Sandy Farquharson explains why elite padel players dominate corner defense: they keep their heels off the ground and move fast toward where the rebound will exit. Anticipation matters less than footwork. He offers free drills at thepaddleschool.com to build the speed and lightness pros like Chingotto and Tapia use.
Chapters
When you look at the pros and their technique for dealing with the corner, yes, they have great anticipation, they know where the ball is going to rebound, and they prepare the racket early to get into position. But the main key for them is the footwork. They are so fast and light on their feet to get out of a position if using the side glass, or if they're turning in a position like that, their footwork is so light, they're on their toes, their heels are not coming down. So yes, they're anticipating great, but they are moving so fast into position, and they're moving towards the exit of the rebound. So if the ball is coming in, for example, down their left-hand side, they are moving towards the exit where they are expecting that ball to exit after the rebound, and their feet are getting themselves in great positions. This footwork is key for all of the shots, but particularly with the corner where you are now dealing with a couple of different ball flights off the rebound. And that is exactly why on thepaddleschool.com we have a free course when you sign up for a membership. It's called Faster Feet for Padel, and we do all paddle-specific footwork, and it includes turning and getting into position. And all of it is videos you can do, exercises you can do off the court to improve that speed, improve the faster feet, so that when you step back onto court, it's so much easier and you don't have to think about it. You can guarantee that Chingotto and Tapia and all of these players, they are not thinking about their footwork when they are dealing with the corner, so you don't need to either if you practice it off the court.
