How coaches measure padel progress, from basics to advanced tactics

Padel participation in Great Britain climbed from 15,000 in 2019 to just over 400,000 adults and juniors by the end of 2024, LTA data shows. Coaches do not look for a player who can hit everything at once. They look for a sequence: first the back glass, then the basics of positioning, then the shots that start to bend the point in a player’s favor.

The learning curve coaches actually use

The fastest way to understand padel is to watch what coaches ask players to do before they ever talk about flair. Early-stage players are expected to have limited endurance, weak Padel-specific footwork and only a loose understanding of backhands, glass bounce, volleys, overheads and positioning. That is not a flaw in the player, it is the first checkpoint in the sport’s development path.

The next layer is the improver stage, where the game starts to make tactical sense. At that point, players are supposed to understand basic court positioning, scoring and simple tactics, but they still struggle with double-glass defense. Their bandejas and flat smashes may exist, but only as rough tools rather than reliable weapons.

What has to click before the game opens up

The foundation in padel is not power. It is contact with the walls, especially the back glass, and the ability to keep the ball low enough to stay in the rally. The LTA tutorial pathway moves from forehand to off-the-back-glass, then volley, double glass, bandeja and slow-play tactics.

Players who want to move past the beginner stage need to show they can defend off the back glass without panic and recover their position after contact. They also need to stop treating every ball like an invitation to swing hard. In padel, the point often turns when a player learns to take pace off the ball, reset the rally and move forward only when the shot has earned it.

The improver stage is about reading the court

Once the court starts to make sense, coaches look for whether a player can build points instead of simply surviving them. Basic positioning becomes visible here: are you and your partner covering the right lanes, are you moving as a pair, and are you leaving gaps after the shot? The improver label exists because players at this level may know what should happen, but they still lose the point when the glass forces a second decision.

That is also the stage where the difference between a helpful shot and a dependable one becomes obvious. A bandeja should control the net, not leak pressure back to the opponent. A flat smash should finish a point when the opening is real, not when the player is frustrated.

Advanced padel is a language of angles and choices

Experienced tournament players work from a much deeper vocabulary. The LTA advanced framework includes an effective angle, drop shot, chiquita, bandeja, víbora, gancho and rulo, and expects players to adjust court position based on their partner’s position.

The chiquita is a useful marker because it sits well above beginner level. A player has to know when the opponent is vulnerable, how low to keep the ball and how to create a weak reply that opens the net. The same is true of the víbora and rulo, which are not just technical shots but court-management tools. If a player cannot use the glass well, none of those shots land cleanly in match play.

The numbers that define real competence

The LTA instructor readiness test sets the benchmark: candidates must serve 8 of 16 balls correctly into court with the ball hitting the first glass panel, rally 15 shots down the line on each side including 6 off the back glass, and hit 15 volleys down the line on either side, including at least 6 backhand volleys, all within one minute.

Serving into the glass, handling the back wall and volleying accurately down the line show whether a player can hold shape under pressure.

Coaching itself has become a formal pathway

The LTA Padel Instructor course runs over five face-to-face days, separated by a minimum of four weeks, and includes eight hours of work experience and coursework. Its elective options include Coaching Kids Padel and How to Coach the Double Glass.

In Great Britain, off-peak court booking averages £7 per person per hour, or £27 per hour for a doubles booking, the LTA says.

A sport built on the walls it uses

Padel’s emphasis on bounce and positioning is not an accident of modern coaching. The game began in 1969 at Las Brisas in Acapulco, Mexico, when Enrique Corcuera created a smaller court measuring 20 by 10 metres with 3-metre walls and a tennis net in the center. The first set of rules was drafted by Viviana Corcuera, and the sport spread to Spain in the early 1970s through Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe and to Argentina through Julio Menditeguy.

From club ladder to global circuit

Premier Padel announced in August 2024 that it had completed the first half of the season and would expand into the United States in 2025. The FIP circuit, renamed the Cupra FIP Tour in 2020, was born in June 2019 to support worldwide growth and give players from less developed countries a way in through earned points and tournament access.