortable letting balls travel, reading the bounce, and playing a calm shot off the rebound instead of lunging early.
Once the back glass stops scaring you, the whole game slows down and you make far fewer rushed errors.
Priority three: the lob is your best friend
The lob is the most underrated shot in padel, and at every level below advanced it wins piles of points. A good lob over the net players buys you time, pushes them off the net, and lets you and your partner move up. You do not need power, you need height, depth and timing.
Practise lobbing when you are under pressure at the back rather than trying to blast a winner. Nine times out of ten a deep lob is the smarter play. Work on landing it near the back glass so the other pair cannot smash it.
Priority four: add the bandeja
Once you are holding the net, the bandeja is the shot that keeps you there. It is a controlled overhead, played more like a slice than a smash, that lets you deal with lobs without giving up your position at the net. It takes a bit of practice to groove, but it is the shot that separates people who can stay at the net from people who keep getting pushed back.
If the names of these shots are new to you, our padel shots explained guide walks through the bandeja, the vibora, the lob and the rest.
Priority five: play with patience
The biggest jump most improvers make is mental, not technical. Padel rewards the pair who keeps the ball in play and waits for the right ball to attack. Trying to end every point with a big smash is how beginners hand over free points. Rally, build, wait for a short or high ball, then commit. Boring padel wins a lot of matches.
Priority six: play more, and play with better people
Drills matter, but nothing replaces court time against a mix of opponents. Get to socials and americanos where you rotate partners and play people above your level. You learn more in one session against someone slightly better than in five easy hits with mates. Manchester has a growing calendar of these, and you can find what is on via our events page.
Playing with people better than you drags your standard up without you having to think about it. Losing a few games is part of the deal.
A simple weekly plan
You do not need to overthink it. Something like this works for most improvers:
- One session focused on games and socials, playing points and testing yourself.
- One session, or part of one, on a single thing, for example letting balls off the glass or grooving your lob.
- The odd coaching session when you plateau, to get an outside eye on what is holding you back.
Do that for a couple of months and you will feel the difference. Progress in padel is rarely dramatic week to week, but it stacks up quickly if you work on the right things in the right order.
FAQs
What should a beginner focus on first?
Positioning, above everything. Moving as a pair and controlling the middle wins more points than any single shot. After that, get comfortable letting the ball come off the back glass, then learn the lob.
How long does it take to get good at padel?
Most people feel competent at a social level within a few months of regular play. Getting genuinely good takes longer and depends on how often you play and how much you play against better opponents.
What is the bandeja and do I need it?
The bandeja is a controlled overhead that lets you handle lobs without leaving the net. You do not need it on day one, but it becomes important once you are holding the net and getting lobbed. Our shots guide explains how it works.
Is it better to drill or just play matches?
Both, but do not skip matches. Drills groove a shot, while games teach you when to use it and how to stay calm under pressure. Socials and americanos, where you rotate partners, are especially good for improving quickly.
How do I find people to play with in Manchester?
Get along to socials and americanos, which you can track on our events page. Playing a mix of partners and opponents, including people above your level, is the fastest way to raise your game.