Padel volleys: the block, the punch, and where to stand for both
The net is where padel points are won, and the volley is how you keep it. Most club volleys fail for one reason: the player swings.
Where to stand
Two to two and a half metres from the net, roughly level with your partner, racket up at chest height with the face slightly open. Closer than that and every lob goes over you; further back and the ball drops below the net tape before you reach it and you volley up, which is how you lose the net. Between shots, move together: when the ball is on your partner's side, you slide toward the middle to cover the gap.
The punch
The normal padel volley is a short, firm push. Racket back no further than your shoulder, contact in front of the body, follow through a foot or so toward the target, done. The ball should leave with a little slice so it stays low after the bounce and dies near the back glass. If you take a full swing you hit the ball into the glass at head height and it comes back over your head as a lob you did not need to give away. Think of it as catching the ball with the strings and pushing it back.
The block
When someone drives hard at you there is no time to punch. Hold the racket still in front of the ball with a firm wrist and let it rebound. The pace they gave you comes back off your strings and lands short and low, which is exactly the volley you wanted. Blocks feel passive and are not. The mistake is trying to add to a ball that already has everything it needs.
Height decides direction
A ball above the net can be volleyed anywhere, and to the feet of the nearer opponent is usually right. A ball at net height goes deep to the glass, so the bounce and the wall do the work. A ball below the net height, which you will get plenty of, has to be lifted and cannot be hit hard, so play it deep and central and accept that this volley is a hold, not an attack. Players who try to win the point off a low volley hand the net over. Players who hold, and wait one more ball, get a better one.
The volley to the feet
The single most useful volley at club level. Aim at the shoes of the opponent who is closest to the net, or who is running in. They have to dig the ball up, and whatever comes back is slow and high and yours. It works because it is the shot with no good answer, not because it is hard to hit.
Errors and what they mean
Volleys into the net mean you are reaching for the ball behind your body or the face is closed; open it and step in earlier. Volleys that float long or into the back glass mean you are swinging; shorten the stroke. Volleys that come back as a lob over you mean you hit too hard into the glass; slice it, hit it softer, aim at the feet.