You’ve been playing for a few months. Maybe longer. You’ve got the grip sorted, you know not to smash every lob that comes your way, and you’ve started to understand – vaguely – that the net is where you want to be. Then someone sticks a Premier Padel match on the screen and suddenly you’re watching four people move in ways that make your regular Tuesday session feel like a different sport entirely.

Here’s the thing: it is the same sport. The tactics, the logic, the shots – they’re all things you’re already learning. You just need to know what you’re looking at.

Scoring: the bit you half-know

Padel uses tennis scoring. Sets, games, 15-30-40. First to six games wins the set, two sets wins the match, tiebreak at 6-6. You probably know most of this.

The one thing that catches people out is deuce. Since 2026 Premier Padel has used Star Point: the first two deuces are played with advantage as in tennis, but if the game reaches a third deuce, the receiving pair chooses which side to receive from – left or right – and it’s sudden death. One point, done. (Golden point, another FIP scoring option, puts that sudden-death point at the first deuce.) It keeps matches moving, and it puts real psychological weight on that single exchange. Watch how both pairs react to the choice. Sometimes the selection tells you something.

Beyond that: don’t worry about the structure. The scoring is there to count. What matters is the point.

The net is the whole game

Here’s the central fact of padel: the pair at the net wins the rally. Not sometimes. Not usually. The overwhelming majority of the time.

This is true at recreational level and it’s completely dominant at professional level. The net pair controls angles, takes time away from the opponents, and puts the other team under constant pressure. The team stuck at the back is defending. The team at the net is attacking.

So the first thing to watch in any pro match is: where are the four players? Who’s at the net? Who’s pinned in the back? And – crucially – how are teams fighting to change that?

Almost every rally in padel is a negotiation over net position. One pair is trying to get there. The other pair is trying to stop them, or to push them back. Once you see this, the whole thing clicks into place.

The lob: the shot that changes everything

The great equaliser in padel is the lob. A high, deep lob over the heads of the net pair doesn’t just win the point – it resets the whole geometry of the rally. The net pair has to retreat, the defensive pair gets time, and suddenly the roles can flip.

At pro level, the lob is a weapon of immense precision. Watch how the defensive pair reads the incoming shot and decides to lob or not. Watch the net pair tracking back – do they retreat cleanly, or do they scramble? Watch whether the lob lands short enough to be attacked or deep enough to reset the point.

You’re already using the lob in your game. Watching what the pros do with it – the placement, the timing, the deception – is directly useful. The best defensive lobs in Premier Padel come from a shot shape that looks low and flat until the last moment. That’s a skill, not a gift.

Bandejas and viboras: staying at the net

When the lob goes up, the net pair has a choice. They can retreat and let it bounce. Or they can play an overhead – ideally one that keeps them at or near the net rather than forcing them all the way back.

This is what the bandeja is for. It’s an overhead hit with slice, played to land the ball deep with pace and spin, keeping the opponents pinned while the attacking pair maintains their net position. The vibora is similar – same concept, different spin profile, different angle. Both shots exist to solve the same problem: I’m being lobbed, but I don’t want to give up the net.

Pro players use these constantly. Watch for them whenever a lob goes up – does the pair retreat fully, or does one of them step back just enough to play a controlled overhead and step forward again? That movement, that recovery to the net, is what separates elite pairs from very good ones. And it’s a shot you can start developing yourself – the bandeja guide covers the mechanics in detail.

Pair chemistry: watch the partnership

Padel is a pairs game in a way that tennis doubles simply isn’t. The partnership is the unit. Communication, positioning, who takes which ball – it all needs to be decided in real time, often without speaking.

In top pairs, you can see this working as a kind of distributed intelligence. One player drops slightly to cover; the other poaches. They switch sides mid-rally when the geometry demands it. They don’t have to look at each other to know what the other is doing. That cohesion takes time to build.

Watch a pair that’s working well together and you’ll see almost no wasted movement. Every step has a reason. Compare that to a pair that’s slightly out of sync – you’ll see players arriving at the same ball, or both holding back from a ball neither wants. Watching this at pro level will make you a better partner. Immediately. The piece on doubles positioning translates what you see in pro matches into something you can apply in your next session.

Following Premier Padel

The easiest way in is the Premier Padel YouTube channel. Full match replays, highlights, a decent back catalogue. Free, no subscription. Start there.

The Premier Padel app has live coverage and is worth downloading if you want to follow the tour in real time. Some events are also broadcast on sports channels depending on where you are – but YouTube is the reliable entry point.

The tour runs from January through November, with events across Europe, the Middle East, South America, and (from August 2026) London. There are three tiers: Majors at the top, P1 below that, P2 below that. The Majors are the big ones – think Slam equivalent. P1 events are still the full elite field; P2 draws mostly from the next tier down. If you’re watching for the first time, find a Major or P1 semifinal or final. That’s where the quality is highest and the stakes are clearest. The Doha Major guide covers the first Major of 2026 – the players to watch and how to follow it from the UK – and works as a practical starting point if you want to pick a specific event to tune into.

Three names to know

You don’t need a deep knowledge of the rankings to enjoy watching padel. But three pairs are worth having in your head.

Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia are the current world number ones. Coello is a big, physically dominant net player; Tapia does things with timing and placement that make experienced players wince with recognition. They finished 2025 with 13 tournament wins, which is an extraordinary number. Watch them and you’re watching two players who’ve figured out how to use each other.

Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto are the rivals. Their head-to-head record against Tapia-Coello is one-sided overall, but they’ve won when it mattered – including the nickname “El Clásico” for the rivalry. Galán is tall and aggressive at the net. Chingotto is the shortest of the four and probably the fastest. Watching them is a tactical education.

Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger are the wildcard pair – young, explosive, not yet fully consistent. Augsburger is arguably the hardest hitter on the tour. When they’re locked in, it’s spectacular.

Start with one of those matchups and you won’t be bored.

Why it makes your game better

The best reason to watch professional padel isn’t to feel inadequate. It’s to see the logic of the game fully expressed.

The shots you’re learning – the lob, the transition to the net, the controlled overhead – are the same shots. At pro level you see them played at full resolution, with perfect timing and placement, in high-pressure situations. That’s useful. Your brain starts to understand what “correct” looks like, even before your body can reproduce it.

Watch the transition game and you’ll start to think about your own transitions differently. Watch how top pairs communicate and you’ll start thinking more deliberately about your own partnerships. Watch a good bandeja and you’ll understand why your coach keeps telling you not to smash everything.

Padel rewards people who understand the game. Watching the best play it is one of the faster ways to get there.

Premier Padel events are available on the Premier Padel YouTube channel and via the Premier Padel app. The tour comes to London in August 2026 – details at premierpadel.com.