Handshake hold, either hand
1. Face vertical. Bring your palm toward the handle like a handshake.
2. Wrap the fingers; keep a comfortable wrist. Left-handers mirror the hold.
3. Support the throat with your other hand between shots; wear the wrist cord.
Find the hold before hitting a ball
The grip is how your hitting hand sits around the handle. Continental describes the hand position, not a brand or an extra piece of equipment. Start with this one hold while learning ordinary shots so that changing from forehand to backhand does not require a hurried rotation of the handle. More experienced players may adjust it for particular shots; you do not need those changes to begin. Put the safety cord around your wrist before taking any swings. Support the racket with your other hand and keep enough clear space for the racket to move.
Use the edge, then close your hand
Hold the racket in your non-hitting hand with its face vertical, as if its thin edge could cut down through a loaf of bread. Bring your hitting hand to the handle as if shaking hands with it, rather than laying the palm flat behind the face like a frying pan. Let the heel of your palm sit near the base of the handle, then wrap the fingers around it. Keep the hand on the handle, not half off the butt. Right-handers use the right hand; left-handers mirror the action with the left. The vertical-face cue works for either hand and avoids confusing bevel numbers when a demonstration is mirrored.
See the action, then try it
Padel Grip - How to hold the racket
The Padel School · from 0:04
Watch for: Watch how the hand slides down onto the handle, with the heel of the palm near its base.
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Then practise: Release and re-find the handle
Padel Grip - How to hold the racket
The Padel School · from 0:30
Watch for: See how the coach uses the wrist loop.
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Then practise: Release and re-find the handle
Check the face without twisting your wrist
The racket face is the broad hitting surface. An open face tilts upward; a closed face tilts downward. With the continental hold, a small turn of your shoulders helps present the face to the ball on either side. If you stand square to the net and try to point the face using only your wrist, the hold can feel awkward even when the hand position is reasonable. Try a slow shoulder turn before deciding that you must rotate the handle. Keep the wrist comfortable, not locked at an extreme angle. In the ready position, support the throat of the racket with your non-hitting hand so your hitting hand can relax between contacts.
Prepare, meet, reset
For a shadow rehearsal, begin facing an imaginary net with soft knees and the racket in front. Turn your shoulders a little to the forehand side and bring the racket forward to an imaginary contact beside and slightly ahead of you. Return to the middle, then repeat on the backhand side. You are checking whether the hand stays in the same place while the body changes orientation. This is not yet a full stroke lesson. When a ball is added, hold firmly enough to stop the handle slipping at contact, then ease unnecessary tension as you recover. A continuous white-knuckle squeeze makes the reset harder to notice.
What to change when the racket feels wrong
If you keep returning to a palm-behind-the-face hold, pause and rebuild the handshake position before the next repetition. If the handle rotates during a gentle contact, check that your fingers actually wrap around it and that the contact is near the middle of the face; do not solve every off-centre hit by squeezing harder. If your hand slides upward until it crowds the throat, support the racket with the other hand and reset near the base. Grip thickness is a comfort choice, not a universal finger-gap test. You can learn this check with a suitable rental racket; there is no need to buy a new one first.
Take the hold into your first shots
Before a return, use the non-hitting hand to support the racket, check the cord and settle the hold. Once the point begins, watch the ball rather than your fingers. If the hand has wandered after the rally, reset between points instead of trying to inspect it mid-swing. Move on to the forehand and backhand lessons when you can find the hold deliberately and make slow shadow actions on both sides without twisting the handle to rescue the face. Comfort and a repeatable setup matter more than how quickly you can do it.
Take it to the court
Use these suggested practice doses to compare your own sessions; they are not a rating or a pass requirement.
Release and re-find the handle
Players: 1 player
Equipment and space: Padel racket with intact wrist cord; Clear swing space
Setup: Wear the cord. Support the racket with your non-hitting hand, face vertical. Choose a visual reference for the handshake hold before beginning.
- Close the hitting hand around the handle, with the heel of the palm near its base. Look once to check it.
- Support the racket again, loosen the hitting hand and re-find the same hold without staring at your fingers.
- Make one slow forehand shadow action and return to ready. Make one slow backhand shadow action without rotating the handle.
- Pause and compare the final hold with the starting hold. Reset rather than forcing an awkward wrist angle.
- Dose
- 2 rounds of 5 grip resets, with a short pause between rounds.
- Look for
- You can re-find the hold and complete both shadow actions with a comfortable wrist and a stable handle.
- If it breaks down
- Your palm repeatedly moves behind the face or the handle spins in a gentle shadow action.
- Make it easier
- Look at your hand on every reset and rehearse only the shoulder turn.
- Make it harder
- Have a partner call forehand or backhand at an unhurried pace; make the matching shadow action without looking down.
- In your next match
- Use the same supported reset before receiving serve, then stop checking your hand once the ball is live.
Decide your next session
Repeat the reset if the handle still turns during gentle shadows. If it stays comfortable, practise ten easy forehands before adding speed.
Record it and choose repeat, vary or coachingRead next
Padel forehand: prepare early and find space for contact