In padel, whoever holds the net wins the rally. So when your opponents are camped at the net and you are stuck at the back, the instinct is to hit hard and push them off it. That instinct is wrong almost every time, because a fast ball simply comes back faster.
The padel chiquita does the exact opposite. It trades power for precision and slowness, forcing the net player to pick the ball up from below his knees. This guide covers why the shot works, how to build it step by step, when to play it and when not to, and the two drills that make it permanent.
The chiquita in one line. The name is Spanish for “little one”. It is a short, low, soft ball hit with slice, usually cross-court, that dies at the feet of the player at the net and takes his attack away.
- Why the chiquita is so effective
- The technique, step by step
- When to play it and when to avoid it
- The mistakes that give it away
- Two drills to train it
- Padel chiquita FAQ
Why the chiquita is so effective
The player at the net lives on high balls. Give him one and he smashes it, or plays a bandeja or a vibora to keep the initiative. The chiquita removes that option entirely.
Four things a good chiquita does at once
- It arrives low, below net height, so there is nothing to hit down into.
- It arrives slowly, which means your opponent has to generate all the pace himself. That is where errors come from.
- It lands at his feet, forcing a crouched, defensive low volley, the worst possible platform for an attack.
- It buys you time to move up, so you can take the net position he just lost.
Put simply, the chiquita is not trying to win the point. It is setting up your move to the net and flipping you from the dominated side of the rally to the dominant one. That is a completely different mindset from the one most club players bring to a defensive ball.
The technique, step by step
Nothing here is athletically demanding. What the shot asks for is touch and discipline, which is exactly why players who hit the ball hard often struggle with it.
Preparation: short and low
Prepare as you would for a normal forehand or backhand, but with a noticeably shorter takeback. Bend your knees. The chiquita is played with the body low, never standing upright. The racket face starts slightly above the ball so it can travel underneath it.
Contact: a soft, controlled slice
Hit under the ball with a light slice so it floats and loses speed. You are not striking it, you are escorting it. Picture yourself placing the ball rather than hitting it. Keep the contact point in front of you, at thigh height or lower.
Trajectory: cross-court and skimming
Aim for a diagonal that clears the net by a few centimetres and drops short, right into your opponent’s feet. Cross-court is the safer choice for two reasons: the net is lower in the middle, and the diagonal gives you more court to work with.
The follow-up: move in
A good chiquita is always followed by footwork. Start moving forward the instant the ball leaves your racket. If your opponent scoops up a soft reply, you want to be at the net to finish it with a clean volley, not still admiring your shot from the back wall.
When to play it and when to avoid it
| Situation | Chiquita? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Opponents at the net, you at the back | Yes | The shot it was invented for |
| Comfortable ball at mid height | Yes | Ideal moment to drop it in |
| Very low ball or one at your feet | No | Play a defensive lob instead |
| Opponents at the back, like you | No | With nobody at the net there is nothing to neutralise |
| Fast ball rebounding off the glass | Rarely | Too little time to control the touch |
The chiquita is a construction shot, not a winner. Alternate it with the lob and your baseline game becomes genuinely hard to read: your opponent never knows whether the next ball is going high over his head or low into his shoelaces. That uncertainty is worth more than either shot on its own.
The mistakes that give it away
- Hitting it too hard: a fast chiquita sits up and becomes attackable. Its slowness is the entire point.
- Playing it too high: if the ball passes above your opponent’s hips, he will punish it. It has to stay low.
- Staying at the back afterwards: not moving in wastes the advantage you just created, which is the most common fault of the four.
- Telegraphing it: keep the same preparation you use on every other shot. A stance that suddenly changes announces the drop before you play it.
A word on equipment. The chiquita is a feel shot, and a control-oriented, forgiving frame makes it noticeably easier to dose. A very stiff, head-heavy diamond racket does the opposite. If you are unsure which profile fits your game, compare the round, teardrop and diamond shapes before you spend anything.
Two drills to train it
Ten minutes per session is enough. Both drills need a partner and a handful of cones or any small markers.
- Ground targets: place two cones in the zone just behind the net on the cross-court side. From the baseline, hit chiquitas aiming for the gap between them and count your successes out of twenty balls. Write the number down, because the progress is what keeps you doing it.
- Chiquita plus approach: your partner feeds you balls at the back, you play the chiquita and immediately move in to volley the next one. The sequence matters as much as the shot itself, and training them separately is why so many players own the shot but never gain from it.
These routines only pay off inside a coherent pair strategy, since the chiquita makes sense only if your partner moves up with you. Watching helps as well: on the Premier Padel YouTube channel, count how many chiquitas a professional pair plays in a single set against a net team. The number surprises most people, and the tour website lists which matches are worth pulling up.
Padel chiquita FAQ
Chiquita or lob, which should I choose?
Both answer the same problem, opponents at the net, in opposite ways: the lob goes over them, the chiquita goes under. Neither is better. Alternating between them is what makes you unpredictable, and predictability is what actually loses rallies at club level.
Is the chiquita played on the forehand or the backhand?
Both sides. The backhand often feels more natural for slicing, but a complete player produces it from either wing depending on the ball he gets. If your weaker wing is the backhand, our padel backhand guide covers the grip and preparation that make the slice possible.
Is it a beginner shot?
Technically yes, it is well within reach of a beginner. The difficulty is tactical rather than physical: you can learn the motion early, as long as you also learn when the situation calls for it. Playing a chiquita at the wrong moment is worse than not having one.
Why does my chiquita keep getting attacked?
Almost always because it is too high or too fast. Lower the trajectory and take pace off. The ball has to die at your opponent’s feet, not arrive at racket height where he can simply block it back at you.
Can I play it off a glass rebound?
Yes, provided you have time to reset your position and the ball is dropping. On a quick rebound off the back glass, the lob stays the safer option. Governing bodies such as the International Padel Federation publish coaching material if you want to go deeper into shot selection.
Here is what to remember: the chiquita is not won with your arm, it is won with patience. Low, slow, cross-court, followed immediately by moving in. It is the shot that turns a defence you did not choose into an attack you built. Give it ten minutes a session and watch your opponents lose their comfort at the net!