The rulo overhead shot in padel is a soft brushing shot towards your opponents side fence/glass. It can cause your opponents a lot of problems, in particular giving them unpredictable bounces of the side fence and can even be winners in many cases. Another major benefit is the shot is fairly easy to learn and execute and you can choose this shot from far back in the court when you are receiving a good quality lob or even a lob towards your inside (your fence or glass). 

Personally the satisfaction is immense when your opponents hit what is a great lob towards you and they think they just won the net but you hit a perfect rulo from back of the court and with perfect speed so the ball dies after hitting the fence/glass before reaching the back glass. Just pure bliss.

A lot of videos featuring the rulo will show shots from the famous Argentinian player Franco Stupaczuk which is the undisputed rulo king with perfect technique and precision.

What also surprises me is that very few players know how to utilize this shot, given the massive upsides and the fairly low barrier to entry as it is easy to learn. In my local padel club with 100+ players, less than 5 players have ever trained and utilized this very powerful shot in their game.

Benefits of the padel rulo

• Give opponents an unpredictable bounce after the fence
• Fairly easy to learn
• A way to return deep lobs towards your inside that you would otherwise have to let pass and lose the net
• Good progression shot towards in much harder kicksmash shot
• Great remedy against opponents that love to rush the net on good lobs
• Can even be a winning shot in many cases

Key ingredients to a high quality rulo

• Very soft shot, you are not "hitting" the ball as such but rather just brushing it towards where it should go
• Brushing upwards and to the side, much like a kicksmash but with much less power
• Body alignment is crucial - you need to turn your body so your shoulders are pointing towards the opponents fence

Shot preparation

In order to prepare to perform the rulo, you need to:

1. Turn your body so your shoulders are aligned with where you want to hit
2. Move back so you get under the ball
3. Get your non-dominant hand up in the air to help with tracking the ball
4. Drop the elbow with your racket, much like preparing for a kicksmash

See the image of Franko aka "stupa" on how he prepares to perform the shot.

Shot execution

When it is time to hit the ball, make sure you are positioned to hit above you and brush the ball softly upwards and to the side you want to hit. For a right handed player playing on the left side this means brushing towards the right, while for a left handed player it would be the opposite, towards the left.

Be very intentional about hitting it softly - it feels more like you are gently pushing the ball in a direction rather than actually hitting it. And the brushing is important to give it top and sidespin similarly to a kicksmash. Keep your wrist and body loose.

When should you play the rulo?

We can start of by saying when you should NOT play the rulo. You should not play the rulo if:

• You are a right handed player playing on the right side - your angle is way to narrow
• You are a left handed player playing on the left side - same as above
• You are unable to get in a decent position and prepare the shot properly - just let it bounce instead and play safe
• You haven't trained the rulo so your technique is out of whack

Okay with that out of the way lets move on to when you SHOULD play the rulo:

• You are receiving a lob towards your "inside" - meaning close towards your fence or side glass
  • Why? Because this opens up the angle for you. It is much harder to hit the rulo from the middle of the court and it will then become a high risk shot
• You have time to prepare and get back in time for when the lob drops to you
• You are confident in your ability to perform the shot

TLDR; about the rulo

The rulo is a fantastic shot, often resulting in becoming a winner which is highly underused by most players out there. It can be a significant advantage and important tool, and is rather easy to learn.

As usual I have collected my favorite videos below on Youtube covering the rulo shot in padel. Enjoy your new weapon!