Players need to take more risks

This 100%

Yup, it is also important. But with taking little bit more risks, the risks in one certain shot will be lower and later it might be viable as a "lower risk" shot.

Yep, poor choices will be always poor choices. I agree also, that context of the game is also important.

Padel is a tactic game, but you wont learn all the tools without risk. With more tools you have more viable tactics. Hard volleys are an example. You either practice them separetly or try to learn them during matches.

This also true! Relaxed mindset is a must.

This needs more upvotes!

Very true! It's very common to see people with wrong grip that has played for 5+ years. Problem is they reach their max skill ceiling very early because of no technique.

Yes! This is exactly what I meant. I have similar experiences. Worst one: In one match I received perfect ball for bajada. I messed it up, even thought it isn't that risky shot for me. My more experienced partner, who has never seen me pull one, adviced me to lob the ball as its less risky option. Most of the time when I hit bajada it's either a winner or a bad return from opponents. Advice was actually quite bad as lobs often result in either bajada back, lob back or in case of short lob, hard overhead from opponents. It is true that the lob is safer option but safest option isn't always best.

From the random partners perspective of course they would prefer you to just make balls every time, since they don't really have anything to gain from you taking risks. A bit selfish, even if technically correct advice on how to win a point taken in isolation. I've spent a good amount of time practicing overhead technique on my own, but half the work is translating that into the positioning and tactics that actually allow you to use those techniques. I need to try things to figure out what works and what doesn't.

I bet thats awful to watch! My wife had also issues with volleys at the beginning, but drilling them before games helped alot. I noticed that warmup is really important for her. If she only stays back during warmup, its difficult for her to take the net during play also.

Maybe try to have an unserious game of "party padel" with her to get over the fear of making mistakes? People are so wound up these days that swapping the sports and energy drinks every once in a while for a pint does wonders for their game.

Yup. I agree. I'm actually one of those guys, who has way too serious playing style. I admire those guys in our group who try a lot of different things and try to shift into that direction. Funny thing? Actually best guy in our friend group is a fella who tries a lot of different things and has very unserious playing attitude. Sometimes he does stupid stuff for week or a two. If it doesnt start to work out, he drops it off and tries something else. If it works, he keeps doing it and starts to try some other new thing. He doesnt practice separately. He doesnt need to. He has awesome attitude for learning during matches.

Such an interesting regret. And missing the fun aspect is the saddest part. Playing always the safe game takes away some highlight plays which you will remember when youre older :-D Is it easy for you to shift your mentality to "more casual" approach? I have same kind of feelings from different context. I used to play rocket league back in the days quite competive. Even thought its an esports game, it is based on same philosophical aspects as a racket sport. I could even argue that thought processes are almost the same but without the physical aspect. I used to play safe which enabled me to rank up fast in the game. In the long run I noticed that it was stupid way to approach. Those who constantly took risks on lower rank games became way more skilled in scoring. Short term my strategy was better, long term theirs. Their ceiling was way higher as eventually. they were able to score from places I just couldn't. Worst part? Looking back, the moments to remember were those where I dared to take the risk and did something flashy. I didn't do that enough. I'm trying to avoid doing the same mistakes in padel and have more fun. And I suggest the same for everyone.

I like signing up for king-of-the-courts where I'm clearly on the low end of the skill curve. If my expectation is to be stuck on the bottom court, I find it easy to relax and play to win, instead of tensing up and playing not to lose.

Most of the matches should be (at least partly) treated as a practice if one wants to improve as much as possible. Unless one happens to practice alot outside of matches. You can even learn shots in matches as a beginner. Its quite beneficial as it might be hard to implement shot from practice into a match. I hit actually my first x4s and bajadas in game without really practicing them. All it took with bajada was few failed attempts and after that I learned them. If its challenging shot (something like kicksmash) you of course need to practice it first outside of match play but you can practice easier manouvers during match play.

Yup, it pays off! And I bet after the match your kicksmashes are the thing that everyone remembers 😄

Yup. I didn't find the correct word for it. Basically too safe mentality prevents deliberate practice.

:D well, there always gotta be one exception which confirms the rule!

Research isn't applicable in learning. If you always play safe, it means you wont try things that you need to learn. Regarding friendly games, the score doesnt matter. Why you need to win your friends? Why wouldn't you try to learn something instead? You can develop only X amount of game sense. Its one aspect you can work on, but with wider toolbox you can use it more effectively. You have to learn all the relevant tools. Risk calculations are important, yes. But for example my hard viboras are way riskier than someone who is better than me. If I go for a win, Ill always hit it quite soft. With my skillset its the wisest choice. Is the solution to just live with soft vibora or try to make it more aggressive by practicing it? With smart goals, youll be able to alternate the risk calculations in a quite short period of time in favor of more difficult shots. Lets imagine someone only plays matches. If you shoot 5 hard viboras 4x week, you have succesfully done 80 repetitions in a month. If you decide to go for safe option, youll have 0 repetions of harder vibora in a month. In 2 months you have done harder vibora 160 times instead of 0. Other player might have shot it to a wall 40 times and other player 0 times, but guess whos improving and who isnt? The risks should have sensible goal which isnt too far away and unrealistic. If you want to learn pro level shots, your skillset should be near pro level. Idea is to take risks on the shots, you can realistically achieve and implement on your game. At first trying to do something will be bad habit. Eventually it will transform into a valid skill, if you have done it wisely. Currently I have a bad habit of going for topspin even thought the situation asks for other shot. The reason is that I'm practicing my topspin shots at the moment and even thought its currently more harmfull than usefull, it will be important part to add to the game.