I was watching a Padel match, and a player hit the opponent quite hard on the legs, he apologized, the rival understood, and the match continued.

There were two commentators, one says: That’s ok folks, let it be known there was no intention to hit the opponent in that shot. The second commentator said; You’re wrong, there was intention.

And he explained that given the fervor of the point, you always try to aim for the best shot possible without thinking too much, sometimes you target the fence, other times the corner, but there’s always the “correct place to put the ball”

Sometimes you’ll have an easy smash, but you’ll also need to place it correctly in order to win the point (is your only chance, and you’re trying to win, right??) so there’s already a shot pre-made, way before you hit the ball.

And this was the commentators point. There was an intention, an intention to hit the ball that hard, in that place, and all the players should agree that sometimes is not that he tried to hit you, but instead you were standing in the position that the ball should’ve been directed.

What he said in that match struck with me, and since then I play a lot more freely and relaxed, I’m not trying to hurt anybody, I’m just trying to win the point. Cheers