The padel vibora is an essential shot in the overhead category and should be the staple of anyone's attacking game in padel. Vibora means snake and refers to how the ball curls up in the corner with its immense sidespin, making it very difficult to defend.

The vibora has actually changed importance over the last decade in how padel is tought - the more common bandeja used to be the dominent and safe shot executed by most professional players unless they had easier lobs and/or sufficient time to prepare the vibora. Over the past decade professional padel has become more aggressive with more winners, and many coaches are now dropping even teaching the bandeja at all in favor of the vibora. Please note that there are rather mixed opinions from coaches on this topic - you will find both coaches favoring the bandeja and the vibora if you do some research online.

What is the vibora?

• An attacking overhead shot performed on incoming lobs
• A shot with sidespin making it bounce sideways after it hits the back glass
• A shot that is hard to defend for the receiving side (if the vibora quality is high enough)
• The number one overhead shot amongst professional padel players
• A shot that can be varied in speed and placement
  • Often harder towards the back and side wall corner and
  • Softer towards the middle to move opponents and open room for your next shot
• Can often be a winning shot

Why is the vibora important?

When you are in a attacking position at the net, your main focus should be to put pressure on your opponents and at least be able to keep your net position even when they try to lob you. For the easiest of lobs you should be able to power smash or kick smash, but sometimes the lobs coming towards you will have more quality, be deeper, and for these situations you need a weapon as well. The vibora is the perfect weapon to retain your net position and keep the pressure on your opponents.

The main ingredients for a great vibora

• Great footwork to have enough time to perform a proper shot with a solid foundation
• Preparing the racket well behind your head
• Aiming for the ball with your non-dominant hand
• Impacting the ball with sidespin and slice to make the ball bounce sideways after the glass

More info to come!