How do you play on a court if it has rained? With the arrival of autumn you have probably faced this type of situation at some point. Fortunately, padel, as most of the courts are made of artificial grass, is a sport that can be played despite the weather conditions. Here are some tips to adapt your game to the conditions of the court.
The ball changes the way you play
If the ball gets wet, it will become heavier and slower, which will slow down the rhythm of the game and lead to less bounces. When the ball and glass are wet the rebound is much lower.
With the ball in these conditions, the smashes and power shots become less effective, especially the smashes that are executed with the intention of making the ball rise a lot and leave the court or return our own change. In these cases, the so called “winter smash” or “fast smash” is usually executed. This is a smash that is executed with more depth and in the direction of the opponent’s line with the intention that the opponent has to move away and does not have time to recover the ball after the smash that enters and leaves the wall quickly.
Beware of sliding balls
Balls with spin will slide more when bouncing on wet ground. They can also slide on the face of the racket when trying to hit spin shots.
One of the recommendations that coaches usually make to their players in these game conditions is not to try to generate a lot of spin and try to play flat and control the depth and speed of the shots. In this way, we will attack our opponent without having to take too much risk.
Safety first
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, as we want to play our game again tomorrow or next week, be careful with injuries.
With the first drops or when the rain doesn’t come down hard, the problem is that the padel court stops slipping. Knees suffer, because it is common to reach many balls slipping… We must run with firm steps, braking with short steps trying not to slip.
When a lot of water has already fallen, the wet ground can cause you to slip or your foot to get “stuck” in your movements. And it’s not just when you’re moving around that the risk comes, if you play for a long time with a heavy ball you can end up injuring your arm.
Now that you know these tips, you’re sure to handle yourself much better when you’re back on a wet court!
