TL;DR
The lob and the chiquita solve the same problem — you are pinned at the back and the opposing pair owns the net — but they solve it in opposite directions. The lob pushes opponents backwards. The chiquita pulls them downwards.
The decision comes down to one question: is the net pair’s weight forward or back?
- Weight forward, feet close to the net, hands high → chiquita
- Weight settled, standing off the net, ready to step back → lob
- Ball arriving above your waist → lob (a rising chiquita is a free smash for them)
- Ball dropping below your knee after the glass → chiquita (a lob from there is short and gets punished)
Most intermediate players default to the lob every time and lose the point on the third or fourth exchange. This guide gives you the read.
The problem this article solves
Every guide to the chiquita explains the technique: soft hands, short backswing, continental grip, ball at their feet. That part is well covered. What almost nobody covers is the layer above it — the decision.
You are at the back. The ball is coming. You have roughly 0.4 seconds. Lob or chiquita? Get the shot selection wrong and perfect technique loses the point anyway. A beautifully struck chiquita to a pair standing two metres off the net is a gift. A beautifully struck lob against a pair with a good bandeja is a slower way to lose the same point.
This is a decision framework, not a technique tutorial. It assumes you can already hit both shots reasonably. If you cannot, work through the technique first — the framework has nothing to act on until both options exist.
Why the two shots are opposites
| Lob | Chiquita | |
|---|---|---|
| Direction of pressure | Vertical — pushes opponents back | Horizontal — pulls opponents down and in |
| What it exploits | Weak overheads, poor footwork backwards | Forward weight, high hands, tight net position |
| What it gives up if it fails | A bandeja or vibora, and you stay defending | A high volley into open court, point usually over |
| Time it buys you | 2–3 seconds to reset position | Under a second — you must already be moving |
| Risk profile | Lower risk, slower payoff | Higher risk, faster payoff |
| Physical demand | Low | High — requires deep knee bend and precise timing |
Note the asymmetry in the failure modes. A bad lob costs you the rally. A bad chiquita usually costs you the point. That difference should shape how often you reach for each one, and it explains why the lob deserves to be the default. The framework below is about identifying the moments when the default is wrong.
The six variables
Read these in order. The first two do most of the work.
1. Where is their weight?
This is the primary read, and it is visible before the ball reaches you.
Weight forward — toes loaded, hands up around chest height, standing within a metre of the net, leaning into the court. They are hunting a volley. They cannot drop their centre of gravity quickly. Chiquita.
Weight settled or back — heels down, standing near or behind the service line, split step already completed with a neutral base. They are covering the lob. Lob is now the wrong shot — but so is the chiquita, because they have room to step forward and volley comfortably. This is when you play a low cross-court drive or a deep flat ball to the corner and reset.
Watch their hands, not their feet. Hands above shoulder height means their body is committed forward, regardless of where their feet are.
2. How high is the ball at your contact point?
Above your waist: the chiquita is off the menu. To keep a chiquita low you have to hit down through the ball, and hitting down from waist height sends it into the net or, worse, sits it up at net height where anyone can put it away. Play the lob.
Between knee and waist: both shots are live. Move to variable 3.
Below the knee, after the glass: the chiquita is the higher-percentage option. A lob struck from below knee height rarely gets enough depth — it lands short around their service line, which is exactly where a bandeja lives.
3. Have you taken the ball before or after the glass?
After the back wall (salida de pared): you are stepping into the court with forward momentum and the ball is dropping. Ideal chiquita conditions, and your body is already travelling in the direction you want to go.
Direct, before the wall: you are usually moving backwards or laterally, off balance, with less time. Lob.
This variable alone explains why chiquitas hit off the glass work and chiquitas hit on the run do not.
4. Which side are you on?
Left side (backhand court, for a right-hander): the backhand chiquita cross-court into the opponent’s forehand-side feet is the highest-percentage version of the shot. The slice comes naturally off the backhand, the ball stays low, and the trajectory travels away from the middle where balls get intercepted.
Right side: your forehand chiquita is harder to keep low and easier to read, because the preparation differs more visibly from your lob preparation. Right-side players should lean more heavily on the lob and use the chiquita mostly down the line, into the tramline, where a mistake at least stays away from the middle.
5. What is the score?
The chiquita is a percentage shot with a punishing failure mode. That makes the score relevant in a way it is not for most shots.
- 0–30, 15–40, or any point you can afford to lose: good time to use it, and good time to show it to them so it exists in their heads later.
- 30–40, deuce, golden point: unless the read is unmistakable, play the lob. Lose the rally, not the game.
- You have just won two points in a row with lobs: now the chiquita is at its most valuable. They have started leaning back to cover the lob — which is the read from variable 1, engineered rather than waited for.
That last point is the one that separates tactical players from shot collectors. The chiquita is most effective as the second shot in a pattern, not as an isolated choice.
6. Are you and your partner moving together?
A successful chiquita forces a low volley. That low volley pops up. If nobody is moving forward to take it, you have done all the work and collected none of the reward — and you are now defending a mid-court ball from behind the service line, which is worse than where you started.
Rule: do not hit a chiquita unless your partner can see you hit it. If they are recovering from a wide ball or facing the back glass, the shot has no follow-up. Lob instead, and use the three seconds to re-form your line.
The traffic-light summary
| Read | Call |
|---|---|
| Their weight forward + ball below your waist + ball off the glass + partner in position | 🟢 Chiquita |
| Their weight forward + ball at waist height | 🟡 Lob, then chiquita on the next comparable ball |
| Their weight settled, standing off the net | 🟡 Neither — flat cross-court drive, reset the rally |
| Ball above waist, or you are on the run, or golden point | 🔴 Lob |
Four patterns worth stealing
The double lob into chiquita. Two lobs to the same corner. On the third comparable ball, they are anticipating and hanging back — chiquita into the space they have just vacated. This is the highest-percentage chiquita in club padel and it costs nothing to set up.
Chiquita to the outside foot. Aiming “at their feet” is imprecise. Aim at the foot furthest from the middle. A low volley taken on the outside foot cannot be redirected cross-court with any pace, which means the reply comes back into your court predictably and you can commit forward with confidence.
The chiquita exchange. Against a pair that also plays the shot well, chiquita rallies form at mid-court with all four players hovering around the service lines. Do not try to end this exchange with power. Whoever raises the ball first loses. The winning move is patience plus one disguised lob when their weight finally tips forward.
The chiquita you do not hit. Preparation for the chiquita and preparation for the lob should look identical — racket under the ball, open face, short backswing. If they look the same, your opponents cannot lean either way, and the lob you actually hit becomes more effective. Half the value of having a chiquita is the doubt it creates.
Where intermediate players lose points with this
Hitting the chiquita from too far back. From two metres behind the service line, the ball has too far to travel and rises over the net at a height any competent volleyer punishes. If you are deep in the corner, lob.
Using it as a defensive escape. The chiquita is an attacking shot played from a defensive position. Those are not the same thing. If you are stretched, off-balance, or late, it is not available — you are just hitting a short ball and hoping.
Not moving after it. The shot exists to create the opening. If your feet stay planted, you have created an opening for nobody.
Playing it against the wrong opponent. Against a pair with poor low volleys it wins points. Against a pair with soft hands and good knee bend, it just starts a chiquita exchange you may not want. Test it early in the match at a cheap score and find out which pair you are facing.
Two drills that build the decision, not just the shot
Most chiquita drills train the stroke in isolation, which is why players hit good chiquitas at the wrong moments. These train the read.
Drill 1 — The call drill (15 minutes). One player at the back, two at the net. Before each feed, the net players secretly choose a position: tight to the net, or a metre off it. The back player must hit the correct shot for what they see — chiquita against the tight position, lob against the deep one. Score only the decision, not the execution. Ten reps, count correct reads. Most players start around 5/10 and reach 8/10 within three sessions.
Drill 2 — The pattern drill (15 minutes). The back player must hit two lobs before they are allowed a chiquita, and the chiquita must be followed by both back players moving to the net. The point is played out from there. This trains the sequence and the follow-up together, which is where the actual points come from.
Both drills fit into the structure I use in the practice plan I give every new student — slot them into the tactical block rather than the technical one.
Does equipment matter here?
A little, and less than people want it to.
The chiquita rewards dwell time — the ball needs to sit on the face long enough for you to control the height. A softer core and a lower balance point make that easier, which is one of the reasons control-oriented setups suit players whose game runs through the back of the court. I covered how those specs map to playing style in the racket shape and balance guide, and grip stability in part one on overgrips.
But be clear about the ranking. Shot selection is worth more than technique here, and technique is worth more than equipment. Nobody has ever lost a chiquita point because of their core density.
[AFFILIATE BLOCK — soft-core / low-balance control rackets, framed as “setups for back-of-court players”. Keep it to two options and place it here, after the tactical value has been delivered — not above the fold.]
FAQ
When should you play a chiquita instead of a lob in padel? Play the chiquita when the opposing net players have their weight forward — tight to the net, hands high — and the ball reaches you below waist height, ideally after bouncing off the back glass. Play the lob when the ball is above your waist, when you are moving backwards, or when opponents are already positioned deep to cover the net.
Why does my chiquita keep getting volleyed away? Usually one of three causes: you are hitting it from too deep in the court, so the ball rises before it reaches the net; you are hitting it against opponents who are standing off the net and have time to step in; or your preparation telegraphs it, letting them start moving early.
Should you move to the net after a chiquita? Only when the chiquita has actually forced an upward volley, and only when your partner is positioned to move with you. Advancing behind every chiquita regardless of the reply costs more points than it wins at club level.
Is the chiquita a beginner shot? No. It requires deep knee bend, a controlled short swing, and a tactical read of opponent positioning under time pressure. Beginners are better served by developing a reliable deep lob, which solves the same problem with a far lower failure cost.
What is the difference between a chiquita and a drop shot? A drop shot aims to land the ball short and unreachable, trying to win the point outright. The chiquita is not trying to win the point — it aims at the net players’ feet to force a weak upward volley, creating the opening for the next shot.
Which side of the court is the chiquita easier from? The backhand side. The slice needed to keep the ball low comes more naturally off the backhand, and the preparation is harder for opponents to distinguish from a lob.