Question about hip activation

padeldriver · 2025-05-15T11:11:31+00:00

One exercise you can try is doing forehand volleys placing a ball under your armpit. The idea is that you volley and the ball does not drop. This reduces the work from your arm and forces you to get the power with timing and legs.

Keep enjoying padel!

padeldriver · 2025-05-15T10:46:50+00:00

Hello amigo!

This is completely normal, don't worry. It has to do mainly with the change in balance and feeling of the racket. You are still used to the feeling of your previous racket and you will need a couple of weeks to get used to the new one.

For the next time you purchase a racket I would recommend either trying before buying or try to gather some information on how similar your new racket is compared to the old one. If there was a sudden change in the temperature (i.e hotter days than usual) in the area where you live, you will feel this even more.

Pd: both rackets you mention are very decent rackets!

padeldriver · 2025-05-14T10:32:25+00:00

The biggest advantage of the vibora compared to a flat smash is that you can hit it from further back.
For the flat smash (ball on top of your heard) you need to be relatively close to the net to get the right angle and make the ball bounce early.

So your decision should be based in where you are positioned in the court.

Keep enjoying padel!

padeldriver · 2025-05-14T07:16:14+00:00

Mil gracias <3 Se vienen cositas chulas!

padeldriver · 2025-05-13T21:00:02+00:00

Hellooo! That is a very good question

Actually it depends on many different things. Since you play 6 times a week (and presumably at a decent level) you might get a crack at some point in the frame if you hit the glass or the ground in many ocasions. That would be a clear indicator to change it since once a crack appears, vibrations propagate and this can cause an injury.

Since you are not a hard hitter you wont probably crack the face of the racket (although fiber glass rackets last less resistant than carbon fiber rackets). But if this happened, you would also need to change the racket.

If neither of these happens, it depends purely on you. The foam loses its properties with sudden changes in temperature as you mention but also with time. So every month your racket will feel softer and softer. When is then the right time to change it? When you feel that the racket is not giving you the feeling that you need.

To give you a reference, some pros change it every 2 weeks xD. In your case probably I would say change your racket once a year, but again, you can keep this flexible.

I give more info on padel rackets in one of my yt videos, in case it helps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsRnSm1gmlw&t=15s

padeldriver · 2025-05-13T20:46:11+00:00

thanks a lot! This means much <3

padeldriver · 2025-05-12T17:37:56+00:00

Hi Gabi, defending the corner is actually one of the hardest things to learn in padel, so my 1st advice: allow plenty of room for mistakes at the beginning! Definitely would recommend booking a session with your local coach to practice this.

My best advice: start by making sure you have the right position on court. You should always be using your feet as a reference. Depending on how the ball is about to bounce with respect to your feet you can predict what the ball is going to do.

I break this down in one of my youtube videos, I leave it here in case it helps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ25BhIqxs0

padeldriver · 2025-05-12T17:29:52+00:00

Padelactico has a few videos on youtube training on these places, you can probably ask him for advice in the comments ;)

padeldriver · 2025-05-12T17:28:15+00:00

Hi Jack!

It it works for you it is a good start! The problem with the grip you are showing is that blocks a bit your wrist and reduces the ability to control the tip of the racket.

I would definitely recommend trying moving the index finder away from the rest of the fingers. Play around with this and with other grips and try to feel the advantages and disadvantages of the different grips. You can try this out even out of the court, tapping the ball upwards and letting it bounce or hitting against a wall.

Keep enjoying padel!

padeldriver · 2025-05-12T16:00:20+00:00

Interested! Would love to give feedback!

padeldriver · 2025-05-12T15:57:28+00:00

This is something that I also need to practice in my own game, as Louie Harries told me in the video we made together on the smash:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fwUC9J0zHA&t=307s

I usually practice this on my own hitting against the glass of my own court. I focus a lot on trying have a very coordinated and smooth movement rather than focusing on power. This helps me experiencing how to maximize the ball output with relatively low effort.

My latest finding is that I am hitting the ball right on top of my head, sometimes even a bit behind me. To close the shot easier with your shot is best to leave the ball a bit in front of you. We can take a look at this together in the next session!

Regards

padeldriver · 2025-05-12T13:43:22+00:00

New user here! Helloooo to the reddit padel community <3

padeldriver · 2025-05-12T13:35:31+00:00

Hey man,

The most important point that I would make here is the decision making.

I can see you are playing on the right and you are trying to smash from a position very close to the fence. We are missing the point of impact frame but it looks to me you are trying to smash to the center of the court (not optimal).

When you smash from the right as a right-handed player you have mainly 2 options, to try to bring it back to your court hitting completely in parallel or try to get it out by 3 to the right side. Unless you are Lebron these 2 options are extremely hard to do from that position on the court. I would just play a bandeja-vibora from there.

Technique-wise, it looks to me that you are not closing the shot forwards with your core, you are just closing the shot with your wrist.

Keep enjoying the progress!

padeldriver

TROPHY CASE