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Contrapared
Also known as: counter off the side wall(term used as-is across languages)
A 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.
When a hard shot beats you wide, the contrapared uses the side wall behind you to retrieve it: you read the rebound off the glass and lift the ball back, usually a defensive lob. It is the ultimate expression of padel’s wall play — balls that would be clean winners in tennis are still live. The headword is kept in Spanish across languages.
Example
A víbora skids off the side glass past the player, who reads the wall, plays a contrapared, and lifts a defensive lob.
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.
- BajadaA 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.
- VíboraA víbora is an aggressive sliced overhead — Spanish for "viper" — hit with sidespin so it stays low and kicks awkwardly off the side glass, more attacking than a bandeja but more controlled than a smash.
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