A 3 minute read, written in October 2026

Padel drills for two players, and three to do alone

Eight drills for two players fit comfortably inside forty minutes on one court, and three more work solo against your own glass when a partner is not available. Here is the full set, with what each one is actually training.

Why two players need drills, not just sets

A set gives you whatever shots happen to come up, which is fine for competing but slow for improving any one shot in particular, because a weak cross-court volley might only appear three or four times in an entire match. A short drill repeats that same shot a dozen times in a few minutes, which is why two players who set aside even fifteen minutes before a set tend to improve faster than two who only ever play sets.

Eight drills for two players

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Cross-court consistency drill Both players hit cross-court only, counting toward ten in a row before resetting.

Cross-court consistency: both players hit cross-court only, from behind the service line, aiming for ten in a row without an error before resetting. It sounds basic and is exactly why it works: most club rallies still break down on this shot before anything more advanced gets a chance to matter.
The lob and bandeja: one player lobs from the baseline, the other plays a bandeja back deep rather than trying to finish it, then swap after ten reps. This trains the restraint a good bandeja needs, since the instinct to smash a rising ball has to be unlearned before the shot becomes reliable.
Volley to volley at the net: both players at the net exchanging volleys only, keeping the ball low over the net, building from gentle to competitive pace. Hands and reaction time improve here faster than almost anywhere else on court.
Down the line and recover: one player feeds down the line, the other returns and immediately recovers to the centre before the next feed. It is a recovery drill wearing a shot-making disguise, and the recovery part matters more.
Serve and return placement: practise serving to a called side of the box, then the returner aims their reply at a called target zone. Calling the target out loud before the point starts removes the temptation to just hit wherever feels easiest.
The wall recovery ball: one player hits deep off the back glass on purpose, the other practises reading the rebound and returning it under control. Reading a rebound off the glass is a genuinely different skill from reading a bounce off the floor, and it only comes from repetition.
Short ball and net approach: one player feeds a short, low ball, the other approaches and finishes at the net, then swap roles. Club players often approach too slowly here, arriving at the net a half-step after the ball rather than before it.
Target zones: mark two zones with cones or towels and score points only for shots landing inside them, sharpening placement over pure pace. This is the drill that most directly rewards the patient, placement-first game the walls were built to encourage.

Three drills you can do alone against the glass

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The lob and bandeja drill One player lobs deep, the other plays a bandeja back rather than finishing it.

The continuous wall rally: hit against your own back glass on the full and see how many consecutive controlled shots you can string together. Counting the streak out loud, and trying to beat your own number, turns a fairly dull drill into one worth repeating.
The one-bounce control drill: feed the ball off the glass to yourself and control it back to a single target with as little pace as the drill needs, not as much as you can generate. The point is touch, not power, and it is tempting to forget that alone on an empty court.
Footwork and wall combined: alternate a split step with a shot off the glass, so the drill trains movement and contact together rather than either alone. It is the closest a solo session gets to match rhythm.

Building forty minutes out of them

A useful session runs a short warm-up, three or four of the two-player drills at ten minutes each, and finishes with a set so the shots just drilled get tested under real pressure straight away. The warm-up clock covers the first part, and the positioning guide is worth a read alongside the target zones drill in particular, since placement only pays off from the right spot on court. Rotating which drills you pick each week keeps a regular session from going stale, and it is worth letting whichever shot lost you the last match pick that week's priority rather than always defaulting to a favourite. Two players who stick with this for a full season tend to notice the improvement in their matches well before either one of them notices it in the drills themselves.

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Solo wall-ball drill No partner needed: hit against your own back glass and count the controlled shots.

Run one of these drills before your next match; the same shot you grooved on your own court tends to show up in it within the first few points.

General information about padel, not medical advice. For pain that lasts, swelling, numbness or weakness, see a doctor or a physiotherapist.

Questions people ask

What is a good padel drill for two players?

Cross-court consistency is the simplest and most useful: both players hit cross-court only from behind the service line, aiming for ten shots in a row without an error.

Can you practise padel alone?

Yes. Hitting against your own back glass trains control and footwork without needing a second player, and it is a common warm-up for club players who arrive early.

How long should a padel practice session be?

Thirty to forty minutes of drills before a set is enough to notice a difference, more useful split across three or four short drills than spent on one for the whole session.

What is the best drill for practising the bandeja?

The lob and bandeja pairing drill: one player lobs from the baseline and the other returns it with a bandeja played deep rather than trying to finish the point.