The infamous kick smash - by many considered the hardest shot in padel. The beautiful topspin smash that either go out of the court or even better, comes back with such height after the glass that the opponents can even't reach it when jumping. It looks so effortless when the professionals execute it, but it is an insanely difficult shot that requires hundreds of hours of practice unless you are a super talent. And of course unless you come from tennis and the kick serve was your specialty already.

I should probably mention that I am on my own kicksmash journey and have trained it regularly for over a year. It is by no means anything special, but I am grinding towards improving it. Even though I am not an expert, I can definitely explain the core concepts and theory behind it. And I have seen every single kicksmash video available on Youtube at least once!

The kicksmash section here at StudyPadel will be split into different sections since there is so much to cover. Lets begin with the basics.

Should you learn the kicksmash?

Unless you want to dedicate a lot of time to practicing and developing your kick, the answer to this question might be no. The vast majority of padel players around the world will never be able to perform this shot. If you ask on Reddit, the most experienced players there will tell you to start by mastering the flat power smash instead as it is much easier to learn, demands less timing and feels more natural to perform.

But of course, if you really want to learn, like me, I salute you! It is for people like you and me that I decided to try and make this comprehensive guide.

Why is the kicksmash so hard to execute?

A couple of key pointers as to why the kicksmash is so difficult:

• Body alignment and positioning to get under the ball
• Wrist action required to provide both topspin and sidespin (for por tres)
• Jump with an arched back, very unnatural
• All of these components together, perfectly timed

How do I begin learning the kicksmash?

I would really recommend starting to learn with some progression exercises. These will allow you to isolate the different parts of the movement to get a feel for them individually instead of trying to orchestrate the full movement in the beginning. I also recommend watching some videos, there are a lot of great videos on Youtube covering the kicksmash. I have one warning though, and that is that there is no hard science when it comes to the kicksmash so the advice given from different coaches will vary a lot, which can be confusing.

Good luck with your kicksmash journey!