The Complete Guide to Padel Shots: Every Stroke Explained

Padel rewards variety. Where tennis often hinges on one big weapon, padel is a game of angles, patience, and picking the right shot for the moment — and the glass walls add a whole family of strokes that exist nowhere else in racket sport. Learn the full toolkit and you stop just returning the ball; you start building points.

This guide maps every shot in padel — roughly a dozen core strokes, plus the wall shots that double your options on defense. Each one gets a quick explanation of what it does and when to use it, plus a link to a full step-by-step tutorial so you can go deep on the strokes you want to sharpen. Bookmark it and work through the list one shot at a time.

Groundstrokes

Groundstrokes are the shots you hit after the ball bounces, usually from the back of the court. They are the foundation of every rally and the first strokes most players learn.

Forehand

The forehand is your most-used groundstroke and the engine of your defense. In padel it is flatter and more compact than a tennis forehand — you are controlling the ball and setting up the point, not swinging for winners. A dependable forehand, including off the back wall, keeps you in rallies until you can move forward to the net.

Full guide → How to Hit a Forehand in Padel

Backhand

The backhand covers everything on your non-dominant side, including balls that rebound off the side glass. Beginners tend to hide from it, but a steady backhand is what lets you defend the whole court instead of half of it. Keep it compact before you add slice or pace.

Full guide → How to Hit a Backhand in Padel

Return of Serve

After the serve, the return is the most important shot in padel, because it decides whether you can fight for the net. A good return is deep and controlled — driven low down the middle or lobbed to push the servers back before they establish their volley.

Full guide → How to Return Serve in Padel

The Serve

The Serve

Every point starts here. The padel serve is underhand: you bounce the ball once, strike it below waist height, and send it diagonally into the service box. Power matters far less than placement and consistency — the goal is to start the point on your terms and get to the net, not to hit an ace.

Full guide → How to Serve in Padel

Net Shots

The net is where padel points are won. Once you and your partner take the net, these are the shots that keep you there — and the one that pries opponents off it.

Volley

The volley is any ball you take out of the air before it bounces, usually from near the net. Punch it with a short, firm motion and a slightly open face — depth and control matter more than power. Reliable volleys are what let an attacking team hold the net and squeeze the rally.

Full guide → How to Hit a Volley in Padel

Chiquita

The chiquita is a soft, low ball played from the back of the court to the feet of the net players. The name is Spanish for "little one," and that is the point: by taking the pace off, you force the net team to volley up from below the net, handing you a weak reply to attack. It is the main tool for breaking an opponent''s net control and working your way forward. Hit it too hard and it loses its bite — the discomfort comes from the low, slow bounce, not from speed. It is one of many Spanish-named shots you will find in our padel glossary.

Overheads

Overheads are padel''s signature category. Because a lob that lands deep can rebound off the back glass and stay in play, smashing everything just hands the ball back — so padel developed a family of controlled overheads that let you stay on the attack without surrendering the net. Think of them as a spectrum from control to power: the bandeja keeps you safe, the vibora adds bite, and the smash goes for the kill.

Smash

The smash is the power overhead: a flat, hard strike meant to end the point, sometimes off the back glass and up out of the court entirely. It is the highest-risk overhead, so save it for short, high balls you can attack from a balanced base.

Full guide → How to Hit a Smash in Padel

Bandeja

The bandeja — Spanish for "tray" — is a defensive slice overhead you use to hold the net when a lob is too deep to smash. You brush across the ball with a controlled, tray-carrying motion and place it deep rather than trying to win outright. It is arguably the most important overhead to learn, because it is the shot that keeps you in the attacking position instead of retreating to the back.

Full guide → How to Hit a Bandeja in Padel

Vibora

The vibora — "viper" — sits between the bandeja and the smash: a faster, more aggressive overhead hit with a snapping sidespin motion. It stays lower and skids off the glass, making it harder to read and return than a bandeja. Reach for it when you are well-positioned and want to pressure the opponents without the full risk of a smash.

Full guide → How to Hit a Vibora in Padel

Gancho

The gancho — "hook" — is the overhead you hit when a lob slips slightly behind you. Rather than let it drop, you reach up and hook across the ball to keep it deep and hold the net. Think of it as the bandeja''s emergency cousin: an advanced recovery shot for when your footwork runs out of time.

Defensive & Wall Shots

When the other team is attacking, these shots keep you alive — and the glass walls turn defense into a skill of its own.

Lob

The lob is the backbone of padel defense. A deep, high ball over the net players pushes them off the net and resets the point in your favor — often forcing a bandeja instead of a smash. Strong players lob constantly; it is not a panic shot, it is a strategy.

Full guide → How to Hit a Lob in Padel

Off the Back Wall (Bajada)

When a ball passes you and rebounds off the back glass, you let it come off the wall and play it — a shot often called a bajada. Reading the rebound, adjusting your feet, and staying patient is one of the biggest gaps between tennis converts and seasoned padel players. Master it and balls that look like clean winners become routine gets.

Full guide → How to Play Off the Back Wall in Padel

Using the Glass Walls

Both the back and side walls are in play, and learning to use them — on defense to retrieve attacks, and on offense to open new angles — is what makes padel padel. The walls buy you time that simply does not exist in tennis, which is why the back-wall game above is worth drilling on its own.

Full guide → How to Use the Glass Walls in Padel

How These Shots Fit a Point

Knowing each stroke is only half the game; padel is about choosing the right one. A typical point has a rhythm: the serving team serves and rushes the net, the returning team lobs or chiquitas to push them back, and whoever wins the net battle usually wins the point.

Picture a common rally: you serve, sprint to the net, and your opponent answers with a deep lob. It is too good to smash, so you play a bandeja, hold your position, and wait for a shorter ball you can attack with a vibora or smash. That single sequence uses three different overheads — which is exactly why padel players drill them as a set rather than in isolation.

Most rallies come down to one question — are you attacking or defending? At the net you volley, bandeja, and smash to keep the pressure on. At the back you lob, use the walls, and chiquita to climb back into the point. Trying to hit winners from a defensive position is the single most common way club players hand away points. For how these shots combine into team tactics, see our beginner''s guide to padel doubles strategy, and to stop leaking the easy ones, read the common mistakes beginners make.

Which Shots to Learn First

You do not need every shot at once. Here is a sensible progression from your first session to advanced play:

1. Grip and groundstrokes. Sort out your grip first, then build a dependable forehand and backhand.
2. Serve and return. They start every point — get them in play consistently before chasing power.
3. Volley. Once you can reach the net, the volley is what keeps you there.
4. Lob and back wall. Learn to defend: lob to reset the point, and play balls off the back glass instead of letting them die.
5. Bandeja. Your first padel-specific overhead, and the one that lets you hold the net under pressure.
6. Vibora, smash, chiquita, and gancho. The finishing and disruption shots come last, once your fundamentals hold up.

Work through them with structured reps — our solo and partner drills give you a practice plan for each stage. Then put it into play: browse padel clubs near you and book a court.