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First serve missed. What does the second serve look like?
Second serve: same motion, same slice, safer target. Never a slower flat pat.
Your first serve landed long. How does the second serve differ from the first?
Second serve: same motion, same slice, safer target. Never a slower flat pat.
Why
The mistake on second serves is to change the shot: slow it down, take the spin off, and pat it in. That serve lands, and it bounces up into a comfortable hitting zone for a returner who now steps in and takes the net. The better second serve is the same motion as the first, with the same slice, aimed a metre further inside the lines. The margin comes from the target, not from a weaker swing. Double faults are rare in padel, and a good server keeps them rare by never letting the second serve become a different, weaker shot.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Second serve: swing the same, aim at the middle of the box. The margin is in the target.
Intermediate
Keep the slice on the second serve. The low bounce is what stops the returner attacking it.
Advanced
A returner who steps in on your second serve is telling you it is too soft. Add depth, not pace, and aim at the body.
Common questions
Your first serve landed long. How does the second serve differ from the first?
Same swing, safer target, still with slice. Second serve: same motion, same slice, safer target. Never a slower flat pat. The mistake on second serves is to change the shot: slow it down, take the spin off, and pat it in. That serve lands, and it bounces up into a comfortable hitting zone for a returner who now steps in and takes the net. The better second serve is the same motion as the first, with the same slice, aimed a metre further inside the lines. The margin comes from the target, not from a weaker swing. Double faults are rare in padel, and a good server keeps them rare by never letting the second serve become a different, weaker shot.
Why not much slower and higher, to make sure it lands?
A slow, high, flat serve bounces up into the perfect hitting zone. It lands, and it gets attacked.
What should a beginner do here?
Second serve: swing the same, aim at the middle of the box. The margin is in the target.
How does this change for an advanced player?
A returner who steps in on your second serve is telling you it is too soft. Add depth, not pace, and aim at the body.
Puzzles like this one
You have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.
intermediateThey cannot play the side glass. Where do you serve?
Serve at the weakness you have found, not at the space you can see.
beginnerCan you volley the return of serve?
The return of serve must bounce. It is the one ball in padel you are not allowed to volley.