Padel
How to play padel like Juan Lebrón: 5 skills that define 'El Lobo'
A right-side player with a left-side smash. A predator with a chess player's brain. Get to know the keys to Juan Lebrón's unique style of play.
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Juan Lebrón plays padel in a different way - watching him in action can be akin to listening to a virtuoso violin solo.
For three seasons, alongside Alejandro Galán, 'El Lobo', as he's sometimes known, sat at the summit of the world rankings, forming one of the most dominant teams in the sport’s history. Lebrón is one of the most talented, and physically, technically and tactically complete right-side players the game has ever produced. His success has been built on a set of qualities that, taken individually, would make him elite. Taken together, they make him a problem nobody has fully solved.
If you want to emulate him, here are the five areas you need to focus on:
01
Precision: when placement beats power
Juan Lebrón executes his signature backhand volley in Riyadh
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Forget the power narrative for a second. Yes, Lebrón also happens to be one of the biggest hitters on tour (especially for a right-side player), but his game is about more than raw power. Some other players have similar or greater levels of power. What separates him from the rest of the pack is something that opponents find more uncomfortable to deal with: he puts the ball exactly where they can’t reach it.
Lebrón’s hands and wrists can place the ball where almost nobody else can. He has mastered the arts of ball speeds, spins and heights better than anyone else. The way he drops a slow, dipping ball (chiquita) at the feet of a rival climbing towards the net, out of reach for a clean volley, just deep enough to force a clumsy half-volley response, doesn't win the point on its own, but it eventually generates winning situations because it dictates the direction of the rally from there.
Cross-court angles that pull defenders out wide, volleys threaded into the seam where the back glass meets the side, a 'vibora' shot that lands two metres from the back wall, dies, and forces a desperate lob that leads to an easy smash… Lebrón’s shot repertoire is virtually infinite.
One of the latest videos uploaded to his social media shows him hitting a series of lightning-fast vibora shots with no margin for error, and the ball bouncing less than a metre from the wall. That kind of precision is simply unattainable for most players.
Lebrón has figured out better than anyone else that padel is about geometry and angles, and that is the foundation of his game.
02
The transition game: from defence to domination
Lebrón is among the best in the world at turning defence into offence
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
If padel has a single non-negotiable truth, it's this: the team at the net wins. Which means, in tactical terms, the entire sport is a battle for the attacking positions close to the net.
Few players in the world fight that battle as well as Lebrón does.
When he's pushed back, instead of panicking or rushing, he builds towards that transition with an unparalleled ability to switch shots up: patient lobs to buy a metre of recovery, slicing bandejas that let him take two steps forward without surrendering height on the ball, viboras struck with just enough bite to stop the opposing pair from advancing… Then the explosion forward with a low athletic sprint to claim the net before the ball has finished its arc.
And once he's there? Good luck stopping him.
His net coverage is suffocating. He anticipates lobs, attacks them on the rise with a bandeja that pins opponents deep, and resets the court's geometry in his favour. Most right-siders survive at the net and let their team-mates do the heavy lifting on offence. Lebrón thrives in any position on the court.
03
Unpredictability: how Lebrón deceives his opponents
Juan Lebrón is predictably unpredictable
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
This is the one that drives Lebrón’s opponents quietly insane.
El Lobo disguises everything. The body sets up for a cross-court drive, and the ball goes down the line. The shoulders open for a smash, and the wrist flicks a delicate drop instead. He'll look at one corner of the court and hit the opposite one.
What does that do to a defender? It removes the half-second of anticipation that allows professional padel to be played at all. Without that read, opponents are reacting late, and at this level, that means losing the point.
Add in the changes of pace (the sudden chiquita or drop shot after a barrage of viboras, the unexpected sharp volley after he's been bombarding the net for five rallies straight), and the puzzle becomes nearly unsolvable. You can't attack Lebrón’s patterns or weaknesses, because he doesn't show any.
04
Power: the right-side anomaly
Lebrón hits a smash at the Reserve Cup in Marbella
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
Traditionally, right-side players (like Lebrón has been for most of his career, although he played several years on the left side) are not the finishers. The left side takes the bulk of the overheads, the x3, the explosive winners, while the right-side player usually builds up the point, thrives on defence and absorbs pressure from opponents.
But Lebrón is different, as he’s able to decide points and matches from both sides of the court, displaying huge power for a right-side player.
His smash, really from anywhere on the court, is one of the most feared shots in the game. The way he sets his feet, loads his shoulder, arches his back and annihilates the ball at its highest point before it ricochets out of the court or back to his side, over his opponents’ heads, is the kind of moment that makes crowds erupt. From the right side, that type of shot is highly unusual.
A right-side player with that type of left-side arsenal is an anomaly, and a problem opponents can't game-plan around.
05
Padel IQ: always a step ahead
Lebrón prepares to hit a 'bandeja' shot in Miami
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Lebrón's tactical reading is elite. He knows when a rally needs slowing down with a drop shot or a soft volley, and when it needs to be finished with a thunderous smash. He sees patterns three or four shots ahead, recognising that an opponent has just shifted their weight, or has lost a half-step after a long exchange.
He targets weakness without mercy. Just when opponents seem to find an opportunity and are sprinting towards the net, Lebrón throws a deep, smooth backspin lob that forces them to return to defence. If a rival is struggling with the lob over their backhand shoulder, every second ball goes there. If the player in front is scrambling to end the point at the net, he'll make up an impossible angle to steal his position and go on the offence.
He uses his partner intelligently, too. Now forming an extremely dangerous duo with heavy-hitter Leo Augsburger, arguably the best smasher in the world, Lebrón pulls defenders wide so the left side can finish with a smash or a volley from the middle, or absorbs pressure on his half so his partner can reset. Padel is a doubles sport, and the great pairs win because both brains move in tandem. Lebrón thinks faster than most.
06
Bonus: the winning mindset
Lebrón is an insatiable winner
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Most technical aspects in padel can be taught, and physical attributes can be trained and developed, but you can't teach the mentality that Lebrón carries into the third set of a tight match. He has an unmatched winning attitude, and a simple desire to defeat his opponents at all times.
"I would like to win everything, obviously, and I think I can win everything," he says. That mindset is the result of endless hours on the court, perfecting his craft. Lebrón’s work ethic is second to none and his vision is always clear: “Go to work every day as if it was the last day, always try to give 100 percent during competition,” Lebrón advises. “I'm very disciplined, I know my goal to be number one is very difficult, but not impossible,” he says.
That mindset is also what leads Lebrón to keep building one of the most complete and intimidating physiques in the padel world. At 1.85m tall, he's remarkably quick for his size, displaying incredible court coverage thanks to his reach and speed. His lean frame can be misleading, as he generates tremendous power from his elasticity and explosiveness.
Find out more about Juan Lebrón's winning mentality in his episode of Padel Life, below:
10 min
Inside Juan ‘The Wolf’ Lebrón’s champion mindset
Get a glimpse into the life of one of padel’s greatest players, Juan Lebrón aka The Wolf.
07
Where can I watch Juan Lebrón play?
You can watch Juan Lebrón and every Premier Padel match live on Red Bull TV. For full tournament schedules, results, and player news, head to the Premier Padel website.
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