Padel Glossary

Master the language of padel with our comprehensive dictionary of terms, techniques, and rules.

Shots & Techniques (33) Rules & Scoring (8) Racket Attributes (15) General Terms (2)

Shots & Techniques

Aerial game

Overheads or other high shots to return lobs that the player’s opponent is sending. Lobs and their returns, the aerial game, are more important to pad...

Backhand

The group of shots where the player strikes the ball on the non-dominant side of their body with the dominant hand across the body. Due to the muscles...

Bajada

From the Spanish, bajadar, “to bring down”. A usually aggressive padel shot from the back of the court where the player hits the ball down low from a ...

Bandeja

Perhaps the most famous shot in padel. It comes from the Spanish word for tray because the way the player holds the racket upon impact resembles a wai...

Block

A defensive type of shot, which is usually used by players at the net upon receiving a fast ball to the body, such as a bajada or a cuchilla....

Boast

To hit the ball off the glass to pass it to the other side. This can be done offensively, for example, off the side glass to surprise your opponents (...

Chancletazo

Spanish for “a hit with a big flip-flop”, an allusion to the sound the shot makes as well as the motion with which the shot is hit. Imagine your mom o...

Chiquita

Spanish for the “little one”. The chiquita is a slow, low shot hit from the back of the court to the feet of opponents standing at the net....

Contrapared

Spanish for “against the wall”. This usually refers to when the player boasts the ball off the back wall on their side of the court. This shot is norm...

Cuchilla

Spanish for “blade”, an allusion to the path of the stroke. This is an aggressive form of a bajada shot from the back wall that applies more side spin...

Dormiloña

A type of offensive drop shot hit with slice when the ball has hit the receiving player’s back glass and bounced back toward the net....

Drive

In Spanish, this often refers to the forehand or forehand side of the court....

Drop shot

A short, low, offensive shot to the front of the court with the goal of a double bounce before the opponent can reach it. Dropshot is also a padel bra...

Efecto

Spanish for “spin”....

Forehand

A stroke where the player uses the dominant hand to stroke the ball while the arm travels across the body in the open direction....

Gancho

Spanish for “hook”, a defensive overhead used to regain the net position, similar to the bandeja but with a higher contact point and normally hit with...

Globo

Spanish for “lob”. A high shot to the back of the court, with the intent of pushing the opponent back from the net....

Groundstroke

Similar to classic tennis groundstrokes, but with a smaller motion and less wrist, padel groundstrokes are the family of classic forehand and backhand...

Half volley

A half volley is a defensive shot to defend balls bouncing right before a player's feet. They are more common in padel than in tennis because playing ...

Kick smash

Also referred to as a “topspin smash”. This is a smash that puts a lot of topspin on the ball with the goal of the ball bouncing so high that the oppo...

Lob

One of the most important shots of padel. Lobs are often hit over the heads of opponents at the net in an attempt to gain the net for one’s side. Play...

Overhead

Also referred to as the aerial game, overheads, such as bandejas, viboras, flat smashes, and other overheads, make up a family of shots that are respo...

Por cuatro

Spanish for “for four”, this refers to hitting a flat smash from very close to the net directly at the ground of your opponent’s court, which goes out...

Por tres

Spanish for “for three”, refers to hitting a kick smash, which goes out of the court over the three-meter side glass after hitting the back glass. Als...

Remate

Spanish for “finish”. This usually refers to smashing....

Reves

Spanish for “reverse” or backhand, which refers to hitting the ball on one's non-dominant side. Often refers to the left-side of the padel court....

Rulo

The rulo, or “roll”, is a topspin overhead hit on a lob over one’s non-dominant shoulder. Often referred to as a “rulo a la reja”, “rulo to the fence”...

Slice

Backspin that results in the ball bouncing low and slow off the ground and the back wall. This is often applied to deep volleys aggressively.Slice is ...

Smash

A smash in padel is an aggressive overhead shot to finish the point, such as a top spin smash or a flat smash. Flat smashes can be low and fast, as in...

Topspin

Topspin is spin that is applied to the ball in the direction of forward movement.Topspin on a ball moving through the air exerts a downward force that...

Tweener

A "tweener" is a shot hit in between the legs, often defensively. This occurs when a player hits a ball in between their legs. It is also known as a...

Vibora

The player contacts the ball at three o’clock when it is at their eye-level. The ball should land behind the service line. It is usually targeted for ...

Willy

Another name for a Tweener, after Argentinian Guillermo “Willy” Vilas a tennis player who did one in 1975....

Rules & Scoring

All

When counting the score, “all” is used in tennis and padel to indicate that the score is tied. For example, “thirty all”, means that the score is tied...

Americano

A type of padel tournament composed of several rounds where players have a new partner and set of opponents each round and the score is calculated ind...

Break

When the returning side wins the game over the serving side....

Deuce

From tennis scoring, Deuce means that the score is tied at 40. In padel, you must decide whether you play Deuce or Golden Point, that is, are games wo...

Double fault

Similar to tennis, double faults occur when the server misses two back to back serve attempts. This results in the server’s side losing the point....

Golden point

An alternative to playing advantage, which results in padel games being won by one point. Much to the chagrin of the players, this practice was put in...

Let

Essentially is a “re-do”. This occurs when a serve hits the net and lands in the service box when a shot is not visibly in or out to both sides, or wh...

Love

When counting the score, “love” is used in tennis and padel to indicate that the score is zero. For example, “thirty-love”, means that the server has ...

General Terms

Continental grip

The standard padel grip, which can be used for most shots, is the same way to hold a hammer....

Fridge

From nevera, or the refrigerator, in Spanish. This is a controversial padel strategy where a team hits all the balls to a specific player on their opp...

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