1. Introduction
Padel is a racket sport played in pairs, practiced on a 20 × 10 m court, divided by a central net, with an outer enclosure made of mesh and glass four or three meters high at the back of the court and on the sides, where the ball can hit during play [1]. Padel has had an exponential growth in recent decades [2] and is practiced by players of different ages and competitive levels due to the simplicity of its rules and the fact that the physical and technical–tactical demands of the sport are adapted to the level of play [3,4]. The sport is currently practiced by more than 30 million people in more than 140 countries [5], which in recent years has led to a significant increase in the number of facilities, commercial agreements (sponsorships, employment contracts, etc.), sports licenses, etc. [6]. Likewise, the number of scientific studies on padel has increased in recent years [7,8].
Although there has been a significant increase in the production of scientific literature, the majority of these studies primarily examine technical–tactical performance, particularly within professional settings [9,10,11]. However, experimental research aimed at enhancing specific aspects of the game—whether physical [12,13,14], psychological, or technical–tactical [15]—remains scarce, highlighting a distinct gap in the literature.
Regarding technical–tactical performance, in elite padel, smashes serve as a key performance indicator and have been widely examined in scientific research [16,17]. During professional matches, lobs account for approximately 12 to 26% of total shots, with their frequency varying depending on the players’ sex [18]. When returning a lob before it bounces, players typically opt for an overhead shot, with the bandeja and its variations (e.g., víbora, gancho) being the most commonly used [19]. However, while the smash is not the most frequently executed overhead shot, it remains the most aggressive shot in men’s padel, both at the professional level (the best internationally) [19,20] and in high-level competition (the best nationally) [21]. Winning pairs tend to perform smashes more often than losing pairs [22] and also make a greater number of winners [23]. In addition, the effectiveness of smashes, largely influenced by the contact point, is highest near the net and declines as players move further back [24,25]. Therefore, investigating training protocols aimed at enhancing this decisive shot is crucial for optimizing players’ performance.
Training plays a fundamental role in refining motor skills, improving physiological function, and maximizing athletic performance [26,27,28]. Various training methodologies have proven effective in developing technical skills across multiple sports, including football, basketball, and golf [29,30,31]. In racket sports, research has extensively focused on optimizing the tennis serve [32,33,34,35,36], widely regarded as the most critical shot in the game [37,38]. However, in padel, studies examining technical improvements in stroke execution remain scarce. To date, only one study has addressed technical enhancement in padel, specifically targeting the double-wall forehand [15].
To the best of our knowledge, no prior study has experimentally tested a training protocol to enhance smash performance, despite that this technical–tactical action is the most biomechanically demanding [39] and offensive shot [20] in padel. On the other hand, the shot put seems to have a similar movement pattern as the serve in tennis or the smash in padel. In fact, in tennis, it was found that the shot put with medicine ball [40] has a very high correlation with the speed of the serve in national level players and studies have concluded that training with a medicine ball improves tennis serve velocity [32]. Therefore, the aims of the present research were (i) to design a training protocol to improve the padel smash, based on the practice of medicine ball throws (shot put) and smashes (powerful smashes and smashes over the side fence), and (ii) to test the effectiveness of the designed training protocol.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Research Design
The design of the present study is framed under the empirical methodology and more specifically it is a quasi-experimental study [41], where the aim is to know the distance that the ball travels in the powerful smash and the effectiveness of the smash by three meters, comparing the smashes made by the players in the pre-test and post-test.
2.2. Participants and Sample
Four male padel players from Finland were tested. The players participated on a voluntary basis, accepting an informed consent form prior to the start of the test. The characteristics of the participants are shown in Table 1.
With the approval of the university’s Bioethics Committee (reference number 157/2022) and following the procedures of the Helsinki Declaration [42], a database was created from the record of the smashes of the four high-level players who participated in the research. The sample was made up of a total of 128 smashes, of which 64 were powerful smashes, 32 were made in the pre-test (8 per player) and 32 in the post-test (8 per player), and 64 were smashes over the side fence, with 32 performed in the pre-test (8 per player) and 32 in the post-test (8 per player).
2.3. Study Variables
The dependent variables of this study were the distance of the powerful smash and the effectiveness of the over the side fence smash. These dependent variables were organized by player (player 1, 2, 3, and 4) and by test (pre-test and post-test).
2.4. Procedure
The data collection process and training took place at the Padel Club Tampere Linnakallio New, a sports complex with indoor, regulation padel courts and an air-conditioning system, which keeps the club at around 18 degrees all year round. The players carried out an initial test and a final test with the same racket and with new balls fed by a ball machine.
The powerful smash test consisted of eight down the line smashes, performed 2.80 m from the net, from the left side of the court (see Figure 1). The execution was considered correct if the player hit the smash, the ball bounced in the opponent’s court, bounced on the opponent’s back wall, and bounced back in the player’s court without touching any other part of the court (i.e., fence).
Thus, the total distance of the smash was collected and measured from the sum of the outward distance of the ball (the distance between the player and the net (2.80 m) and the distance between the net and the opponent’s back wall (10 m)) and the return distance of the ball (the distance between the opponent’s back wall and the net (10 m) and the distance between the net and the bounce of the ball in one’s own court).
The smash over the side fence test consisted of eight smashes, taken 4.9 m from the net, from a wide centered position (see Figure 1). The execution was considered to be correct if the player smashed, the ball bounced in the opponent’s court, on the opponent’s back wall, and over the three-meter-high side fence. This is considered to be an effective smash.
The training lasted seven weeks, with two sessions per week. Each session began with a 10 min general warm-up consisting of static bicycle activation, jumping jacks, dynamic joint mobility exercises, elastic band exercises, isometric strength exercises, and plyometric strength exercises. This was followed by a specific warm-up consisting of a 5 min rally. Athletes then rested for 2 min.
The main training phase included four sets of five medicine ball throws (2 kg), followed by five smashes, all at maximum intentional speed. After each set, the athletes rested for 1 min before moving on to the next task, which involved playing points. Each point-playing phase lasted 12 min, followed by a 2 min rest before the next set of medicine ball throws and smashes. This cycle—comprising 1 min of rest after the medicine ball throws and smashes, 12 min of point play, and 2 min before the next set of medicine ball throws and smashes—was repeated until all four sets were completed.
As previously stated, there was a rest of 120 s before each set of medicine ball throws and smashes. In addition, there was a rest of 10 s between repetitions. Therefore, sufficient rest between sets and repetitions was ensured to minimize fatigue and reduce injury risk while maximizing power output.
Regarding the type of smash performed, in sets one and three, the athletes executed powerful smashes, whereas in sets two and four, they performed smashes over the side fence.
2.5. Data Analysis
Through the Shapiro–Wilk normality test (applicable when samples composed of less than 50 elements are analyzed), it was found that the recorded variables met the normality criteria [43], so the hypothesis testing model was parametric. A descriptive analysis was carried out with the aim of explaining the results obtained in the pre-test and post-test (mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum for the powerful smash, and frequency and percentage for the smash over the side fence).
An inferential analysis t-test for related samples was performed to analyze the powerful smash to find out the differences between the pre-test and the post-test on each player. The effect size, i.e., the magnitude of the difference between the means, was found from Cohen’s d with a small effect size of 0.20, medium of 0.50, and large of 0.80 [44].
In addition, contingency tables were developed for the smash over the side fence, including the Chi-square (χ2) statistical test in order to obtain the association between the pre-test and post-test. The strength of association was calculated using Cramer’s V coefficient (Vc) [43]. Crewson [45] differentiates the strength of association according to the value, considering a small (<0.100), low (0.100–0.299), moderate (0.300–0.499), or high (>0.500) association.
Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 27.0 statistical package for Windows and statistical significance was established at p < 0.05.
3. Results
Table 2 shows the analysis of the differences between the pre-test and the post-test on the powerful smash.
Table 2 shows that players 2, 3, and 4 obtained significant differences in the total distance of the powerful smash between the pre-test and the post-test (player 2 (p = 0.026), player 3 (p < 0.001), and player 4 (p < 0.004)). In addition, the mean total distance of the powerful smash increased between pre-test and post-test for all four players analyzed.
Table 3 shows the analysis of the differences between the pre-test and post-test on the smash over the side fence.
As can be seen, Table 3 shows that players 2, 3, and 4 increased the number and percentage of effective smashes over the side fence between the pre-test and post-test, although no significant differences were obtained.
4. Discussion
The aims of this pilot study were to design a training protocol to improve the padel smash, based on the practice of medicine ball throws (shot put) and smashes (powerful smashes and smashes over the side fence), and to test the effectiveness of the designed training protocol. Differences were identified in the distance of the powerful smash in the pre-test and post-test in the analyzed players, but not in the effectiveness of the smashes over the side fence.
In terms of training design, we have relied on protocols that have been used to improve tennis shots velocity [46,47]. In the study by Genevois and collaborators [46], subjects included the training protocol in two sessions per week for 6 weeks. The experimental group that performed medicine ball throws did six sets of six medicine ball throws followed by 10 forehand shots, all of them at maximum intentional velocity, leaving a rest of 1 min and 30 s between sets. In the study by Fernandez-Fernandez and collaborators [47], the subjects in the experimental group underwent additional training, which consisted of 1 h a day, 3 days a week, for 6 weeks. This protocol included overhead medicine ball throws, among other strength exercises. As in Genevois et al. [46], we thought it was appropriate to include the training protocol in two sessions per week. Unlike the studies by Genevois et al. [46] and Fernandez-Fernandez et al. [47], we decided to carry it out for 7 weeks due to the tournament calendar. Following Genevois et al. [46], high-level padel players from Finland performed four sets of five medicine ball weight throws (shot put, in our case), followed by smashes, all at maximum intentional speed. The sets were spread out throughout the training session (one set every 15 min). As for the weight of the medicine ball, we opted for 2 kg for reasons of availability. In contrast, as in the study by Genevois et al. [46], the weight was chosen individually for each player based on a simple practical test. Instead of performing the classic overhead medicine ball throwing exercise, as included in the study by Fernandez-Fernandez et al. [47], we chose to include the medicine ball shot put. It was shown that there is an almost perfect correlation between tennis serve speed and medicine ball shot put [40].
In reference to the effectiveness of the training, it was observed that the powerful smashes improved in all four athletes, with the difference being significant in three of them. The fact that the improvement was not significant in the participant with the best ranking in Finland may be due to the fact that this athlete already had a great powerful smash before the training protocol. The powerful smash has always been one of the technical–tactical strengths of this player. These improvements could be key for these players to improve their performance in competition, as it was observed that the powerful smash is the shot with which most winning shots are achieved in professional padel [17,48] and that match winners hit more smashes than losers [24]. Also, three of the four players improved their smash over the side fence. Although the difference was not significant in any of these three athletes, the improvement could be sufficient to improve performance. To date, no study has been found with the aim of improving the performance of the padel smash, so we cannot compare our intervention with a similar one in this sport. However, in tennis, numerous studies have been carried out with the aim of improving the speed of the serve, a shot similar to the padel smash. In the following experimental studies that included, at least, medicine ball throws, the improvement in the tennis serve speed was significant [47,49,50]. However, in the study by Terraza-Rebollo and collaborators [51], in the group that included medicine ball throws, despite improving the speed of the medicine ball throw, improvement was not reflected in the speed of the serve.
In view of the results, players should do this type of training in order to improve their smash. Therefore, coaches should include this type of task in their planning to improve this shot.
However, this study has some limitations that must be taken into account when interpreting the results. The sample is very small, with only four high-level male players. Future studies should consider a larger sample and a control group, so that the study is a randomized controlled trial. Also, future research should analyze different training protocols with the aim of improving smash performance in players of different categories, including female players. To this end, the optimal weight of the medicine ball for each athlete should be taken into account, the speed of the shots should be measured, and it should be checked whether the improvement of the shot occurs in competition. At the same time, this study has some strengths that should be taken into account. It is the first quasi-experimental study that seeks to improve the smash, which is the most offensive shot in padel.
5. Conclusions
The training protocol designed for the smash in padel was shown to be effective, since three of the four players participating in the study improved their results in the total distance after its implementation in the powerful smash. This improvement was also identified in the effectiveness of the smash over the side fence, although without being statistically significant. These findings have an important practical application, since they will allow padel strength and conditioning coaches to adapt this training protocol to their players in order to improve their performance in smash and lead them to success in the competition.
Conceptualization, R.C.-R. and A.E.-T.; methodology, R.C.-R. and Á.B.-S.; formal analysis, R.C.-R., I.M.-M. and A.E.-T.; investigation, I.M.-M., R.C.-R., D.M. and S.J.I.; resources, R.C.-R. and Á.B.-S.; data curation, A.E.-T. and S.J.I.; writing—original draft preparation, R.C.-R. and I.M.-M.; writing—review and editing, A.E.-T., D.M. and S.J.I.; visualization, A.E.-T.; supervision, D.M., Á.B.-S. and A.E.-T.; project administration, R.C-R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Extremadura (protocol code 157/2022).
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article; further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Footnotes
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Enlarge this image.Figure 1. Smash tests. (a) represents the set up for the powerful smash test. (b) represents the set up for the smash over the side fence test.
Characteristics of participants.
| Player | Age (Years) | Weight (kg) | Height (cm) | 2023 Finnish Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | 84.55 | 188 | 1 |
| 2 | 26 | 84.00 | 180 | 2 |
| 3 | 36 | 83.05 | 191 | 3 |
| 4 | 29 | 82.25 | 189 | 16 |
| Mean/SD | 29.75/4.35 | 83.46/1.02 | 187.00/4.83 |
Descriptive and inferential analysis of the distance of the powerful smash on the pre-test and post-test.
| Player | Test | Mean | SD | Minimum | Maximum | p | d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pre-test | 30.19 m | 0.61 m | 29.07 m | 31.15 m | 0.666 | 0.205 |
| Post-test | 30.29 m | 0.32 m | 29.94 m | 30.98 m | |||
| 2 | Pre-test | 29.17 m | 0.90 m | 27.80 m | 30.29 m | 0.026 | 1.076 |
| Post-test | 29.99 m | 0.41 m | 29.30 m | 30.50 m | |||
| 3 | Pre-test | 28.83 m | 043 m | 28.19 m | 29.46 m | 0.001 | 2.871 |
| Post-test | 29.87 m | 0.30 m | 29.67 m | 30.36 m | |||
| 4 | Pre-test | 28.80 m | 0.47 m | 28.00 m | 29.40 m | 0.004 | 2.384 |
| Post-test | 29.91 m | 0.45 m | 29.12 m | 30.45 m |
SD: standard deviation; p: p-value; d: effect size; m: meters.
Descriptive and inferential analysis of the effectiveness of the smash over the side fence on the pre-test and post-test.
| Player | Test | Effective Smashes over the Side Fence | p | Vc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | ||||
| 1 | Pre-test | 7 | 87.5 | 0.522 | 0.160 |
| Post-test | 6 | 75.0 | |||
| 2 | Pre-test | 6 | 75.0 | 0.522 | 0.160 |
| Post-test | 7 | 87.5 | |||
| 3 | Pre-test | 7 | 87.5 | 0.302 | 0.258 |
| Post-test | 8 | 100.0 | |||
| 4 | Pre-test | 3 | 37.5 | 0.317 | 0.250 |
| Post-test | 5 | 62.5 | |||
n: frequency; %: percentage; p: p-value; Vc: Cramer’s V.
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; Bustamante-Sánchez, Álvaro 1
; Ibáñez, Sergio J 2
; Muñoz, Diego 2
; Martín-Miguel, Iván 2
; Escudero-Tena, Adrián 2
1 Department of Sports Science, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain;
2 Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain;