I'm a lefty and just starting out. I've been playing for a few weeks with three lads that are all right handed. I'll remember these tips. I really need to work on my serves so I can both get and keep more balls in play- and my control of shots needs to improve. My glass work and recoveries of balls have been improving steadily! Sometimes I manage to hit what I would say is similar to a long line tennis pass shot with power and they're just unreachable for them. I would like to improve on that as well. Never played tennis but I enjoy this game so far. Getting my adidas metalbone 3.3 ctrl next week.
Great video, as usual. I am a leftie and I’d like to challenge the conventional wisdom that I should always play on the right when partnering a rightie. I understand the argument that this gives 2 forehands in the middle where most balls are played. But: 1. My and my partners’ service returns are always backhand (assuming a serve towards the glass and not down the middle). This seems a serious disadvantage for players with a stronger forehand than backhand. 2. I always stand in the right service box when my partner is serving. When he/she serves from the right, this means he/she has to cover a lot of court to go after a service return down the line, which the opponent can hit forehand (if a rightie), and my partner will then have to play this shot backhand. This also seems a serious disadvantage. 3. So the 2 points above apply (1) to all of our service returns and (2) 50% of our 1st shot after we serve, putting us at a disadvantage for both. A lot of points at our modest level are decided in these 1st few shots. If we swap sides, these 2 disadvantages disappear, don’t they? You might say we should develop better backhands. But until we do….? Thanks.
Thanks for your thoughts. i think it depends on the level - if you want to play at higher levels it simply will be a disadvantage. It's no coincidence the WPT players have this formation. We'd suggest lefties sticking to the right side but if you want to experiment with your partner, by all means!
This makes no sense to me, I am a lefty as well, and see no disadvantage from playing on the right hand side, on the contrary there are lots of advantages. Returning a serve with your backhand shouldn't take very long to figure out? If you find you're running out of time to get into position, just hit a slower serve, to give yourself more time
I'm a leftie and just started playing double with a right handed player. We had the same thoughts at first that I should go on the left so we always return serve with our forehands, but you have to think about that the serve return isn't where you try to get a winner and getting a decent return with the backhand is something you'll learn quickly. There's a big difference of having both players playing forehands in the middle vs none of you.
I once played against this formation, leftie on the left and rightie in the right. The problem here is that the middle becomes a weak poont so any ball you play a bandeja, short ball or lob down the middle. Down the middle is very safe to play in general so you really can abuse it. At the same time this formation has no answer to it: they have to play either backhand smashes or ganchos on lobs. both are risky shots. they have to defend the bandejas and low showts with their back hands where it's harder to generate power. I would say that it only works if at least one player has a monster backhand and you designate that player to take everything down the middle but that's not something that recreational level players have.
Hi Sandy another lefty here. Very cool video! Just sharing some personal experience. I actually end up making more points when I play the vibora while the middle towards the side glass of the "reves" player. It seems to throw off players even more :) Whenever my feet are set that's where I attack.
As a leftie hitting the glass is indeed an important goal. I play a lot against another leftie, therefore I’m used to it. For a right handed player it takes some time to get used to not ‘owning’ the middle. It depends on who’s the better overhead player. That one plays most of the balls in the centre.
Interesting. I always wonder how lefties find other lefties...part of it is probably very unusual playing against them, but also part that they understand well how the spin reacts because they do the same...
Lefty here. I play a lot power and spin. And yes, I've made very good players look silly early in matches until they adapt. My favorite is a medium velocity smash down the middle (coming over the top and side when I hit it...not ideal strategy...need the víbora more often but work in progress). The revés expects to play it with their forehand but it bounds far away and lands in front of the derecha and neither touches it at all or at best stretch to catch up and hit it poorly. I once had a derecha go for one of these. Where it usually carries into the body...this one went over their head and landed behind them where they were looking for it to rebound to their backhand middle. That said, I only just realized a couple weeks ago that I hadn't been using the cross court enough. Most of my x4 and x3 were going out to the opponent's revés. When I missed that tight angle. I found I was hitting flat to the middle and they would easily catch up to it to finish at the net. Now using the cross...I'm going x3 more and causing the headache's for righties described here. Thanks Sandy, just gave me more ammunition to keep working that angle. :)
Great summary and yes, players (myself included) can look silly when starting to adapt to that spin!! I agree, you will have alot of success with the crosscourt, using both topspin and slice. Basically trying to confuse your opponent as much as possible! haha
As a lefty I usually play on the right side. However, I noticed when playing on the left side I am much more comfortable playing volleys and smashes (to the right side/fence). Ball-out-of-the-court-comfortable :) Either side, I’m more comfortable playing backhands. Think I’m making some kind of mistake with my forehand that is much more prominent when playing on the right side. Any clue what that might be?
It sounds like you must be making a technical mistake. If you’re a member of our platform, send in a video of you playing then we would be able to tell you 👍
Graham the lefty - I have started to give people introduction lessons to Padel and find it an awful disadvantage showing people who are righthanded how to play righthanded shots. I want to do qualifications for Padel but I think being lefthanded is too much of a disadvantage - any thoughts.
Hello i strugle a lot against lefties, i play on the right position, when i am in a defense position should i get closer than usual from the side glass or further?
Any viboras or bandejas will end up closer to the glass - it is considering the spin and angle of entry to the glass. It takes practice against lefties!
Hi, Sandy. I’m a left-handed. Shall I share some ideas with you? Well, I tell you two ideas from my experience: -Some players say left-handed usually are skilled in shot directions but less aggressive and their smashes are too light. (Not my case. I hit hard or soft when necessary since I came from tenis) -Some players, who usually play only with right-handed, don’t realise that their teammates are left-handed (invading their side, forgetting they can hit lobs from the center as well as they do..). This is practically a self “nevera”. Regards, Seba
Hey Seba, yes, I have seen that happen before where they forget their partner is left handed and it is a shame, because it makes the pair less effective!
Hey padel obsessed lefty here. I have a request. As padel is kind of expensive and i want to play more than i am able to i wanted to ask if you have any drills or suggestions on how to train the overhead techniques ( prefarable with a ball ) when not on a court? thank you for your great content
Haha padel obsessed and lefty! A good combination! To be honest, most people struggle with the movement for the overheads. So you could do this with shadow swings. Here is a suggestion on some drills and when it comes to the swings, you can change those to bandeja/smash swings: ruclips.net/video/qwZjWaVRt1U/видео.html I hope that's useful...
In our group of players (20 men) there are only 2 lefties, and they do not play a lot. So we have less experience with the lefties. If they play it certainly brings another dimension .......
Attacking the middle in tennis and badminton is unpleasant against a pair with one lefty is unpleasant for them as it is harder for them to decide who should take the shot. I am surprised it is different in padel.
Left hander here. And most people hate me :/ Even tho im not good. People still dont like me :/ But joke aside. Most righthanders ive played with kinda like it coz then they get to play in the leftside so we both can smash. And with some of the people i play with. A bad lob from the other side result in a smash most of the times :=)
As a lefthanded player I just can’t hit a return on my backhand... therefore I’ve played quite a lot of games on the left side, since we are more effective than the other way around.
I think this is something that all players struggle with (right and left-handed). But it requires practice and then confidence. But once you do get it, it will add more options to your game, playing on the right side as a leftie!
I'm a lefty and just starting out. I've been playing for a few weeks with three lads that are all right handed. I'll remember these tips. I really need to work on my serves so I can both get and keep more balls in play- and my control of shots needs to improve. My glass work and recoveries of balls have been improving steadily! Sometimes I manage to hit what I would say is similar to a long line tennis pass shot with power and they're just unreachable for them. I would like to improve on that as well. Never played tennis but I enjoy this game so far. Getting my adidas metalbone 3.3 ctrl next week.
Great video, as usual. I am a leftie and I’d like to challenge the conventional wisdom that I should always play on the right when partnering a rightie. I understand the argument that this gives 2 forehands in the middle where most balls are played.
But:
1. My and my partners’ service returns are always backhand (assuming a serve towards the glass and not down the middle). This seems a serious disadvantage for players with a stronger forehand than backhand.
2. I always stand in the right service box when my partner is serving. When he/she serves from the right, this means he/she has to cover a lot of court to go after a service return down the line, which the opponent can hit forehand (if a rightie), and my partner will then have to play this shot backhand. This also seems a serious disadvantage.
3. So the 2 points above apply (1) to all of our service returns and (2) 50% of our 1st shot after we serve, putting us at a disadvantage for both. A lot of points at our modest level are decided in these 1st few shots.
If we swap sides, these 2 disadvantages disappear, don’t they?
You might say we should develop better backhands. But until we do….?
Thanks.
Thanks for your thoughts. i think it depends on the level - if you want to play at higher levels it simply will be a disadvantage. It's no coincidence the WPT players have this formation. We'd suggest lefties sticking to the right side but if you want to experiment with your partner, by all means!
This makes no sense to me, I am a lefty as well, and see no disadvantage from playing on the right hand side, on the contrary there are lots of advantages. Returning a serve with your backhand shouldn't take very long to figure out?
If you find you're running out of time to get into position, just hit a slower serve, to give yourself more time
I'm a leftie and just started playing double with a right handed player. We had the same thoughts at first that I should go on the left so we always return serve with our forehands, but you have to think about that the serve return isn't where you try to get a winner and getting a decent return with the backhand is something you'll learn quickly. There's a big difference of having both players playing forehands in the middle vs none of you.
I once played against this formation, leftie on the left and rightie in the right. The problem here is that the middle becomes a weak poont so any ball you play a bandeja, short ball or lob down the middle. Down the middle is very safe to play in general so you really can abuse it. At the same time this formation has no answer to it: they have to play either backhand smashes or ganchos on lobs. both are risky shots. they have to defend the bandejas and low showts with their back hands where it's harder to generate power. I would say that it only works if at least one player has a monster backhand and you designate that player to take everything down the middle but that's not something that recreational level players have.
Hi Sandy another lefty here. Very cool video! Just sharing some personal experience. I actually end up making more points when I play the vibora while the middle towards the side glass of the "reves" player. It seems to throw off players even more :) Whenever my feet are set that's where I attack.
Wait, I was looking for Pickleball videos and this came up. Had to look up what he was talking about. Never heard of this! Looks like fun!
Thanks for your comment Gary. It is very fun, I hope you have been able to give it a try!
I’m a lefty serving left and hitting with both hands as a beginner. Any tips?
Thanks Sandy!! I play with a lefty on some tourneaments!! We´re still learning how to maxime this!! :)
When you work it out, it is glorious! haha :)
I am a tall lefty.
Love hitting spin into both corners. Soft down the middle when they split.
Don’t play against any lefties yet.
As a leftie hitting the glass is indeed an important goal. I play a lot against another leftie, therefore I’m used to it. For a right handed player it takes some time to get used to not ‘owning’ the middle. It depends on who’s the better overhead player. That one plays most of the balls in the centre.
Interesting. I always wonder how lefties find other lefties...part of it is probably very unusual playing against them, but also part that they understand well how the spin reacts because they do the same...
@@ThePadelSchool The other leftie is my brother in law! 😄
i find communication the most important topic playing with a lefty. Who takes the middle etc...
Great point!! It definitely is really important to establish that as early as possible!
Lefty here. I play a lot power and spin. And yes, I've made very good players look silly early in matches until they adapt. My favorite is a medium velocity smash down the middle (coming over the top and side when I hit it...not ideal strategy...need the víbora more often but work in progress). The revés expects to play it with their forehand but it bounds far away and lands in front of the derecha and neither touches it at all or at best stretch to catch up and hit it poorly. I once had a derecha go for one of these. Where it usually carries into the body...this one went over their head and landed behind them where they were looking for it to rebound to their backhand middle.
That said, I only just realized a couple weeks ago that I hadn't been using the cross court enough. Most of my x4 and x3 were going out to the opponent's revés. When I missed that tight angle. I found I was hitting flat to the middle and they would easily catch up to it to finish at the net. Now using the cross...I'm going x3 more and causing the headache's for righties described here. Thanks Sandy, just gave me more ammunition to keep working that angle. :)
Great summary and yes, players (myself included) can look silly when starting to adapt to that spin!! I agree, you will have alot of success with the crosscourt, using both topspin and slice. Basically trying to confuse your opponent as much as possible! haha
As a lefty I usually play on the right side. However, I noticed when playing on the left side I am much more comfortable playing volleys and smashes (to the right side/fence). Ball-out-of-the-court-comfortable :) Either side, I’m more comfortable playing backhands. Think I’m making some kind of mistake with my forehand that is much more prominent when playing on the right side. Any clue what that might be?
It sounds like you must be making a technical mistake. If you’re a member of our platform, send in a video of you playing then we would be able to tell you 👍
Graham the lefty - I have started to give people introduction lessons to Padel and find it an awful disadvantage showing people who are righthanded how to play righthanded shots. I want to do qualifications for Padel but I think being lefthanded is too much of a disadvantage - any thoughts.
Hello i strugle a lot against lefties, i play on the right position, when i am in a defense position should i get closer than usual from the side glass or further?
Any viboras or bandejas will end up closer to the glass - it is considering the spin and angle of entry to the glass. It takes practice against lefties!
I'm left handed and so far I can't stand doubles, but I love singles.
What kind of paddle is that??
Are you playing on the right...everyone usually wants to play with lefties as they are effective in doubles. In singles they're less effective.
Sudden fast flat vibora to the middle is another good weapon for lefties
Arguably for right handers too!
Lob to the opponent on his right deep in the corner is very effective
The corners definitely become good locations for the lobs!
Hi, Sandy. I’m a left-handed. Shall I share some ideas with you?
Well, I tell you two ideas from my experience:
-Some players say left-handed usually are skilled in shot directions but less aggressive and their smashes are too light. (Not my case. I hit hard or soft when necessary since I came from tenis)
-Some players, who usually play only with right-handed, don’t realise that their teammates are left-handed (invading their side, forgetting they can hit lobs from the center as well as they do..). This is practically a self “nevera”.
Regards, Seba
Hey Seba, yes, I have seen that happen before where they forget their partner is left handed and it is a shame, because it makes the pair less effective!
How can they make their smashes more heavy?
Are you asking me? What do you mean?
Muy intresante video. Vamos padel
Gracias Joacim!! :)
Hey padel obsessed lefty here. I have a request. As padel is kind of expensive and i want to play more than i am able to i wanted to ask if you have any drills or suggestions on how to train the overhead techniques ( prefarable with a ball ) when not on a court? thank you for your great content
Haha padel obsessed and lefty! A good combination! To be honest, most people struggle with the movement for the overheads. So you could do this with shadow swings. Here is a suggestion on some drills and when it comes to the swings, you can change those to bandeja/smash swings: ruclips.net/video/qwZjWaVRt1U/видео.html I hope that's useful...
In our group of players (20 men) there are only 2 lefties, and they do not play a lot. So we have less experience with the lefties. If they play
it certainly brings another dimension .......
Yes, it is the one thing I wish I could add to my training...more lefties to train with!
Attacking the middle in tennis and badminton is unpleasant against a pair with one lefty is unpleasant for them as it is harder for them to decide who should take the shot. I am surprised it is different in padel.
thanks for your insights and feedback here 🙌
I struggle returning a serve from a right handed serve with my back hand. Any advice?
I would say my return of serve cos people always forget I'm a leftie...
Its great being a ledthanded players. There is a lot of easy point in it 😃👍
Haha, creating confusion at the other end! ha
Left hander here. And most people hate me :/ Even tho im not good. People still dont like me :/ But joke aside. Most righthanders ive played with kinda like it coz then they get to play in the leftside so we both can smash. And with some of the people i play with. A bad lob from the other side result in a smash most of the times :=)
Haha, yes, I imagine opponents get frustrated. I love playing with a left-hander, it can make us so much more effective at net!
As a lefthanded player I just can’t hit a return on my backhand... therefore I’ve played quite a lot of games on the left side, since we are more effective than the other way around.
I think this is something that all players struggle with (right and left-handed). But it requires practice and then confidence. But once you do get it, it will add more options to your game, playing on the right side as a leftie!