The bandeja is a slow, sliced overhead played side-on, and its job is not to win the point. Its job is to answer a good lob without giving up the net — which is why it is the single most valuable shot a club player can learn.
Bandeja is Spanish for tray, and the name describes the swing: the racket travels through the ball on a flat plane, as if you were carrying a tray to the back of the court.
Why it matters more than the smash
A good lob puts you in a bad position: the ball is deep, you are moving backwards, and you have two options.
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Smash it flat | You are off balance and deep. The ball rebounds off their back glass and comes back before you have recovered. You lose the net and often the point. |
| Let it bounce and retreat | You give up the net voluntarily. The other pair takes it and you spend the rest of the point defending. |
| Play a bandeja | You keep the ball low and deep, hold your position, and the point resets with you still at the net. |
That is the entire argument. Padel is won at the net, and the bandeja is what stops you being lobbed off it. In our level scale it is the specific blocker between level 3 and level 4 — see padel levels explained.
How to hit it
- Turn side-on immediately. Hips and shoulders across, non-hitting hand pointing up at the ball. If you are still facing the net when you swing, everything else fails.
- Shuffle back, do not turn and run. Small side steps, weight loading onto the back foot. Turning your back to the net costs you the shot and your position.
- Continental grip. The same one you use for everything else — it lets you brush under the ball without rotating your hand. See how to hold a padel racket.
- Racket up early and high, roughly at head height, out to the side rather than behind your head. The bandeja has no big loading phase; a smash motion produces a smash.
- Contact at shoulder height, in front of your body, slightly to the side of your hitting shoulder. Not above your head. If the ball is behind you, you have moved too late.
- Slice through it. The racket face travels forward and slightly down and across, brushing under and through the outside of the ball. This is the part people skip.
- Follow through flat and forward, and step in. Your next move is towards the net, not away from it.
The one mistake that ruins the shot: hitting it flat. Without the brush across and under the ball, the bandeja comes out flat, sits up, and bounces high on their side — which is a free lob for the other pair. The slice is not decoration. It is what keeps the ball low after the bounce.
Where to aim it
This is the part almost nobody covers, and it decides whether the shot buys you anything.
| Target | Why | When |
|---|---|---|
| Into the side glass, deep in the corner | The ball skids off the glass low and awkward. The hardest ball in padel to lob from. | Default target. Aim here unless there is a reason not to. |
| Down the middle | Forces the pair to decide who takes it, and takes away the angle for their reply. | Against a pair that communicates badly, or when you are stretched. |
| At the feet of the player who lobbed | They are usually still moving forward after their lob. | Occasionally, as a change. |
| Deep to the baseline | Do not. A ball that lands deep and flat sits up off their back glass at a perfect lobbing height. You have handed the point straight back. | Never deliberately. |
Bandeja or víbora?
They are the same family and half the internet uses the names interchangeably. They are not the same shot.
| Bandeja | Víbora | |
|---|---|---|
| Spin | Slice, mostly under the ball | Heavy side spin, across the outside |
| Racket face | Open | More closed |
| Speed | Slow and controlled | Faster, skidding |
| Purpose | Hold the net, reset the point | Attack without leaving the net |
| Risk | Very low | Medium — the closed face finds the net |
| Learn it | First | After the bandeja is reliable |
Learn the bandeja until it is automatic before you touch the víbora. A reliable bandeja wins matches; an unreliable víbora loses them. Where both sit among the four padel overheads is in the padel smash.
The four mistakes
- Facing the net. No rotation means no slice and no control. Turn first, always.
- Contact above the head. That is a smash position. The bandeja is struck at shoulder height, in front.
- Hitting it hard. Pace is not the point. A hard bandeja is a bad smash.
- Retreating after the shot. The whole purpose was to keep the net. Step in.
How to practise it without a coach
Two drills that need nothing but a court and one other person:
- Lob and bandeja. Your partner stands at the back and lobs; you stand at the net and play nothing but bandejas into the side glass. Twenty in a row before you swap. Boring, and it works.
- Shadow the turn. No ball. Stand at the net, call “lob”, and practise the turn-and-shuffle until it is one movement rather than two. Most failed bandejas fail before the racket moves.
If you take one lesson in your first year, take it on this shot — the case for coaching, and when it is worth it, is in padel lessons.
Does the racket matter?
Less than for any other shot, which is good news. The bandeja is about control and slice rather than power, and a round or teardrop frame with a large sweet spot makes it easier — the same profile most club players should be using anyway. Our graded round frames average 89 for control, the highest of the three shapes; the numbers are in padel racket shapes.
A head-heavy diamond makes the bandeja harder, because the mass at the head fights the flat, controlled swing path the shot needs. If you have bought a diamond and your bandeja has got worse, that is why.
Frequently asked questions
What is a bandeja in padel?
A slow, sliced overhead played side-on at shoulder height. Its purpose is to answer a lob while keeping your pair at the net, rather than to win the point outright.
What is the difference between a bandeja and a víbora?
The bandeja is sliced under the ball, slow and defensive; the víbora is struck with a more closed face and heavy side spin, faster and attacking. Learn the bandeja first.
Why is my bandeja sitting up?
You are hitting it flat. Without brushing under and across the ball, the shot bounces high on the other side and gives the opponents an easy lob.
Where should you aim a bandeja?
Into the side glass deep in the corner, so the ball skids low off the wall. Down the middle is a good second option. Never flat to the baseline — it sits up off the back glass.
At what height do you hit a bandeja?
Shoulder height, with contact in front of your body and slightly to the side of your hitting shoulder. Above the head is a smash position, not a bandeja.
How long does it take to learn the bandeja?
Weeks to make contact, months to make it reliable. It is the specific skill that separates a level 3 club player from a level 4, and it is the shot most worth a coaching session.
Sources. Bandeja technique as taught by LTA Padel and by specialist padel coaching sources, consulted 30/08/2026. Control figures by racket shape are PadelGrade’s own, aggregated from at least five independent sources per racket — see how we grade.