Kick smash technique: vertical brush and body rotation
Key takeaway from our Guru
How do I get more kick on my padel smash?
You need to brush the ball vertically to create a high bounce. Keep your hand relaxed and use plenty of wrist action to ensure you hit the ball thin instead of thick.
What this lesson covers
The kick smash relies on a vertical swing path to generate high bounce off the back glass. To feel this upward motion, toss the ball so it lands on your head, forcing the body to move up rather than forward. A vertical swing path requires a relaxed hand and significant wrist action. Holding the racket lower on the handle increases the leverage and allows for more wrist snap during the contact phase.
Body positioning determines the direction and quality of the kick. Align your shoulders along the intended path of the ball to avoid slicing it. Turning the torso toward the target area creates the necessary space to brush the back of the ball. Some players find it easier to achieve this angle by shifting slightly toward a backhand grip. Practicing these movements in extreme, exaggerated ways helps the player internalize the sensation of brushing the ball thin rather than hitting it thick. This lesson suits players who struggle to get the ball over the fence or who want to increase the bounce height of their smash.
Keep learning in the app
Your Guru points you at the videos that fit your level and your last matches, and helps you find a coach to train with.
Get the Padelguru app
Original video
Added on Apr 2, 2026
Description
7 DRILLS TO IMPROVE YOUR PADEL KICKSMASH! Hola everybody! Welcome back to the weekly padeltips monday video! Today we focus on the kicksmash! If you haven't seen yesterdays WPT final you should watch it right now. You will see that the smash is a really important part of the game. If you have a good smash, your opponent is forced to play low balls and will be scared to play a lob! That means that you will hold the net position way longer! LETS GET 15 LIKES THIS VIDEO! KICKSMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON We will show 7 different drills that can help you to improve your smash, along with some general tips. The goal of the drills are to help you feel, see, hear or understand the smash better. As some of you may know, we like to go in extreme a bit. We will force you to play in one specific way to let you experience the difference. That doesn't mean that you actually have to play the smash that way. We hope you can get that switch activated during the drill to get that: "OOOOH Now I got it" feeling. "You learn from something that is different = Not from something that is the same" Please find a way that the smash feels natural for you! If it doesn't feel that way, let us know 🙂 Thank you for watching and we will see you next week. Special thanks to Louie Harris to showcase his expensive racket breaking smash skills. - WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DRILL?
Good for
Skill level
Intermediate, High Intermediate
Court position
Net
Secondary shot
Smash
Keywords
Support Otro Nivel Padel
Every lesson on this page is Otro Nivel Padel's work. If it helped your game, subscribe on YouTube and tell them.
Subscribe on YouTube