Padel
How to play padel like Bea González: 5 skills that help 'The Pearl' shine
The most feared smash in the women's game is only part of the story. These five qualities explain why Bea González keeps winning, and why opponents keep running out of answers.
Bea González has been rewriting padel's record books since before she could legally drive. Professional at 14, the youngest player ever to contest a World Padel Tour final, and now, at 24, one of the defining figures of the women's game. In Málaga, where she grew up watching her father play with his friends on the local courts, they've known for two decades what the rest of the world is only now discovering: 'The Pearl' is a generational talent.
Sport runs deep in her family. Her grandfather, Antonio González 'Chuzo', wore the shirts of Atlético de Madrid, Málaga CF and the Spanish national football team in the 1960s. Her father put a racket in her hands almost by accident, simply by letting her hang around the court. That inheritance (the competitiveness, the athleticism, the refusal to be anywhere other than where the action is) shows up in every match she plays.
González’s recent results are nothing short of remarkable. After an unfortunate 2024 season marred by injuries, she stormed back in 2025 with six titles alongside Claudia Fernández. In 2026, now partnering with left-handed Paula Josemaría, she has already matched last season’s trophy haul and continues to underline her status as one of the leading stars in the world’s best padel competition.
These five skills explain how she got here.
01
Explosiveness: an athlete built differently
Bea González boasts remarkable speed for her size
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Few players in the women's game combine González's physical tools in a single frame. At 1.74m, she has the reach and leverage of a natural attacker, paired with a first step and top-end speed that belong to a sprinter. The combination is unusual, and it shapes everything else she does.
I would describe myself as a very physical player who is moving all the time, actually too much sometimes
"I would describe myself as a very physical player who is moving all the time, actually too much sometimes," she says. It's an accurate self-portrait. Bea’s intensity and stamina stay almost untouched throughout grueling three-hour battles, which means the athletic gap between her and her rivals often widens exactly when matches are decided.
That physical base is not a coincidence or genetics alone. It's maintained through a training routine that has been professional-grade since her early teens, and it gives her a margin for error most players simply don't have.
02
Aerial game: when good lobs aren’t enough
Bea González is a specialist at finishing rallies with power
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
If there is one department where González has a serious claim to being the best in the women's game, it's above her head. Her smash is arguably the most feared weapon on the tour: hit with enough spin and precision to send the ball out of the court by three meters, or with enough raw power to bring it back over the net and onto her own side, unreachable either way. In women's padel, where sending the ball out of the court is still a rarer occurrence than in the men's game, that ability changes the mathematics of every rally.
For opponents playing against González, almost any imperfect lob is an invitation to end the point. This forces rivals into attempting lower-percentage alternatives, and that pressure generates errors long before an opportunity for the smash presents itself.
The finishing shots are only part of the arsenal. González has turned viboras - theoretically a transition shot to hold positions at the net - into attacking weapons, making them extremely deep and spin-heavy to keep rivals pinned to limited positions, unable to advance, absorbing pressure shot after shot.
At the net, her hands and reaction time are among the finest in the sport: sharp, decisive volleys that convert neutral exchanges into winning positions. This full aerial package is what makes her half of the court so difficult to attack.
03
Footwork: always in the right place
Bea González at the Premier Padel P2 in Valladolid
© Premier Padel / Red Bull Content Pool
Watching González's feet for a full match is a masterclass in itself. The split steps, the constant micro-adjustments, the small bounces between shots. The activity never stops, whether it's the second game or the third set.
That constant movement means that she almost always strikes the ball in optimal positions. Where other players stretch, improvise, or adjust as fatigue accumulates, González keeps arriving balanced and ready. Shots hit from the right place carry more power, more precision and fewer risks, and over the course of a match, those small advantages compound into games and sets.
It's the least glamorous skill on this list and possibly the most important. The smashes get the highlight clips, but the footwork is what puts her in position to hit them.
04
The clutch gene: bigger points, bigger Bea
Bea González shows up at key moments
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
Some players shrink when the match reaches the decisive rallies. González does the opposite. Tie-breaks, break points, key shots… Those are the moments when she actively looks for the ball and takes the initiative away from her opponents.
It's a habit built on experience that arrived remarkably early. She was playing professional finals at an age when most players are still in junior draws, and almost two decades of competition have left her with a simple conviction: pressure is familiar territory.
That appetite for responsibility can't really be coached. It explains why she tends to win close matches, and why opponents feel the net shrinking whenever a set reaches its final games.
05
Positive attitude: the team-mate everyone wants
Bea González lifts whoever plays alongside her
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
Padel is a doubles sport, and chemistry decides titles almost as much as shot-making does. González's contribution to that chemistry is constant and visible through gestures and words of encouragement after errors, a hand on the shoulder between points, and the celebration of her partner's winners as if they were her own. Long faces and reproachful gestures, which can end relationships in the mid and long term, are simply not part of her repertoire.
The example was set at home. Her grandfather Chuzo lived through a footballer's full share of setbacks, and the lesson stuck. "He's gone through so many things, changes and situations in his life, and not all of them were positive. But you would never see him be sad, never," she says.
That inherited optimism not only speaks wonders about Bea’s personality but also has practical value. A partner who feels supported plays a sharper style of padel, takes on the difficult shot with confidence, and goes for the line when it matters. Across a long season, the pairs that stay united through thick and thin are the ones with the higher chances of lifting trophies in December. González's relentless positivity is, in its own way, as decisive as her smash.
06
Bonus: the passion born on a Málaga court
Bea González exudes joy and positive energy whenever she plays
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
Everything above rests on a foundation that was laid when she was a kid. "I stayed to watch my dad play with his friends, and I would join them," she recalls of her earliest contact with the sport. Her mother enrolled her in classes and the coach quickly delivered a verdict: the girl had a gift.
Her parents tried to manage expectations when she started competing. "My parents told me to be cautious, warning me that I would lose a lot of matches in the first tournaments because I had never competed," she says. "Well, since that day, we didn't lose a single match for four years. We were beating everyone at eight years old. It was super fun."
The fun is a key aspect of her game and it never left, but it was joined by a work ethic that turned a prodigy into a professional at 14, and a professional into one of the world's best by her early 20s. Today, González still trains, travels and competes with the enthusiasm of the kid who wouldn't leave the court in Málaga. That, more than any single shot, may be her greatest advantage.
07
A story still being written
Bea González’s passion for the sport shines through
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
The numbers already guarantee González a place in the sport's history: youngest finalist, record-breaking winning runs, titles on three continents. But numbers miss what makes her an icon of this sport. It's the unmistakable way she plays that has turned a generation of young players in Málaga and far beyond into padel fans.
Careers are usually measured once they're over, but hers demands special attention precisely because, at 24, the best chapters may still be unwritten.
08
Where can I watch Bea González pPlay?
You can watch Bea González and every Premier Padel match live on Red Bull TV. For full tournament schedules, results, and player news, head to the Premier Padel website.
About the author