A 4 minute read, written in September 2026 and read over again on 10 October 2026
Left or right in padel: which side should you play
The Lab's bank of 303 tactical positions has 239 set on the left side of the court and only 64 on the right, because the left, backhand side is where a padel rally actually asks you to decide something. That split, plus who takes the middle ball, is most of the answer.
The bank's numbers show where the decisions happen
The Lab's bank of 303 tactical positions has 239 set with the reader standing on the left side of the court and only 64 on the right, close to a four to one split. That imbalance is not an accident of how the bank was built. It reflects a simple fact about club padel: the left, backhand side is where a rally actually asks you to decide something, so far more of the puzzle bank's decisions happen to live there.
The lob makes the same point in miniature. It is the right answer in 10% of left-side positions in the bank but only 5% of right-side ones, exactly double. The left-side player is the one who most often has to choose between lobbing, driving through the middle or holding, and the bank's own numbers show it.
What the two sides are actually for
The right side of the court, as you face the net, is usually called the drive side, because a right-hander's forehand sits there. The left is the backhand, or reves, side, what coaches also call the deuce and advantage sides. That single fact, plus the bank's own count, decides most of how a sensible pair splits the court.
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For two right-handers, the ball down the middle is hit by whoever has their forehand pointing at it, and that is almost always the left-side player, reaching across with a forehand rather than stretching for a backhand. Put your steadier backhand player on the right and you are asking them to cover the middle with their weaker side on every single rally.
Tennis converts often bring the deuce court and ad court habit with them, expecting a similar split to hold. It does not translate directly. In padel both players face the net for the whole point rather than for one serve in four, so the side that matters is forehand and backhand reach on every single ball, not a rotation.
The right side: drive, depth and the wide ball
The right-side player's forehand covers the wide ball out towards the sidewall and most of the smashes that come down that side. It suits a player with a flatter, more direct shot and a calm head under a lob, because a ball that lands wide right has to be defended alone, with no help from the middle.
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It also suits someone happy building the point from further back with depth rather than angle. A right-hander with a strong overhead but an average backhand often does more good on this side than on the left, where the backhand gets tested on almost every point.
The left side: the middle and the call
The left-side player's forehand faces the middle of the court, so they take the large majority of balls hit down the centre line, plus most of the lobs their partner cannot reach. Club coaches call it the busier side for a reason, and the bank's 239 to 64 split is that reason written out as a number.
Your call
You are both at the net. They lob over your partner on the far side and it is heading for the back corner. Who goes?
The lob belongs to whoever can get behind it facing forwards. Then both of you drop back together.
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It also tends to be the side that calls the shots, mine, yours, let it go, because from the middle you can see both halves of the opponents' court. If one of you reads the game better than the other, they usually belong on the left, whatever their backhand looks like.
Left-handers flip the whole sheet
A left-hander's forehand points the other way, so a left-hander on the right side, still the drive side, gives a pair two forehands meeting in the middle with no backhand anywhere near it. This is the biggest reason mixed right-hander and left-hander pairs are so hard to break down above beginner level: the middle, normally the weak point, becomes the strength.
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If you are a left-hander playing with a right-hander, try the right side before assuming you belong on the left just because that is where beginners are usually told to stand. The middle-forehand pairing is worth more than habit, and it is the one case where the bank's left-heavy numbers do not simply carry over.
Most clubs have one pair built this way, two forehands meeting either side of the T, and most other members can point them out without being able to say quite why they are so hard to break down. It is rarely a deliberate choice made on day one. It is usually stumbled into and then never questioned, once it starts working.
Test it before you commit to it
None of this is a rule to follow forever. Swap for a set with your regular partner and count how many balls each of you actually takes down the middle.
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Three sets is usually enough to feel whether the middle ball count actually shifted. Ask your partner afterwards what felt busier, rather than trusting what either of you remembers mid-rally, since memory during a close set is a poor substitute for an honest count taken straight after.
The side quiz asks about your overhead, your backhand and how you read the game, and gives you a starting point. Court positioning covers what to do with the rest of the court once you have picked, and the lob is worth reading properly if you end up on the busier side.
Today's Scenario will put you on one side or the other before you have chosen anything at all: notice which one already feels like home, and which one still feels like borrowed ground.