Serve analysis in U-18 padel players: an observational study

Abstract

Padel has become one of the most practiced sports in Spain. Within this sport, the serve represents 10% of the actions in a match. Many studies have been done on professional players, but research involving young players is low. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of the serve in U-18 padel players. To this end, a sample of 918 points were analyzed through observational analysis from matches corresponding to the 2024 Under-18 Master Final. The results showed that, in serve direction, 2 out of 3 serves choose glass direction, showing a predominance between other serves. Additionally, sex differences were observed: female players perform 7% more serves toward the glass wall, while boys serve 4% more at the center, and allow 21.1% more rebounds on the side wall compared to male players. It was also detected that winning pairs tend to serve approximately 6% more toward the T zone, a strategy that seems to make returns more difficult for opponents. Finally, it was confirmed that the percentage of points won on serve decreases as the rally duration increases, with this decrease being more pronounced in women than in men. These results highlight the importance of the serve in the competitive performance of youth padel players and suggest the need to design specific training sessions, differentiated by sex and by playing characteristics, to optimize the strategic use of the serve.