Personal Learnings & Thoughts

Tournament 1

• Padel theory and general strategy can be very good but it is not always true. Example: Advice to play soft and wait for the other team to error, is a pretty bad idea, when i have winners, i am better than the opponents, i take easily the net, and i can outplay them. If i become soft and defensive i enter their rhythm and that is bad. I feel uncomfortable at the back and mirrors. Much more natural on the net.
• i get very nervous and i have adrenaline rush and it is a nightmare. I need solution.
• in the games, especially bronze, there is often a silver guy allowed and he can be much better than the other one. You need to very quickly asses who is better and what they can do and how capable they are. in a match to 9, this can make the difference. Today, we played vs a team that had a guy that was so much better at anything. but it took us really long time to figure out all the things he could do. he continuously surprised us with new tricks. Yet, it turned out his backhand was shit, and i didn't understand this till my third serve. I always served the glass instead. Try things early on.
• Bronze strategies are much different than any other level. And your level also matters relative to others. Blanket generic advice is good to know but should strictly be evaluated vs your situation.
• You have to know strategies and advice in advance. When you get on the court to play some people you need to know what works and what doesn't. on tournaments figuring this out is a too late. Which means - thinking and experience is necessary.
• Almost every padel advice can be wrong in certain situations. Very few things are constitution - true to all players and situations. Unfortunately it gets complicated with: level of the player, level of your partner, level of your opponents, strategies you employ, they employ, personal style, equipment...