The serve is the first shot of every point in padel and should allow the player to start the rally in the best possible conditions.
A good serve is not simply about putting the ball into play: it should make the opponent’s return more difficult and allow the player to move quickly to the net to establish a good attacking position.
The objective of this session is to progressively develop the key technical elements of the serve, from the racket path to the direction of the ball, while also incorporating the transition to the net that follows the serve.
The session consists of four progressive drills, allowing the player to develop a sliced, deep and accurate serve before learning to automatically transition to the net.
This session breaks down the technique of the padel serve step by step, focusing successively on the racket path, depth, transition to the net and accuracy.
➡️ Unlike in tennis, the serve in padel is played underarm, after the ball has bounced on the ground. The server must let the ball bounce within their service area before hitting it at waist height or below. At the moment of contact, they must keep at least one foot in contact with the ground.
The serve must always be played diagonally, and the ball must make its first bounce inside the corresponding opponent’s service box. If the first serve is a fault, the player has a second serve.
1️⃣ The player begins by learning to use a downward racket path to generate slice on the ball and limit its bounce inside the opponent’s service box.
2️⃣ The second progression adds a focus on depth. The player aims to make the serve bounce deep enough in the opponent’s service box to make the return more difficult and give themselves more time to move forwards towards the net.
3️⃣ The third drill then develops the serve → transition to the net → split step sequence. The objective is to prevent the player from staying back and watching their serve, teaching them instead to quickly recover a good position for the first volley.
4️⃣ Finally, the fourth progression focuses on the direction and accuracy of the serve. The player learns to deliberately target the T or the side glass, while maintaining the technical elements developed in the previous drills.
✅ Through these four drills, the objective is to progressively develop a sliced, deep and accurate serve followed by a quick transition to the net, allowing the player to start the rally in the best possible conditions.
