You DON'T NEED to Play Better Players to Improve!

Many players think that they need to only play against better players if they want to improve their game. But that is a complete myth. And in this video, we're going to tell you what you need to focus on tactically, technically, mentally in order to improve your game, no matter who you're playing against. When we chat to our members on the platform or players that come to our events and they're frustrated in their game, it is often because they play regularly and they aren't feeling the improvement. Maybe at the beginning they felt improvement as they got to understand the game, but now they've plateaued. And they don't really know why. Their solution is often, well, I just need to play with better players and that way I'll improve my game automatically. It can be really frustrating because you can play against lower level players and you feel like you get sucked into their style of play, and you may win, but it's not convincing. You feel like you've got scrappy and got through the match, and it's a bit of an ugly padel match, and you win and you come off and you feel a bit demotivated, whereas when you play with better level players, you think, oh, my game was so good because they raised the level of my game and actually now I'm a better player. But it's not quite the case. They raise the level of your game within the match, but they haven't actually raised your level as a player. Playing better players is great for the tactical side of the game because you would play and not get away with stuff that you would otherwise get away with, with lower level players. And so what that means is when you might get an easy smash for example, you smash it and a low-level player, they don't run forward, but a higher-level player, they do run forward and they put you in trouble. And that is a good reminder of the shot selection and the tactical side of the game. So I'm not saying playing better players doesn't help at all, it does. You can improve your tactics and understanding of the game, but what you find is that you don't actually work on the technique. And so it's quite difficult to dig yourself out of a plateau by only playing better players. You really need to get to the root of it and understand what is going on with your technique and tactics if you actually want to improve. So the key here for players to improve progressively through their paddle is to learn good habits, but doing it through a structured system. You can't really incrementally improve your game by getting random tips either from social media or from people giving you advice at clubs. You want to have a system in place that is like, right, this is my time to learn, I'm going to— whether it's online or with my coach, then I need time to practice and to train, then I time to implement that in my match, time and focus. And this structured system will help players improve. So the key is to being really objective and clear about your game, identifying the focus, what you need to work on, what is your major area that you're struggling with, and then really focus on that. Now, if it's tactical, then yes, absolutely, playing against better players, it could be something that you work on that tactic with them and they keep the pressure on you. But you could also work on this with your level players or lower level players because you want to really focus on the space or the area of the game. Technique again can be practiced with anyone. You can practice it on your own, you can practice it off the court. We have loads of exercises on thepadelschool.com around improving your ball control for different shots, the techniques for different shots, your footwork that you can practice off the court, and that will improve your level when you get on the court. You can do the same with a ball machine. We also have a ball machine course where you can practice all the shots. You can do this with a training partner You can do this with a lesson, you can do this at a lower level, at a higher level, but a technical focus is internal. You need to focus on what you need to work on in your technique, and then it doesn't matter who you're playing against, it's an area that you can improve. So looking at the different areas, tactics, yes, against better players you can practice tactics because they put you under pressure. You can also play against lower level players and focus on your tactics, like your court position, your shot direction, trying to reduce the chaos within the game. Technically, you can practice technique against better players, but often they don't give you the opportunity because a better player will probably be trying to break your rhythm. So technique is actually better played with a training partner or with a lower level player that is able to keep the ball under control. You will get more repetitions like that because you can lengthen the rally, whereas the better players are probably able to finish the rally off. So that technical side is great to practice with lower level players or even yourself. When we're talking about better or lower level players, there's obviously a certain gap or reason that we're talking within. It doesn't make sense for Ali Galán to practice with a 1.0 PlayTomic rating because he will not get anything out of it. But if you can play with a rating of 1.5 or 2 either side, you can still make use of that training if you are able to focus on these different areas. Because when it comes to a tournament, you are likely to have that disparity in your tournament. So you need to be able to beat players that are at a lower level and your level, and also compete well against better players. And this is where the mental side comes in, because in a social game or in an americano at the club with, with friends and family, etc., there's not a lot of pressure on. But when you come to a tournament and you're playing a lower level and you know you should beat them, you are gonna put pressure on yourself. It's inevitable. And using mental side of the game to keep clarity, to keep focus, to reduce that pressure, to keep concentrating on the game is absolutely huge. So it is important that you are able to practice and compete against different levels. So my advice for anyone that is wanting to improve their game and they have a variety of level to play against, I would say, get really clear on your technical and your tactical focus. You can practice your tactical focus against stronger level players. You can practice your technical focus around players that are a bit lower than you, your level, or above. It's easier if you focus time to that training, whether you're practicing with a wall or you're practicing with a training partner. It's easier to do that than in social games, focusing on the technique. And then the mental side really is one that work on in competition, but there's so much you can learn online. And we've got a course, Mental Toughness, it's a course with a performance sports psychologist where we talk through different areas of dealing with frustration or nerves, and, and this can be something that can be really useful for players when they go to compete, regardless of the level they're competing against. So if you have complete control over your schedule and who you play against, I would recommend trying to play 25% against lower level players, 50% against your level, and 25% against the level above, but really keeping a clear focus on your tactics and your technique focus. If you're the type of person that really wants to get clarity in their game and they want to see incremental progression, I highly recommend using a journal. We've made a journal, the Padel School Match and Training Journal, and in there there's loads of questions prompted before and after training, before after matches, what you can do with your online study. I'll put the link to that up here, but this is a great way to keep your focus on your game and know where you should be working.