Sandy Farquharson breaks down corner defense in padel: pros read the opponent's body language and shot type before the ball hits the glass, while club players react after the bounce. The key is recognizing patterns like a bouncy bandeja or low vibora, then deciding whether to use the glass or block instead.
Chapters
Most club players think the biggest challenge with the corner is the rebound, but the pros know the challenge starts way before that. They are reading what's happening and have already made several decisions before the ball has even touched the glass. This is a major problem for the club player because they are deciding what to do as the ball is reaching them or bouncing on the glass and then having to react, whereas a pro player, they can almost tell if they're going to use the glass by the shot their opponent is hitting. For example, if their opponent is coming in and you can see they're gonna hit a good slice volley, most likely they're going to try and play that ball before the glass because it's going to be difficult to deal with. Whereas if they have a contact that's higher, for example, they know the rebound is inevitably going to be higher, therefore the glass could potentially be used. So they are reading their opponent's body language and the shot they're going to hit to make their first set of decisions. Then they're tracking the trajectory, they're reading the bounce, the depth, the speed, of the ball. All of this to analyze whether the glass can even be used in the first place. So the first tip for you in your game is recognition of what is happening. See the patterns. If your opponent is hitting their bandeja and it's bouncy and it's coming into this corner, you know you can deal with it in the corner. Or if they've got a really low contact on their vibora and it's got loads of bite, it's very difficult to defend with a double glass. Either don't hit it there or come up and block that next ball. So you are reading what's going to happen. Next is then reading their body position. If they get into a position and they're stretched and the contact looks flat, it's more than likely you can use the corner to defend. If they're coming and they're going to slice down through that and it's an aggressive forehand volley, for example, it might be very difficult to use the corner. So you need to read your opponents before you even worry about the actual ball that's coming your way.
