Padel vs tennis — what carries over, what doesn’t.

Tennis players walk onto a padel court with two advantages and four bad habits. The advantages get you to a passable game in three sessions. The bad habits cap you at intermediate-level for years if nobody points them out. This is what to keep and what to unlearn.

What carries straight over

1. Tennis scoring

15-30-40-game, six games to a set, deuce, advantage — identical. The only difference most leagues use a golden point instead of advantage (sudden-death point at deuce) and a super-tiebreak (first to 10) replaces the third set. Both are easy to absorb.

2. Volleys

The biceps-short, punchy volley you developed at the net in tennis is the most valuable shot you bring across. Padel rewards being at the net more than tennis does, and a well-controlled volley is the foundation of every attacking pattern.

3. Footwork & court coverage

Split steps, recovery to the centre, anticipation on cross-court angles — same skills, smaller court. The reduced floor space means your tennis legs will feel oddly under-utilised the first few sessions. Don't worry about it; the cardio shifts onto the upper body and the explosive first step.

What you have to unlearn

1. The full swing

The biggest single thing. Padel rewards short, compact swings, not full tennis backswings. The court is only 20 m long — a full tennis swing on a high ball will fire it long every time. Cut your backswing in half on day one. Cut it in half again on day three.

What killed your tennis topspin forehand: a long backswing winding into hip rotation, racket head dropping under the ball, brushing up through contact. What works on padel: a short take-back at shoulder height, racket face flat or slightly closed, push through the ball, finish in front of the body.

2. The serve

Forget everything. Tennis serves are useless. The padel serve is underarm, bounced first, struck below waist height. Hitting a tennis-style overhead serve is an immediate fault. Most clubs are relaxed about exact waist-height in casual play but referees in any league will absolutely call it.

Spend twenty minutes one practice session just serving. The padel serve is closer to a squash serve than a tennis one — placement and depth beat power every time. Aim for the side glass after the bounce to create the most awkward return.

3. Treating the back as defence

In tennis, the baseline is where you build a point. In padel, the back of the court is where you survive a point so you can move forward. Net play is the win condition. Lobs are not desperation shots — they're your primary tool to push the opponents back and reclaim the net.

Mental shift: every ball at the back is a question of "how do I get forward from here?" not "how do I hit a winner from here?" The walls help — they give you another chance on every ball.

4. Hitting through the back court

Hardest habit to break. In tennis, a deep, hard ball at your opponents' feet on the baseline is a winning shot — they have to back up to a wall they aren't there. In padel, that same ball bounces off the back glass and comes back to them at perfect strike height. You set up your opponents' counter.

Better target: their feet, low and short, where they can't use the glass and have to dig the ball up from below the net. The chiquita — a soft low ball to the feet — is the single most useful shot a tennis convert can learn.

The wall: the bit that breaks tennis brains

Half the points you used to win in tennis just don't end the same way in padel. What you experience as a clean forehand winner past the opponent is, in padel, a ball that bounces in their court, hits the back glass, and comes back to them at a comfy waist-height contact point. They neutralise the rally and now you're still in it.

The corollary: you can do the same defensively. A ball that's past you in tennis is recoverable in padel. Let it bounce, let it hit the glass, play it back. Even at intermediate level, a defensive ball off your own back glass buys you three seconds to reset to the net. This is the single most rewarding part of the tennis-to-padel transition — you discover a whole layer of recoverability the sport never had.

What about squash players?

Squash players have an even bigger head start on the walls — they've been reading rebound angles for years. What they have to unlearn is the wristy, short swing that slices the ball; padel needs flatter, more punched contact. And they have to learn to play with a partner three feet away, which squash never asks them to.

The seven-session plan for tennis converts

1. Sessions 1–2. Just rally. Get the underarm serve consistent. Don't worry about strategy.
2. Sessions 3–4. Spend half the session at the net. Learn the bandeja (controlled overhead).
3. Session 5. Play with someone who knows the game and ask them to call out when you're hitting through the back court vs at the feet.
4. Session 6. Drill the lob — every ball deep enough that the opponents have to retreat.
5. Session 7+. Find a regular partner and stop thinking about technique. You play padel now.

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