Sandy Farquharson breaks down how to read corner shots in padel by watching whether the ball hits the side or back glass. Positioning, light footwork, and a split step let you react faster instead of guessing.
Chapters
So you need to establish, or you already know, that if it hits the side glass first, the ball is going to come away from that side glass. So you give yourself space and you move into that position to play. If the ball is going to hit the back glass first, it's going to hug the side glass, it's going to go further up the court, so you move out the way and then you get into position. It's going to hit one of those two glasses first and you need to be able to respond. The absolute key to the corners is guessing. Have an educated guess on which you think it is. It doesn't matter if you're wrong. Imagine I think it's side glass and actually it hits back glass. I'm going to move myself out of the way, and okay, I've got myself in a wrong position for that ball, but I've given myself a reference point. I am now going to process that. Next time I get a similar ball, I'm going to move in that position and I'm going to follow I follow it so I know where to go, but you've got to make an accurate guess of which way you're going to go so you know and you have a database. Once you get comfortable with the ball coming into the corner and you can make the decision, the next most important thing is light on your feet so that you can be fast into position. That starts with a split step, that also is moving light on your toes, and that's exactly why we made the Faster Feet for Padel course so that you can do all of these training exercises off the court. So when you step on the court, you don't need to think about it, and it will improve all of your techniques, not just the corner. Go to the link in the bio to access the Faster Footwork course. You'll get better in the corner as well as the rest of your game.
