Played some tournaments recently and got humbled pretty bad

At a certain point you get to a level where no one gives away easy balls and starts to be more consistent. Then you should change your mindset. From "I have to win the point" to "I will play patiently and just give the ball back to the opponent and wait for their mistake" You still have to be consistent yourself, and apply pressure when needed, but only when you are 95% sure you can finish the point, and not smash the ball on every minor chance you get.

Yep. Had a very similar experience recently. Coming from tennis as an aggressive baseliner, i’ve always wanted to hit hard and end the point quickly, but actually building the point in Padel as you say has really brought on a new level of thinking and playing.

Mon entraîneur a comparé le padel aux échecs. C'est un jeu de patience. Il existe une étude qui le montre : **Étude scientifique (World Padel Tour – 41 matchs)** * Vainqueurs (coups d'attaque directs) : \~33 % à 45 % des points * Erreurs forcées (pression offensive) : \~25 % à 30 % * Erreurs non forcées (sans pression) : \~30 % à 38 % Si nous le regroupons différemment : * Points gagnés par l'attaque (vainqueurs + erreurs forcées) : ≈ 60 % à 70 % * Points perdus par erreurs non forcées : ≈ 30 % à 40 % [ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383490707\_Performance\_dynamics\_in\_professional\_padel\_winners\_forced\_errors\_and\_unforced\_errors\_among\_men\_and\_women\_players?utm\_source=chatgpt.com ](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383490707_Performance_dynamics_in_professional_padel_winners_forced_errors_and_unforced_errors_among_men_and_women_players?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

We're at the same crossroads brother. I played some tournaments recently and only won 2 out of 8 games. I'm not a bad player and have taken quite a few training sessions but no matter how much a train, there's this ceiling you perfectly described. Hopefully when you break through that ceiling you become much better.

I Got a tennis elbow and had to adjust my style of play with more control, timing and playing with less power. It actuallly made me play better.

Yeah same. Took me probably 2 years to actually trust it. The thing that clicked for me was watching pros — not the highlight reels, actual full matches. They rally for like 15-20 shots without anyone attempting a winner. Every shot is just asking a question: can you return this? Can you return this harder one? Can you return this to a worse position? The winner at the end isn't actually the winning shot — it's the 8 shots before that slowly dismantled the opponent's position. By the time the "winner" happens, it's not even hard. The court is wide open. Once I got that, my whole game changed. I stopped thinking "when can I hit the smash" and started thinking "how do I get them uncomfortable". Deep lobs, pushing them against the glass, making them hit backhand overheads they don't want. The opening just appears. Still catch myself going for stupid shots when I'm tired or tilted. But at least now I notice it happening mid-point instead of after the match. Also helped me a lot: playing with someone better than me for 10-15 sessions. You literally cannot win by going for winners against a good player. They punish every low-percentage shot. Forces you to play patient whether you like it or not.

“The winner at the end should seem inevitable…” is a very helpful way to think about it. Thanks.