LA VIBORA
The Vibora Padel Stroke is named after the Spanish word "La Vibora," which means "Viper." It is named after an animal that attacks its prey in a lethal manner. When you first start playing Padel, this is not a shot you will be able to control easily. When you reach a medium level of play, you can begin practicing this stroke.
So, what is the Vibora shot?
The Vibora is a type of high volley played from the backhand court with a lot of side-slice spin to cause the ball to come off the back glass at an angle.
When your opponent plays an easy lob and you're still close to the net, you'll usually play the Vibora. You can be more aggressive with your smash from this position. You can also hit a Bandeja, but the Vibora is slightly more aggressive, putting your opponents under more pressure.
The main distinction between the Vibora and the Bandeja is that the Vibora is used to hit the ball from the outside, whereas the Bandeja is used to hit the ball from underneath. Let's go over the steps you can take to incorporate the Vibora into your repertoire.
Watch the video below which shows the Vibora Technique in slow motion.
The backswing of the Vibora is extremely short.
Too much backswing will result in you swinging your racket head around the ball and hitting it from the side, sending it directly out.
What you want to do is chopping across the back of the ball while controlling the amount of forward motion of your racket.
Use the back glass to practice your Vibora.
When you begin playing the shot, use the back glass as a practice aid to prevent you from using too much backswing.
Stand near the center of the court, side-on to the back glass, about elbow distance from the back glass, holding the racket up as if to play a high volley.
The back glass prevents your arm from taking a larger backswing in this position. You'll notice that this is almost exactly the same starting position as the Bandeja.
Step 1: Make a diagonal cut across the back of the ball.
Toss up a ball from this starting position and chop across the back of the ball, connecting it forward of eye level.
If you play the short correctly, standing in the center of the court, the ball should go straight to the side fence on your side of the net without bouncing.
Playing without a backswing allows you to generate the side slice with more wrist action. When the ball goes straight into the side fence, you know you're getting enough side size. If your ball clears the net from the back wall, more side-slice is required.
You're ready to advance when you can consistently slice the ball to the side fence on your side of the net.
Step 2: Performing The Side Slice Vibora From The Court's T
You can progress to the T of the court once you've mastered the Vibora without the backswing.
Maintain your shoulders pointing straight down at the court's centerline. The goal here is to side slice the ball so that it clears the net and hits the side fence on the opposite side of the net without bouncing.
If the ball travels all the way to the glass, more side-slice is required. Remember that you'll be playing this as a volley, and a ball that travels too far will hit the back glass.
When you can consistently put the ball into the side fence, you'll be ready to move across to your volley position and begin practicing your Vibora in the manner in which you'll use it in a game.
Step 3: Experiment With Your Vibora Up The Center Line
The Vibora is most effective when played from the backhand court, as you might expect.
Take up your volley position in the backhand court to practice this. Take a stance as if you're going to play a cross-court volley to the far corner. To put it another way, your shoulders should be angled towards the far corner. If you put enough side slice on the ball, your Vibora will actually go up the center of the court from this stance.
The ball will also kick cross-court rather than straight back, as with a Bandeja.
Again, the training drill for this is to hit practice balls until your side slice Vibora can go up the court's centerline.
Step 4: The Sticky-Ball Cross-Court Vibora.
After you've mastered the slide slice Vibora up the center of the court, you can move on to the more advanced sticky-ball cross-court Vibora.
I call this the sticky-ball Vibora because when done correctly, your cross-court shot will appear to stick to the sidewall.
To execute this version of the Vibora correctly, adopt the same stance as for the easy Vibora up the center of the court.
The difference here is that you connect more behind the ball rather than to the side with the same arm speed. It also implies that you play through the ball rather than simply slicing past the back of it. This minor adjustment will angle the ball into the cross-court corner.
This variation will require a lot of practice shots to get right.
A low bench between the service line and the back of the court is an excellent practice drill for this variation of the Vibora. Aim your Vibora so that the ball bounces under the bench before landing in the corner.
Step 5: Varying Your Viboras
Once you've mastered both the soft, high spin Vibora and the too-hard low spin Vibora into the corner, your next practice drill will be to alternate between the center of the court and the corner.
This way, you'll get a better sense of how each version feels.
When Do You Use Your Vibora?
Vibora is a more aggressive shot than Bandeja. It also means you'll be playing it from easier balls and weaker lobs. When you are forced back from the net, to or behind the service line, you will frequently play the Bandeja.
If you can step up to the net, you can play a power smash that bounces up and over the 4-meter high back wall. The Vibora is an excellent high volley for in-between situations where you can still get over your shot and play aggressively.
In cold, wet conditions, the Vibora outperforms the Smash.
Because humidity and cold make the ball heavier and less bouncy, the smash becomes much more difficult. When the likelihood is high that your smash will not be able to exit the court properly, using a Vibora is a much better alternative to using a smash.
So, during the cold and wet winter months, use your time on the court to practice your Vibora as much as possible, knowing that your smash will be far less effective.
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