Bajada
Also known as: off-the-wall attack(term used as-is across languages)
A bajada — Spanish for "descent" — is an attacking shot played after the ball rebounds off your own back glass, taking it on the way down to drive it back hard and reclaim the net.
When a lob beats you and bounces off the back wall, the bajada lets you turn defence into offence: you let the ball come off the glass, time it on the descent, and hit down and through to push the opponents back. It is a high-skill shot that separates advanced players, because mistiming the wall rebound surrenders the point. The headword is kept in Spanish across languages.
Example
Lobbed and pushed back, the player lets the ball rebound off the back glass and drives a bajada down the middle to retake the net.
Related terms
- Wall PlayWall play is using the glass walls that enclose a padel court — letting a ball rebound off the back or side glass and playing it on the bounce, which keeps points alive far longer than in tennis.
- Net ControlNet control is occupying the net as a team — the dominant attacking position in padel. The pair at the net dictates points; the pair at the back defends and tries to lob them off it.
- ContraparedA contrapared is a defensive shot played off your own side glass — letting a ball that has passed you rebound off the wall so you can keep the point alive.
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