Before learning traditional padel strokes, young players first need to become familiar with ball trajectories and learn how to coordinate their movements with the racket.
This simple drill helps develop ball tracking, coordination, and footwork quality through slow-moving balls rolling along the ground.
Setup:
The coach places two cones against the net to create a goal approximately 2 metres wide. This will be the target area for the player’s shots.
The coach stands at the back of the service box with a basket of balls.
The player stands facing the coach, approximately 2 metres away, with a racket in hand.
How the drill works:
The coach rolls slow-moving balls towards the player, who must strike them with the racket towards the goal at the net, as if playing hockey.
To perform the exercise correctly, the player should bend their knees to get down to the height of the ball and strike it from a comfortable and balanced position.
The coach adjusts the speed of the balls according to the player’s level in order to maintain an appropriate level of difficulty.
After several repetitions, the coach and player switch sides and repeat the same exercise on the backhand side, again using balls rolling along the ground.
Objectives of the drill:
The objective of this exercise is to help young players become familiar with simple ball trajectories.
It also teaches them how to strike the ball with the racket while developing coordination between movement and stroke execution.
In addition, it encourages players to bend their knees to achieve better balance and position themselves correctly at ball height.
To increase the difficulty, the coach can introduce balls with small bounces, while still keeping them very slow, helping the player begin to learn how to strike a ball above ground level.
Video credits: Kid’s Padel – Episode 1 – Robin – YouTube