Padel Warm-Up: Wall Rebound and Adjustment Steps

A partner warm-up next to a wall that stands in for the padel back glass. It trains reading the rebound and the short adjustment steps you need to hit after the wall.

How to play

1. Paddle mobility: wrist, shoulder and trunk circles holding the paddle, lined up facing the wall (2 min).
2. Bounce and wall: each student tosses the ball so it bounces on the ground, then the wall, and catches it after the rebound using adjustment steps (2 min).
3. Hit after the wall: your partner tosses; you let the ball bounce and come off the wall, then send it back with a soft forehand toward a cone. Switch every 8 tosses (3 min).
4. Same on the backhand side with deeper tosses, finishing with two steps forward after the hit (3 min).

Rules

• One pair per 3 meters of wall; never swing if someone is between you and the wall.
• Soft, controlled hits: the goal is reading the rebound, not power.
• Keep the safety strap on your wrist if the paddle has one.

Variations

Adaptations

• Low vision: use a brightly colored ball or one with a bell inside, and always toss to the same zone, called out loud.
• Wheelchair users: the partner tosses closer to the wall so the rebound lands within reach.
• Injured wrist: work only on reading the rebound, catching with the healthy hand.

Learning goals

• Read the ball's path after it comes off the wall.
• Warm up wrist, shoulder and legs with a padel-specific movement.
• Adjust distance with short steps before hitting.

Equipment for a class of 25

• padel paddles: 30
• padel balls: 30
• cones: 15

Teacher tip

If you don't have padel paddles, beach paddles or short tennis rackets work fine. Tape a line on the wall at roughly glass height (about 3 m) so students get a sense of the real court.

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