Overheads: bandeja, víbora and smash

When the lob is still going back, decide before you swing. Moving back, low contact, or a deep lob: bandeja. Set, high contact, short lob: víbora or smash. If you are not sure, bandeja. It keeps the net and asks the question again. Smash only to finish.

You met the order of these shots in The order to learn the shots. You took the net with the lob. The bandeja is how you keep it.

The bandeja

The bandeja is a placement overhead, not a smash. Underspin, a low bounce, and depth. A good one often does not win the point outright. It keeps you in charge so the next ball can.

Its job is to keep the net and reset the rally. The spin is underspin (slice). The risk is low. At club level, play it on a deep lob, when you are moving back, late, or off-balance.

The víbora pressures and forces a weak reply, with side-spin and pace, and a medium risk. Use it when you are set, contact is high, and you have time to swing.

The smash finishes when the ball is short. Flat, with power, and a high risk. At club level that is a short, high ball and a clear chance.

Smash, only to finish

The smash ends the point when the ball is short and you are set. Down into the court, when the ball sits up, is the safe finish. A smash you cannot put away comes back faster than you recover. If you are not finishing, play a bandeja.

Grip and shape

Continental grip, the same as volleys and the serve. Hold the racket like a hammer. The face opens naturally for slice. Preparation: elbow up, racket beside your head, face open and parallel to the ground.

Contact and swing

1. Read the lob early. Commit to the bandeja when the ball is deep and high.
2. Turn sideways. Small shuffle steps under the ball. Do not backpedal.
3. Contact in front, roughly head height, not behind your body.
4. Brush high to low under the ball. Short, compact swing. Guide, do not hit.
5. Keep the swing short. Depth and spin beat pace.
6. Recover forward immediately with your partner. The shot is not finished until you are back at the net.

Leave the bandeja when the lob pushes you well behind the service line. Let it bounce and defend off the glass, or lob back. A very short, high lob with you set at the net is smash territory.

If the ball bounces high off the back glass, the bandeja failed. Usually it was too flat, too hard, contact was behind the body, or there was not enough slice.

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Advanced overheads

The overhead is four shots, each with a job.

• Bandeja: keep the net under pressure. This is the default.
• Víbora: attack a lob you can reach early.
• Smash (remate): finish the point.
• Bajada de pared: recover from a deep lob and climb back to the net.

Choosing the right one matters more than hitting them harder.

The bandeja is a cut overhead played around shoulder or head height. Contact slightly in front, with a high-to-low cutting motion. Aim for depth and a low bounce, not power. It lets a pair hold the net through a long rally. The common mistake is hitting it too flat or too hard, so you lose the slice that holds the depth.

The víbora is side-spin, flatter and faster than the bandeja, only when contact is early and high. If you are late or stretched, revert to the bandeja.

Three ways to finish

• Down into the court when the ball sits up. That is the safe finish.
• Por tres: after the bounce, the ball hits the back glass, then a kick smash sends it out over the side fence.
• Por cuatro: from near the net, a flat smash into the opponent's floor that leaves over the back enclosure. It does not have to hit the back glass.

They are different exits. Both are high-risk. Attempt them only when you are set and the lob is short enough.

Bajada: two different shots

When a lob beats you and bounces towards the back glass, you have two answers. Do not use one name for both.

Recovery bajada: play the ball off the back wall, place it deep, and move back up to the net. The job is to climb, not to hit a winner. This is the ordinary recovery after your own glass. A jump or winner bajada is a different shot.

Attacking bajada: the feed has bounced, then come off the back glass. You hit it flat through the middle with pace, then step forward. The drill that scores it is Bajada builder.

Read the lob early and turn before it reaches the wall. For the recovery, place it deep, then move forward. For the attacking shot, aim through the middle only when you mean to.

Situation	Play
Comfortable lob, and you want to stay at the net	Bandeja
Early-read lob, in front, and you want to attack	Víbora
Short sit-up you can end	Smash
Lob beats you at the net	Bajada, then climb back

Practise it

1. Partner lob feed. Fifteen bandejas, continental grip and a high-to-low swing, before you aim at corners.
2. After every bandeja, walk forward to the net with your partner before the next ball.
3. One set where every overhead must be a bandeja. That builds the habit under pressure.

Bandeja and recover · 2 players · 20 min

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Common errors

• Smashing every lob. Control first: bandeja until you are set and the contact is high.
• Hitting too hard. Smooth slice, and placement over power.
• A forehand or eastern grip. Use continental, the hammer grip.
• Contact behind the body. Turn early and hit in front.
• Landing short. Deep first, the last third of the court.
• No recovery to the net. Hit, then move forward as a pair.
• Playing a víbora when a bandeja was safer.
• Smashing a ball you cannot put away. It comes back.
• Using one name for the recovery bajada and the attacking bajada.

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