The chiquita in padel: the quiet shot that steals the net

There's one shot that separates a solid amateur from a pair that somehow holds its own against better opponents. It isn't the smash. It isn't the víbora. It's the chiquita — a slow, low, carefully measured ball dropped at the feet of the players at the net. It rarely wins a point on first contact. What it does is steal the net — and with it, control of the rally. Here is how we teach the chiquita at PlayPadel: what it is, when to play it, how to hit it, and why so many players underrate it.

What the chiquita is and why it works

Chiquita (Spanish for "little one") is a deliberately slow ball played from the back court that drops at the feet of the opponents at the net. It is not a mishit, not "I tried to lob and didn't get enough on it." It's an intentional, carefully dosed ball with a short trajectory and a low margin over the net.

The logic is simple and pleasantly counter-intuitive. When opponents are at the net, instinct says either hit harder or lob over them. But padel isn't tennis. A hard groundstroke without preparation usually comes back as a more comfortable volley. A lob is fine — but if your opponents handle overheads well, they will play a calm bandeja, stay at the net and grind you down again.

The chiquita solves the problem differently. It forces the opponents to hit upward — and at the net, hitting up means giving up the initiative. Any volley played below the tape goes up. Any volley going up gives your pair a lob, a comfortable bandeja, or — if the opponents are really out of time — a simple ball for you to finally take the net yourselves.

Aziz Karimov, our 6.0-rated coach at Humo Arena, puts it like this: "Padel isn't won by the player who hits harder. It's won by the player who keeps the other one playing from below. The chiquita is the cheapest way to make your opponent keep lifting the ball."

Chiquita vs. lob: two opposite ways to steal the net

The big decision for anyone playing from the back: lob or chiquita? Both shots answer the same question — "how do we get to the net?" — in opposite planes.

A lob asks the opponents to step back, look up, play an overhead and give up the net while they defend. If they're shaky overhead, it's a killer. If they're not, they hit a comfortable bandeja, stay forward, and you've just earned another back-wall rally.

A chiquita asks the opponents to bend down, play from an uncomfortable low contact, lift the ball, and give up the net while they recover. If they're shaky on low volleys — and most players below 5.5 are — it's also a killer. And importantly, the chiquita doesn't demand the precision of a perfect lob, doesn't care about the ceiling height (matters for our winter indoor halls), and doesn't telegraph itself.

A good pair doesn't pick one shot "forever." It alternates lob and chiquita depending on how the opponents stand: high and sharp on the volley → lob; deeper and weak from below → chiquita. That rhythm change on its own wears opponents down more than any one "signature" shot.

When the chiquita is the right choice

The chiquita doesn't work in every moment of the rally. It's not a default — it's an answer to a specific situation. Memorize it and the shot will start earning points immediately.

Play the chiquita when:

• Both opponents are pressed tight to the net and handle lobs well.
• The opponent gave you a medium-height ball from the back that you can take comfortably in front.
• You have time for a clean, controlled swing — not last-second improvisation.
• You want to change rhythm after a string of lobs — opponents have set themselves for overheads and aren't expecting a low ball.
• The court surface plays slow or medium, so a low ball won't sit up nicely for an attacking volley.

Don't play the chiquita when:

• An opponent is standing half a step behind the tape or one of the pair is clearly hanging back — a low ball there is just a comfortable volley.
• You're under pressure and took the ball on the run — a poorly prepared chiquita is too risky, lob instead.
• The ball came in high and easy — that's territory for an aggressive cross or a sliced winner down the line, not the "classical" slow chiquita.
• You're playing a 5.5+ pair with quick first steps and low volleys — they'll often counter-volley a chiquita right back into your feet.

Technique: how to hit a chiquita

The chiquita looks simple — "just hit it slow." In reality it's a measured, precise technique, and the simplicity is where most errors hide. Let's break it down.

Grip and stance

The grip is continental ("hammer grip") — the same grip you use for volleys and overheads. The continental opens the racket face and lets you guide the ball softly at the angle you want, instead of "pushing" it. An eastern forehand grip works too if it feels natural — there's no reason to re-learn a grip just for the chiquita.

Stance: neutral, feet shoulder-width, torso slightly turned toward the ball. Knees soft. Don't stand "wooden" and don't reach for the ball with one arm — the chiquita is hit with the whole body, like a soft volley played from the back.

Backswing and contact point

The backswing is short: the racket goes back roughly to shoulder level, no further. A long backswing automatically adds power and kills the whole idea of the chiquita — the ball will leave too fast.

The contact point is in front of you, at waist level or slightly below, not late. If you make contact next to or behind your body, the chiquita turns into a random half-lob. The rule: the feet move so that you meet the ball at the right point — not the racket that has to chase it.

Follow-through

The big secret of the chiquita is follow-through, not strike. You almost guide the ball with the racket through the net, 30–40 cm beyond contact, softly, with no slap. The wrist is calm and fixed by light hand pressure — no "snap," or the ball will accelerate at the worst possible moment.

A light underspin (low backspin or a neutral ball) is fine. Heavy slice isn't needed: the goal isn't to spin the ball but to drop it low over the net and kill its speed.

Margin over the net

A healthy chiquita passes over the net by 10–25 cm. Higher and the opponent simply volleys it away. Lower and you'll regularly hit the tape. On the practice court, set a string or a visual marker above the net and aim into that corridor until it becomes automatic.

Where to aim

The chiquita is a shot to an address. Where you put it decides how uncomfortable the opponent's reply will be.

1. Center, between the two opponents. The simplest and most effective address against an amateur pair. A low ball in the middle creates that split-second "yours?" hesitation in which they either error or play from a bad position. Especially effective against a righty-lefty pair with forehands meeting in the middle — that "responsibility zone" in the center is often gray.
2. At the feet of one opponent. If one player is clearly the weaker low volleyer, or one is uncoordinated below the tape, put it there. You don't have to "kill" it — making them lift the ball is enough.
3. Down the line along the side glass. Tougher technically, but opens the diagonal for your partner at the net. Works well against pairs that stand narrow and leave the lines exposed.
4. At the body. A chiquita into the hip or stomach is a legal, very awkward ball. The opponent has no time to turn, and most amateurs in that situation just float a lob — exactly what you want.

What you never do: don't aim center at a comfortable volleyer's height. A poor chiquita that catches the tape is better than a "nice" chiquita at waist level.

Comparing back-court answers

To avoid confusing the chiquita with other replies to a netter, keep this table in mind. It also answers the question "what do I pick in this situation?"

The sliced cross and the bajada deserve their own articles (we already covered the bajada in our piece on playing off the back wall). For now what matters is this: the chiquita is the quietest entry to the net of the four, and that's exactly why opponents have such a hard time reading it.

Common amateur mistakes

The chiquita is rarely lost because "the technique is too hard." Far more often it's lost to one of four things we see every week in training.

Mistake 1. Too much pace. A chiquita stops being a chiquita the second it travels at the speed of a normal sliced groundstroke. The opponent simply re-directs it with a calm volley. The fix is a mental cue: "40% of my normal slice." If it feels like you're under-hitting, you're probably doing it right.

Mistake 2. Too high over the net. Usually born from fear of catching the tape. The ball passes at head height for the netter and you've handed them an attacking volley. Cure: visual target "low over the net" and a training corridor — string a cord above the net 30 cm up and put balls between the net and the cord. Once it feels natural, remove the cord.

Mistake 3. Long backswing. Players hit the chiquita with the same backswing as a normal back-court groundstroke. The result is too much pace and unwanted spin. The swing should look like a "long volley" — compact, no sweeping prep behind you.

Mistake 4. Wrong incoming ball. If the opponent gave you a heavy, deep ball at the back glass, do not try the chiquita — you don't have time or control. That's a lob situation or a wall-build situation. The chiquita comes from a comfortable medium ball, period.

Drills that build a reliable chiquita

The chiquita drills beautifully because it doesn't demand strength or a heroic swing — just a repeatable soft motion. Below are four drills we use in lessons, from simple to game-like.

Drill 1. Chiquita off feeds

Stand on the back line; a partner (or coach) feeds you a medium ball at waist height. Your job: a calm chiquita to the center of the opponent's court, low over the net. No lob, no power — just technique.

• 3 sets of 10 reps on the forehand, then the same on the backhand.
• A rep counts only if the ball passes below 25 cm over the net and lands inside the front 2 meters of the opposite court.

Drill 2. Chiquita to address

Same as Drill 1, but a partner now stands at the net as a live target. Aim in rotation: 5 chiquitas to the right, 5 to the left, 5 down the middle.

• 3 sets of 15 reps. The point isn't to "hit the person" — it's to reproduce the right pace and trajectory to the right address.

Drill 3. Chiquita to a moving netter

Same setup, but after the feed your partner shifts left or right along the net. You must read the shift and place the chiquita into the open corridor or at the feet. This is the real in-game pattern.

• 4 sets of 8 reps. A rep counts only if the netter is forced to play the ball from below.

Drill 4. Live points — "lob, chiquita, lob"

A semi-live rally: you and a partner play against a pair at the net. Your task is to never strike from the back — only change rhythm: lob, chiquita, lob, again, until somebody errors or you take the net.

• 5–10 points in a row. Count how many points end with you reaching the net.

A coach speeds this up significantly — they will spot a long backswing, an open racket face, or a late contact point and fix it on the spot. Find the right one in our PlayPadel coaches section, and work the drill on any of Tashkent's padel courts with medium-to-slow surfaces.

How the chiquita fits into team tactics

One nice shot doesn't win a match by itself. The chiquita earns points only when it's wired into a simple two-player pattern.

1. Opponents take the net. You're on the back line.
2. You drop a chiquita to the center or the feet — the opponent has to play from below.
3. Your partner is already a step forward, ready to cut off the short reply with a volley.
4. If the opponent floats the ball, your partner volleys away — or you both move to the net together.
5. If the opponent saves it with a lob, you handle it with a clean bandeja and stay forward, because the initiative is already on your side.

For this cycle to actually work, your court positioning during the back-to-net transition matters — we covered that in our piece on court positioning in padel. And the best way to stress-test a chiquita under pressure is at a real amateur tournament — we keep a running list of the upcoming ones in Tashkent's padel events.

Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and the average level in Tashkent rises every season. A pair that can not only hold the net but also quietly take it back with a chiquita is always a step ahead of one that tries to solve everything with smashes and identical lobs. If you want more building blocks alongside the chiquita, jump into the PlayPadel blog for breakdowns of the bandeja and the víbora — the three shots work together as one system.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the chiquita different from a normal sliced groundstroke?

By pace, by margin over the net, and by intent. A normal cross or down-the-line groundstroke tries to penetrate or push the opponent back. The chiquita is a deliberately slow, low ball at the feet of the netters, meant not to win on contact but to force a play from below.

Is the chiquita an attacking or a defensive shot?

It's a transition shot. The defensive job is to deny the netter an attacking volley; the offensive job is to take the net away. The chiquita is awkward for the opponent and low-risk for you, which is why it holds up even under pressure.

Can you hit the chiquita on the backhand?

Yes — and in modern padel it's often the more common version. A lefty's forehand chiquita and a righty's backhand chiquita diagonal are textbook redirects. Same technique: short backswing, soft follow-through, low over the net.

Where should I aim most of the time?

The safest and most effective target is the center between the two opponents — it creates the moment of hesitation and a bad contact point for both players. The next best target is the feet of the weaker low-volleyer in the pair.

How is the chiquita different from a lob?

A lob goes high over the netters and forces them to defend overhead; the chiquita goes low over the net and forces them to play from below. Two opposite solutions to one problem — take the net — and a good pair alternates them all match.

Can an amateur really learn the chiquita?

Yes — and faster than the víbora or the bajada. The chiquita doesn't ask for power or a complex swing — just a steady soft follow-through and a low trajectory. Start with the feed drill, and within two or three sessions you'll be using it confidently in real games, especially under the eye of a coach.