Almost everyone hits a wall in padel. You go from clueless to competent in a few months, and then it feels like you stop moving. You are still turning up, still enjoying it, but you are winning the same points and losing the same ones. That flat patch is normal, and it is fixable. In fifteen years of coaching I have seen the same handful of reasons behind nearly every plateau. Here they are, with what to actually do about them.
You only play matches and never drill
This is the big one. Playing Americanos and friendly matches is brilliant fun, but a match hides your weaknesses rather than exposing them. If your backhand volley is shaky you simply avoid it, so it never gets better. Drilling forces you to hit the shots you would normally run around.
The fix is not complicated. Book a court for two people and spend twenty minutes on one shot before you play. You do not need a coach for this, though a session or two with one of the Manchester coaches will shortcut a lot of trial and error. We have a full set of two player drills in our two player drills guide.
You hit everything too hard
Padel is not tennis and it is not squash. Power is the least important thing on the court. The walls give the ball back, so a hard shot that would be a winner elsewhere just comes off the glass and sits up for your opponent. Control, placement and patience win points. The players who frustrate you are rarely the ones who hit hardest, they are the ones who never miss and always put the ball somewhere awkward.
The fix is to consciously take pace off for a few sessions. Aim to keep the ball in play and make your opponents beat themselves. It feels passive at first. It also wins.
Your positioning is poor
Most points at club level are lost through bad positioning long before anyone plays a bad shot. Standing too far apart, drifting out of the point, or being caught in no man's land between the net and the back wall will cost you more than any technical flaw. Read our positioning mistakes guide for the detail, but the short version is: move as a pair, own the net when you have it, and never sit in the middle of the court.
You do not lob
The lob (or globo) is the single most underused shot at club level, and it is the main way you take the net away from a stronger pair. If your opponents are camped at the net winning every volley, hitting harder at them plays into their hands. A deep lob over their heads pushes them back to the glass and hands you the net.
The fix is to practise the lob until it is a weapon, not a panic shot. Aim to land it in the last couple of metres of the court. A good lob buys you time and turns defence into attack.
You are weak off the glass
If a ball off the back wall makes you nervous, you have found your biggest limiter. Tennis players especially struggle here because their instinct is to hit early. In padel you let the ball pass you, come off the wall, and drop, then you play it calmly. Reading the glass is a learned skill and it is the fastest route to looking like a proper player. We cover it fully in how to read the glass.
You always play the same two or three people
Comfortable partners and comfortable opponents keep you comfortable, which is the enemy of improvement. If you only ever play the same group, you learn their patterns and they learn yours, and nobody is stretched. Mix your games. Play people slightly better than you as often as you can stand it. Losing to better players teaches you more in an hour than beating weaker ones does in a month.
You have no clear weakness you are working on
Vague practice gives vague results. Improvement comes from picking one weakness and hammering it for a few weeks. Maybe it is your backhand volley, maybe it is your bandeja, maybe it is your movement. Choose one, drill it, and use it deliberately in matches even when it costs you points. Once it is solid, pick the next one. If you want a structured version of this, we have a full plan in our simple improvement plan.
Put it together
You do not need to fix all seven at once. Pick the two that stung most reading this, and give them a month of real attention. That is usually enough to get moving again. Plateaus are not a sign you have reached your ceiling, they are a sign you have stopped practising the right things. If you want to find a court to drill on, our Manchester venues page lists where to play across the city.
FAQ
How long does it take to get past a padel plateau?
With focused practice on one or two weaknesses, most players notice a shift within four to six weeks. The key word is focused. Playing more matches alone rarely does it.
Is it worth getting a coach if I have plateaued?
Yes. A good coach spots the one or two things holding you back far faster than you will on your own, and gives you drills to fix them. Even a couple of sessions can save you months of guessing.
Should I stop playing matches and only drill?
No. Matches are where you apply what you drill and where you learn under pressure. The fix is balance. Add drilling to your week rather than replacing your matches with it.