The backhand from the back of the court is one of the fundamental strokes used when defending in padel. Mastering it allows the player to control their shots and build rallies from the back of the court when the ball comes to the backhand side.
A good backhand relies in particular on the correct preparation, a stable movement and the correct distance from the ball, allowing the player to play with control without losing balance when hitting the shot.
The objective of this session is to progressively develop the key technical elements of the backhand from the back of the court, from the racket preparation position through to the complete movement, before putting them into practice on increasingly dynamic balls.
The session consists of five progressive drills, allowing the player to develop the different stages of the movement separately before bringing them together into a complete and controlled backhand.
This session breaks down the technique of the backhand from the back of the court step by step, focusing successively on the racket preparation, the complete movement, striking the ball, maintaining the correct lateral distance from the ball, and finally applying all these elements on balls fed with the racket.
1️⃣ The player begins by learning to adopt the correct racket preparation position, with a low racket preparation, the arms almost fully extended and away from the body, the legs slightly bent and the body weight positioned over the front leg.
2️⃣ The second progression introduces the complete backhand movement. The player learns to move the racket from back to front and from low to high, with the contact point in front of the body and the arm extended. The non-dominant arm moves backwards to help maintain stability throughout the movement and prevent excessive shoulder rotation.
These first two progressions are performed without a ball, allowing the player to focus entirely on the different body positions and progressively develop the correct movement pattern.
3️⃣ The third exercise then introduces ball striking. On easy balls fed by hand by the coach, the player aims to reproduce the technical elements developed previously to hit a flat backhand down the line.
4️⃣ The fourth progression focuses on maintaining the correct lateral distance between the player and the ball. Using two lanes marked out on the court, the player learns to avoid hitting with the arms too close to the body and to maintain enough space to perform the movement correctly. This principle is first developed with down-the-line backhands and then, as a variation, with cross-court backhands.
5️⃣ Finally, the fifth progression allows the player to bring the different technical elements together in a more dynamic situation. The coach now feeds the balls with the racket, and the player must move from the middle of the court, adjust their positioning and then play the backhand. The player first works on a backhand down the line, followed by a variation towards the middle of the court, before combining these two directions over two consecutive backhands.
✅ Through these five drills, the objective is to progressively develop a stable and controlled backhand from the back of the court, played at the correct distance from the ball, working on the key technical elements separately before bringing them together into one complete movement while moving around the court.
