Play to the net, not to win the point

There’s a phrase that comes up in coaching circles often enough to feel like received wisdom: “focus on getting to the net, not on winning the point.” The Padel Paper puts it plainly – focus your game on how can I get to the net rather than how can I win the point.

That reframe matters. Most club players approach a rally looking for the killer shot. The better question is: where do I need to be when the rally ends?

The answer, almost every time, is the net.

Why the baseline is a losing position

At the baseline, you’re 10 metres from your opponents. Every ball you hit has to travel the full length of the court before it can threaten anyone. Your opponents have time to read it, reposition, and hit back from a stable stance.

From 2–3m behind the net, your opponents are 7–8m away. Your volleys arrive in less time. Angles open to the side walls that are physically impossible from deep. Any ball you hit below net height cannot be returned offensively – the net is in the way.

This isn’t a minor tactical preference. A 2024 study in MDPI Applied Sciences, analysing 980 points from the Menorca World Padel Tour Master Final, found “a clear relationship between proximity to the net on the final shot and an increased probability of winning the point.” In that study, most points ended with a volley (28.9%) or a smash (25.9%), and more than a third were finished from near the net.

The baseline is where you go to defend, not to win. The companion piece on why you should stop trying to win points at the baseline covers this in more depth – worth reading before this one.

What the court geometry tells you

A padel court is 20m long and 10m wide. Those are not large numbers. The back enclosure is 4m tall (3m of wall topped by 1m of mesh) and the net sits at 0.88m in the centre.

From the baseline, you have one shot shape available: something that clears the net and travels deep. Your opponents at the net have time to move and choose their response. The angles you can create are narrow – you’re hitting up the length of the court, not across it.

From 2–3m behind the net, everything changes. You can angle the ball so it bounces and hits the side glass well before it reaches the baseline. You can drop a volley short and force opponents to lunge. Balls hit below net height are unreachable from the front of the court – they either hit the net or bounce into the service box too short to attack.

The back wall that seems to help your opponents also works against them. When they’re behind the service line defending your net position, the glass limits their shot options. They cannot drive through you without risk, and a lob from that position has to be very precise to be effective.

The research comes from professional matches, but the geometry is not specific to professional play – it applies on your Tuesday-night court too.

Three ways club players get to the net

After a good lob. This is the safest route. You play a deep lob – one that clears your opponents by at least 1.5m above head height and lands within 1m of the back glass. Your opponents move backwards. Both you and your partner advance diagonally to your net positions while the ball is in the air. The key word is both: you move together, not one at a time.

What counts as a good enough lob to advance? It clears the service line comfortably, gives you at least two or three steps of time, and forces your opponents to play off the back wall rather than smash comfortably overhead. If your lob is flat or short – if they can hit an easy overhead before you’re set – stay back and build again.

After a chiquita to the feet. A low, fast ball aimed at the service line area (ideally their dominant foot) forces a defensive return. The chiquita is a more aggressive approach mechanism: you’re attacking their position, not waiting for a lob. As the ball leaves your racket and they’re scrambling to dig it up, both players advance. For more on what to do when you arrive, the volley guide is the next read.

After serving. Serve close to the T or to the side wall and follow in diagonally. This is serve-and-volley applied to padel – common at higher club levels, less natural for beginners, but worth knowing. The serve itself isn’t a weapon in padel (it’s underarm and the ball must bounce before the glass), but a well-placed serve can produce a weak return that gives you time to advance.

The transition: from baseline to the net

Most coaching content skips this section. You play a good lob – and then what? How exactly do you get from the back of the court to the net without arriving at the wrong moment?

Three things happen in the right order:

Move diagonally, not straight forward. Your position at the net should be slightly offset from the centre, covering your half of the court. Moving diagonally – not charging straight at the net – puts you in the right position and keeps you balanced.

Split-step as you arrive. A split-step is a small jump that lands both feet simultaneously, just before your opponents make contact with the ball. It puts your weight on the balls of your feet and lets you push off in any direction. Arriving at the net and stopping flat-footed is the mistake that turns good approach shots into scrambled errors.

Racket up before the ball lands. Your racket should be at chest height, continental grip, before you need it. The most common net error at club level is arriving with the racket down and having to bring it up in a hurry. The compact swing needed for a volley becomes impossible. Arrive ready.

The transition is what separates players who go to the net and hold it from players who go to the net and immediately give it back.

What to do when you get lobbed

Every club player who starts advancing to the net asks the same question: what happens when they lob me?

The full answer is in the lob article – including how to retreat, reset, and rebuild. But the short version:

A lob over your head is not a defeat. It’s a reset. Both players turn and retreat together – one takes the ball off the back glass, the other moves to cover – and the point continues. You have survived their best defensive weapon and you’re back to building your way forward again.

Compare that to the alternative: staying at the baseline all match to avoid being lobbed. You give up every tactical advantage from the first shot. Your opponents control the net and dictate every rally. You’re defending, permanently.

A well-hit lob over a net-pressing pair is a good shot. It should happen. The correct response is to handle it, reset, and go forward again.

The players who stay at the baseline “to avoid the lob” are, in practice, conceding the whole game to avoid one awkward moment.

Moving as a pair

Nothing in this piece applies to one player acting alone.

The entire tactical logic of net position depends on two players covering the width of the court together. One player at the net and one at the back is the worst configuration in padel. It leaves the seam between you permanently exposed and means neither player is well positioned to attack or defend.

Both players advance together. Both players retreat together. The doubles positioning guide covers this in detail – including how to handle the switch, how to communicate the move, and what to do when your partner hesitates.

If you take one thing from this article: going to the net is a pair decision, not an individual one. Call it before you go.

A drill to practise

This takes five minutes at the end of a session and builds the transition reflex.

Stand at the baseline. Hit a cross-court lob to the back corner. As the ball leaves your racket, both players advance to net position together. Your partner feeds a mid-pace ball back across the net – compact volley, place it rather than hit it, and hold the position.

The goal is not to put the ball away. The goal is to arrive in the right place, split-step at the right moment, and feel what it’s like to hold the net rather than stand in it. Repeat until the movement is automatic.

Every point in padel is a version of this sequence. Build it into your muscle memory, and the net starts to feel like home. And once the technique is there, finding people to play padel with regularly is the step that turns good habits into a reliable game.