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The sleeper -dormilona in Spanish- is a very useful stroke at padel. The function is similar to the “dropshot” at tennis. However, the technique, due to particular nature of the padel racket and the contextual situation, is different.
In this video you will follow an explanation -in Spanish- as to how to learn to play a “sleeper”. Basically, the steps to learn it are the following:
1. Stand sidewards, as if standing ready to volley with your backhand, straight your arm, hand facedown and learn to balance your hand forward.
2. Grip your racket open. Ask a friend to assist you by throwing easy balls on you. Your goal will be to balance the racket forward and “slide it” under the ball. Imagine you are “cutting” the imaginary legs of the ball.
Remember that your ultimate goal is to let the ball float over the net and fall near to it. The ball should then bounce and spin back in your direction.
In the following video you can see a professional padel player practicing “sleepers”, both backhand and forward, in different contextual situations. If you want to see one of the best “sleepers” in history, read this article.
Enjoy padel!
Norberto
