Watch any good club match and you will see the same moment again and again. A team is at the net, the opponents lob, and instead of retreating or trying to smash, the net player turns sideways and slices the ball back deep with a controlled, almost lazy stroke. Then they step forward and are back at the net before the rally continues. That stroke is the bandeja, and it is the shot that separates players who can hold the net from players who keep losing it.

What the bandeja is for

The word means "tray" in Spanish, a nod to the flat, open racket face that looks as if it is carrying a plate of drinks. The bandeja is a defensive overhead played from the net area when the lob is good enough that a smash would be risky. Its job is not to win the point. Its job is to keep your team in the attacking position.

A good bandeja does three things:

It lands deep, ideally in the last two metres of the opponents' court.
It stays low after hitting the back glass, so the opponents cannot attack it.
It gives you time to recover your position at the net.

If you are trying to hit winners with it, you are playing the wrong shot.

The technique

1. Turn early. As soon as you see the lob, turn your shoulders sideways so that your non-dominant shoulder points to the net. Take your racket up with your elbow at shoulder height and the head pointing up, as if you were holding a tray at your ear.

2. Move with crossover steps. Retreat with your body sideways, using crossover or side steps rather than running backwards. This keeps your balance and your shoulders turned.

3. Point at the ball. Raise your free arm and point at the ball. This helps with timing and keeps your shoulders square to the side.

4. Make contact in front, at about head height. The bandeja is struck lower than a smash, roughly level with your forehead and slightly in front of your body. Reaching too high turns it into a flat overhead.

5. Slice across the ball. Use a continental grip and swing forward and slightly across, with an open racket face, brushing the back and side of the ball. The swing path goes from high to low and from right to left (for right-handed players), producing slice and a touch of sidespin.

6. Finish forwards, then recover. Let the racket finish in front of you, pointing towards your target, not wrapped around your body. Then step forward immediately and close the net again.

Where to aim

The classic target is deep and towards the side of the court, aiming for the ball to land a metre or two from the back glass. Hit across court to buy more time, or down the line to surprise a defender who is shading the middle. Low over the net is better than high: a bandeja that floats invites the opponents to volley it.

Against a strong team, aim at the player with the weaker backhand off the glass. Repetition on one side wears down even good defenders.

Common mistakes

Hitting it flat. Without slice the ball bounces high off the back glass and comes back as an easy attack for the opponents.

Letting the ball get behind you. If the ball is behind your head, it is too late for a bandeja. Let it go, defend from the back and win the net back later.

Trying too hard. The bandeja is a tempo shot. Power comes from the shoulder rotation and the slice, not from the arm.

Staying back after hitting it. The whole point is to keep your net position. Hit it and move forward.

A simple drill

Stand at the net with a partner at the back who feeds medium lobs. Hit ten bandejas cross court, aiming at a towel placed a metre from the back glass. After each shot, touch the net with your racket before the next feed. The forward step after the shot is half the lesson.

Give the bandeja a month of focused practice and you will notice that you spend far more of every match where you want to be: at the net.

The bandeja, step by step: padel's most important overhead