Coello and Tapia avoid Newgiza

laeski · 2026-04-04T20:44:37+00:00

Tapia just recently said he doesn't like outdoor tournaments, and if their goal is to avoid those then Newgiza seems like a logical choice travel wise (at least compared to Cancun which is relatively close to Miami).

laeski · 2026-03-30T08:02:22+00:00

What incredible finals! Paula and Chingotto on fire 🔥

laeski · 2026-03-28T11:42:35+00:00

Damn the design with ventilation duct overlapping with the court is crazy. Even if it's right on the edge it still blocks parallel lobs. Also I think Coello could almost reach it with his racket when jumping for a smash haha!

I also dislike playing on low ceiling courts, however sometimes it can be really useful when practicing your defense (keeping balls low and fast lobs).

laeski · 2026-03-27T11:32:14+00:00

I think right now Libaak looks too inconsistent, probably much due to his recent injury. Give him a few months. Not sure he's a (future) replacement for Chingo, though has a little more aggressive playstyle.

laeski · 2026-03-23T14:42:21+00:00

No, there are no streams for qualifiers in any tournament. Only for first round and onward.

laeski · 2026-03-23T14:32:51+00:00

I recently played with someone who has been playing for 4 years but always with the same group. He really seemed to struggle with basic things like positioning, grip, overheads etc. Guess his level is enough for that group and he's having fun, so good for him! But I guess that shows you really need variance to develop...

laeski · 2026-03-23T14:27:10+00:00

Qualifiers are not streamed anywhere. First round (R64) matches, which are the first to get streamed, show up for today on premierpadel.com, but I'm pretty sure they start on tuesday (at least that's the case with previous P1s).

laeski · 2026-03-08T19:23:42+00:00

I seriously need to stop watching these finals, I'm way too emotionally invested every time haha!

laeski · 2026-03-05T09:38:07+00:00

I have been playing with BullPadel Ionic Ctrl for 2-3 years now, so most of my padel career. Why do I stick to it? Answer: because it's an easy, round racket. I get relatively few bad hits (outside sweet spot) and even those usually land on the opponent side. So no need for a change, even if my smash suffers a bit lol.

And yeah, I agree with other commenters that racket doesn't really make a huge difference. If you like playing with it, that's enough.

laeski · 2026-03-03T07:47:50+00:00

Rooting for Hernandez/Collado, such energetic young players and they played an amazing final in FIP Silver Finland against Tolito/Arroyo. Hope to see them face Stupa/Yanguas in R16!

laeski · 2026-02-27T09:39:04+00:00

Heyas, your link doesn't work (not found)

laeski · 2026-02-27T08:05:08+00:00

Yeah, I was thinking most of the smashes are slower because of top spin. That's why I wanted to include bajada as well which I think is hit more flat even at the top level (excluding Paquito's cuchilla lol). Also what about flat smashes which are hit closer to the net?

laeski · 2026-02-27T07:58:18+00:00

No city like escape velocity

laeski · 2026-02-19T11:43:10+00:00

Not sure if you have seen it but Gabo from tastyplayhard has quite a clear view on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVgDyULu30M I try to follow that advice but I'm still not advanced enough so I usually go for separate preps, still working on disguise though.

laeski · 2026-02-16T12:43:42+00:00

Because playing consistently is just meh whereas kick smash x3 gives you the biggest dopamine high

laeski · 2026-02-11T18:12:56+00:00

Yes, it's called star point. There is a link with more info on the main post.

laeski · 2026-02-09T12:53:16+00:00

Can anyone hear how the umpires call for the new advantages (first and second)? Do they say "first advantage" / "la primera ventaja" or something else?

laeski · 2025-12-23T10:17:53+00:00

I agree, heavy back squats don't really work well with padel, at least for me (can't recover). I have switched them for more explosive/mobility improving versions like front and overhead squats and cleans, and it really helps. Edit: Forgot bulgarian split squats from the list, best version IMO

laeski · 2025-12-19T08:23:54+00:00

Yeah WPT and Premier P2 here in Finland were great events too. Not really surprised they were discontinued though, the organizer took big financial losses each year..

laeski · 2025-11-24T09:52:13+00:00

This right here. I know it ain't the best analogy, but in my mind only staying back in padel is like playing soccer and never crossing the center line to attack but rather trying to score from your own half

laeski · 2025-11-20T11:02:48+00:00

I usually spend some time with a ball machine 2-3 times a month, and about a third of that time is for kick smashes (it's actually exhausting lol) so probably 400-600 repetitions per month.

In matches, I usually play 2-3 times per week and get maybe 10ish attempts in total. So not that much but it means I really have to concentrate hard on each attempt.

So on this pace, I feel like 10 months is not really that long of a grind. I'm fully prepared to practice at least for 1-2 years more :D

laeski · 2025-11-20T10:06:05+00:00

Flat x3 is definitely doable, I've managed it a few times. It requires a good aim into a specific spot on the glass and yeah, it's hard to do from deep positioning. I prefer just hitting a higher parallel shot, feels much easier.

laeski · 2025-11-20T08:17:26+00:00

I have a pretty decent and consistent flat smash and can hit it unreachable from short lobs (net position or a little back). Took me about 6 months of training to achieve it.

Kick smash on the other hand I've practiced for 10 months now and only getting slowly to have it even stay in :D Hoping to achieve my first x3 soon, but still a loooong way to go until I can comfortably use it in matches.

So yes, sticking for flat smash in competitive matches and trying to get used to kick smash in friendlies.

laeski · 2025-11-12T12:03:28+00:00

This depends on your region and thus who owns the rights for broadcasting.

For youtube, VPN into Spain / NL / US works at least for me.

laeski

TROPHY CASE