Home › Puzzle › A ball comes down the middle at the net. Who takes it?
A ball comes down the middle at the net. Who takes it?
Middle ball, two right-handers: the left-side player's forehand takes it. Decide it before the match.
You are both at the net, both right-handed. A ball comes straight down the middle at chest height. Whose is it?
Middle ball, two right-handers: the left-side player's forehand takes it. Decide it before the match.
Why
With two right-handed players, the middle ball is a forehand for the player on the left and a backhand for the player on the right. The forehand is stronger and reaches further, so the left-side player takes the middle by default, and both partners know it before the ball arrives. The exceptions are called out loud: "yours" when the left player is pulled wide, or when the ball is clearly on the right player's side. The default exists so that neither player hesitates, and hesitation is what loses middle balls.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Agree it in the warm-up: middle balls go to the forehand. Then say "mine" anyway when you take one.
Intermediate
The left-side player should stand a touch closer to the middle than the right-side player, so the forehand is already there.
Advanced
With a left-hander on the right, both forehands are in the middle. The rule becomes "whoever called it". With a left-hander on the left, both backhands are in the middle and the pair has a problem to solve with positioning.
Common questions
You are both at the net, both right-handed. A ball comes straight down the middle at chest height. Whose is it?
The player on the left. It is their forehand. Middle ball, two right-handers: the left-side player's forehand takes it. Decide it before the match. With two right-handed players, the middle ball is a forehand for the player on the left and a backhand for the player on the right. The forehand is stronger and reaches further, so the left-side player takes the middle by default, and both partners know it before the ball arrives. The exceptions are called out loud: "yours" when the left player is pulled wide, or when the ball is clearly on the right player's side. The default exists so that neither player hesitates, and hesitation is what loses middle balls.
Why not the player on the right. It is their backhand?
A backhand volley in the middle when a forehand is available next to you is the wrong default. Forehand takes the middle.
What should a beginner do here?
Agree it in the warm-up: middle balls go to the forehand. Then say "mine" anyway when you take one.
How does this change for an advanced player?
With a left-hander on the right, both forehands are in the middle. The rule becomes "whoever called it". With a left-hander on the left, both backhands are in the middle and the pair has a problem to solve with positioning.
Puzzles like this one
Your partner got pulled wide. Where do you stand?
The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle.
beginnerYou have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.
beginnerA ball comes down the middle. Who takes it?
The middle ball belongs to the forehand: decided before the match, not during the point.