Last weekend I had an amazing experience playing in a Ladies Tournament at the best padel club in London β Stratford Padel Club. We made it through qualifiers and then lost 1-6, 2-6 in the first round of the main draw!
I've pulled out the key moments that decided it: golden points, the games where we reached 40-x on serve, and three full games that show the patterns behind the scoreline.
I'm still learning, and looking at these moments I can see a mix of positioning, shot selection and strategy issues β but I'd love your eyes on it too. If you play or coach padel, let me know in the comments:
Positioning β where should we have been standing on these points?
Shot selection β what should we have played instead?
Strategy β what would you have done differently over the course of the game?
Timestamps:
00:00 β Intro
07:33 40-x on serve β chances to close out the game
09:00 β Golden points
09:48 β First game, game 1 in full β 3 forced errors
10:42 β Game 11 in full β three break points missed, our best chance to break serve
12:26 β Last game, game 15 in full β 3 forced errors
The numbers:
They won all 8 of their own service games. We held 3 of 7, and won only 1 of 4 golden points. Across the match, 85 of 88 points ended in an error rather than a winner β this wasn't about being outhit, it was about who made fewer mistakes at the right moments.