Surely you have heard on numerous occasions how important it is to 'read the ball' and most likely you still do not know what you are referring to accurately. The companions of the Adidas Paddle Blog They will try to give us the answer just below.
Padel World Press .- Read the ball. In this post, we will try to explain in a simple way what it means so that we become aware of its vital importance and, with it, we can improve our level of play.
Coaches usually call 'ball reading' the process of learning the trajectory and the bounce that the ball will have in the crystals / walls… We also do it with those hits in which no walls intervene, but in which an anticipation and an adequate execution can make us take the initiative or finish the point.
To begin, we must start from a fundamental premise ... And that is that in order to read the ball well we must be positioned correctly on the track: one meter behind the baseline and centered on our frame (when we play in the background) and approximately two meters from the net and slightly oriented towards where the ball is (when we play in the net).
If our placement is not good, the visualization of the trajectory will be done from different points, with which we will not be able to 'mechanize' our eye or be well oriented and predisposed for the subsequent hit. Therefore, a correct placement both in the background and in the network will lower the level of anxiety and uncertainty, which will allow us to feel more comfortable and, therefore, will facilitate the learning and assimilation of ball reading.
Although you learn to read the ball both by playing and by watching a lot of paddle tennis, there is no doubt that, to accelerate this learning, it will help us to receive some hand classes from a qualified coach. By throwing many balls that will make the same rebounds, through repetition, we will achieve our goal in a shorter period of time.
Paddle tennis is a sport in which there are many variables at stake, from technique, strategy, motivation, activation, to reading the ball and many more. This implies that the player to advance has several fields related to each other and that they only make sense in the global context of the game, being the specific work without a game situation less recommended because later it will be difficult to transfer it to the real game situation.
What do we mean by that? Well, a good ball reading will not make sense if afterwards we do not choose the right hit or direction, nor a fantastic strike will be effective if the moment and the position of the opponents do not favor us.
In conclusion: Ball reading is a fundamental aspect of the game, which is acquired through mechanization and experience and which makes the difference between the levels of play because it allows the player to reach the ball more comfortably and, therefore, make more decisions adequate.
In future posts we will go deeper to analyze how to read the ball well focusing on real match situations.
Greetings and see you in the next post.
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