RP Padel Coach
RICCARDO PIRASPadel Strength Coach
About me Personalised training Training packs My Lab Where to find me
Riccardo Piras

Hi, I'm Riccardo

I write every article staying true to the world of padel. Pick one on the left and start reading.

Prevention · 6 min read

Tennis elbow: epicondylitis, padel and the mistake almost everyone makes

Riccardo Piras · August 2026 · Prevention

You know this one. A pain in the elbow that comes and goes, week after week. Hit a ball at full speed and it stings. Grip the racket too long and it burns. In the morning, opening a jar turns into an odyssey.

You have already tried rest. You have already stopped for ten days. The pain eased, you started again, and it came back. This is the classic epicondylitis cycle in padel.

What it actually is

Lateral epicondylitis is repeated-load damage to the tendon connecting the forearm muscles to the elbow bone. It is not an acute injury: it is what happens when a tendon takes on more stress than it can absorb over time.

In padel this mostly happens on the backhand, on defensive shots off the back wall, and during sessions that run too long without proper recovery.

Tendons do not get better with rest. They get better with the right load.

The mistake almost everyone makes

Stop playing. Wait. Go back when the pain is gone. The problem is that passive rest does not fix the structural issue: the tendon is still weak. When you return, it takes very little to overload it again.

The research of the last fifteen years is clear: the eccentric protocol, meaning lengthening contractions under controlled load, is the most effective way to rehabilitate the tendon and adapt it to the demands of the game.

What actually makes the difference

  1. Work out how much load your tendon tolerates today.
  2. Apply progressive stress, so the tissue adapts without flaring up again.
  3. Combine it with shoulder control and posture work: in padel, epicondylitis is never just an elbow problem.

Three things you can do now

1
Loosen the grip, not the schedule

Gripping too tightly raises the load on the elbow considerably. Hold the racket with the least pressure you need to control the shot.

2
Ice after, heat before

After a session: ice for 10–15 minutes. Before playing: heat and wrist mobilisation. Do not swap the order.

3
No stretching in the acute phase

Stretching a painful elbow while it is inflamed can make things worse. Wait until the pain at rest settles before adding it.

The point

Epicondylitis in padel is not a life sentence. It is a signal that something in your workload has gone past what your body can handle today. Our job as strength coaches is exactly this: building your body's capacity to take the game, before the problem shows up.

Want to get better on court?

Start here

Tell me where you are right now and we will build the right path for you together.

Fill in the form or See the packs

Prevention · 5 min read

The shoulder in padel: a story of myths and legends

Riccardo Piras · September 2026 · Prevention

You know this one. A dull ache high in the shoulder that flares up when you raise your arm for the bandeja or the smash. It gets worse after a tournament with three matches back to back, eases off after a few days' rest, then comes straight back once you pick up the old pace again.

It is not an isolated case: unlike tennis, where the smash is an occasional shot that finishes off a point, in padel the overhead shot (bandeja, víbora, smash) repeats dozens of times in a single match, and the shoulder is the joint that pays for it first. The problem is almost never the shoulder itself: it is everything that should be supporting it and isn't.

What it actually is

The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, and precisely because of that, the least stable by nature: what keeps it in place is not the bones but a group of deep muscles (the rotator cuff), together with the shoulder blade, which has to glide in sync with the arm on every shot.

When the rotator cuff is weak or the shoulder blade does not move the way it should, the job of stabilising the shoulder falls on the surface tendons instead. Repeat the motion hundreds of times a week, and those tendons get inflamed: it is the most common route to subacromial impingement, the soft tissue getting pinched under the shoulder bone every time you raise your arm.

The shoulder does not need more strength. It needs more control.

The mistake almost everyone makes

Training deltoids and chest at the gym, and ignoring everything else. Those are the muscles you see in the mirror, but they are not the ones stabilising your shoulder during a smash. The rotator cuff and the muscles that anchor the shoulder blade work quietly, with small loads, which is exactly why almost nobody ever trains them.

The other mistake is treating the shoulder as an isolated part. In padel the overhead shot starts in the legs, moves through the core, and reaches the arm last: if that chain breaks somewhere (an unstable trunk, a hip that does not rotate), the shoulder has to compensate on its own for work that is not its job, and it wears out faster.

What actually makes the difference

  1. Strengthen the rotator cuff with light-load external rotation exercises, not heavy gym weights.
  2. Train the shoulder blade to move well (retraction and depression), before you even train the arm.
  3. Build the whole kinetic chain: legs, core and trunk, so the arm reaches the shot already assisted, not on its own.

Three things you can do now

1
External rotations, not lateral raises

With a light resistance band, elbow tucked to your side: 2-3 sets of 15 reps, 2-3 times a week. It is the exercise with the strongest evidence for rotator cuff health.

2
Cut the volume after a tournament

After days with several matches back to back, give yourself 2-3 days without repeated overhead shots. It is not laziness: it is the minimum time the tendon needs to clear the load it has taken on.

3
Thoracic mobility before you step on court

A stiff upper back forces the shoulder to compensate with extra rotation. A few minutes of thoracic spine mobility in the warm-up cut the load that ends up on the shoulder.

The point

A shoulder that holds up is not the strongest one; it is the best coordinated one: rotator cuff, shoulder blade and kinetic chain working together, shot after shot. Our job as strength coaches is to build exactly that balance, before pain forces you to do it out of necessity.

Want to get better on court?

Start here

Tell me where you are right now and we will build the right path for you together.

Fill in the form or See the packs