Winning Doubles Strategy: Positioning and Communication

In padel, individual brilliance counts for nothing without effective partnership. Here is how to build a winning doubles team.

Move as a Unit

The golden rule of padel positioning is to move laterally with your partner, maintaining roughly four metres between you. When your partner moves left, you move left. When they advance to the net, you advance with them. Think of an invisible rope connecting you.

Control the Net

The net is where points are won. Your primary objective in every rally should be to establish and maintain a net position. From the net, you can volley decisively and cut off angles. When you lose the net position, your priority shifts to regaining it.

Communication

Talk constantly. Call "mine" and "yours" on every ball. Communicate when you are going to switch sides. Alert your partner when a lob is coming. The best padel partnerships are the loudest.

The Formation

The serving team starts with one player at the net and one at the baseline. The returning team typically starts with both players at the back. The rally then becomes a battle for net position.

Switching Sides

When the ball pulls one player across court, the partner must cover the vacated space. This switching must be instinctive and seamless. Practice it until it becomes second nature.

Patience

Padel rewards patience. Resist the urge to go for a winner on every shot. Build the point, move your opponents around, and wait for the opening. The walls keep balls in play that would be winners in tennis, so patience is not just a virtue — it is a necessity.

Reading Your Opponents

Watch where your opponents are positioned before you play your shot. A well-placed chiquita to the feet of an advancing net player is worth more than a powerful drive into a well-set defence.