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Spain's giant world number one — his HEAD Coello Pro racket, towering smash, and the making of padel's dominant partnership.
Coello was introduced to padel by his father at the Polideportivo club in Mojados, training on old concrete-walled courts that are far removed from the glass-panel facilities of the modern professional circuit. His natural athleticism was apparent early, and he progressed through the Spanish junior system with unusual speed.
He joined the professional circuit as a teenager and partnered with several experienced players before the defining move: forming a pair with Agustín Tapia. The decision was unconventional at the time — Coello was young and relatively unproven at the highest level — but the chemistry was immediate. Together they won their first major title in 2022 and reached world number one in 2023, a year in which they dominated the circuit from start to finish.
Coello's record since has been remarkable. He has won consecutive year-end number-one rankings in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The pair enter 2026 with 20,670 FIP points and fresh off 13 tournament victories in 2025. In 2024, Coello relocated from Spain to Miami, USA — a move he has described as part of a personal mission to develop padel's profile in North America while maintaining his elite training environment.
Coello plays the right side of the court, a position that rewards aggressive net play and powerful overhead attacking. His physical profile — 1.90m height, long arms, and an exceptional vertical jump — gives him a structural advantage that no player of his generation has matched.
His smash is the headline attribute. He generates racket-head speed through a combination of shoulder rotation and jump timing that produces overheads of extraordinary pace and depth. Opponents returning his smash from the glass are immediately on the defensive. His jump smash in particular — executed from the middle of the court with both feet leaving the ground — creates angles and power levels that the return side cannot neutralise with standard positioning.
At the net his hands are quick and precise. He reads opponent's intentions early, enabling him to intercept cross-court passes before they develop into attacking threats. His volleys are decisive rather than cautious — Coello's default at the net is to finish points, not reset them.
Defensively he is capable but this is not where he shines. His court coverage is helped by his height and reach rather than blistering footspeed, and genuinely wide defensive balls do occasionally trouble him. The Tapia-Coello partnership compensates — Tapia's retrieval and left-side athleticism covers the positions where Coello's size works against him.
Coello uses the HEAD Coello Pro, his signature racket produced in partnership with Austrian brand HEAD. The 2026 edition is a diamond-shaped frame weighing approximately 370g with a high 272mm balance point — head-heavy, as befits an overhead-focused playing style. HEAD's carbon construction on the Coello Pro prioritises rigidity and power transfer: when Coello connects cleanly on an overhead, very little energy is absorbed by the frame.
The diamond shape positions the sweet spot high on the face, exactly where Coello contacts the ball on his jump smashes. The tradeoff is forgiveness — diamond frames punish off-centre contact more than teardrop or round shapes. For Coello, who contacts the ball consistently with professional precision, this is not a concern.
Amateurs considering the Coello Pro should be realistic. The head-heavy diamond setup demands clean, precise contact. Most recreational players — even experienced ones — will find a teardrop or mid-diamond hybrid more forgiving and ultimately more rewarding. The Coello Pro is an excellent racket for players training four or more times per week with established technique.
Coello's early professional partnerships included time alongside Spanish players at the lower echelons of the WPT, developing his game without yet having the partner who could elevate him. The transformation came with Tapia.
When they began playing together in 2022 both players were well below world number one but climbing fast. Their combination — Tapia's left-side originality and Coello's right-side power — proved structurally sound and rapidly became the circuit's most feared pairing. They have not split since, representing the most stable top partnership currently in professional padel. Their partnership chemistry extends off-court: both players are known to train together intensively and share a commitment to physical conditioning that is cited as a factor in their sustained dominance.
Three elements of Coello's game are particularly worth watching.
The jump smash from the right is his defining shot. Watch how he loads early — his left arm rises as a counter-balance, his hitting shoulder drops back, and his jump timing positions the contact point well above what any defender can reach. The direction disguise is also notable: he can redirect the shot between three angles (cross-court, down-the-line, and deep middle) with very similar preparation.
His net interception on the right side is a second signature. He reads cross-court passes earlier than almost anyone on circuit and extends his long arms to cut off angles that smaller players cannot reach. This physically enforced dominance at the net changes how opponents must construct their attacks when he is in front position.
Finally, his lob defence under pressure is technically sound. When pushed back to the glass, Coello generates height and depth on his defensive lobs that most right-side players cannot match — allowing him to reset the point and return to net position rather than surrendering the attack.
Most club players will not be 1.90m tall with Coello's jump, but his movement habits are directly transferable.
The early-load principle applies regardless of height. Coello's overhead preparation begins while the ball is still rising — his racket is above his head before most club players have even identified the shot. Practise getting your racket up earlier on overheads; even a half-second earlier load dramatically improves your smash power and consistency.
His net positioning is instructive. Coello stands closer to the net than intuition suggests is safe, because his reach allows him to cover angles that would beat a shorter player at the same distance. At club level the equivalent lesson is: commit to a net position and hold it. Players who hover between the service line and the net create neither good attacking angles nor good defensive positioning.
Finally, watch his decision-making after a smash that comes back. He immediately assesses whether to smash again or use a soft touch drop — the ability to switch from power to control on successive shots is a high-percentage skill at any level.
Coello is the current benchmark for right-side play in professional padel. His combination of physical attributes and technical precision has set a standard that younger players on the Spanish circuit are working to close but have not yet reached. At 24, with multiple world titles already secured, his peak may still be ahead of him.
Watch Coello for: overhead loading mechanics, net positioning distance, and decision-making on consecutive smash situations.Get SmashIQ to analyse your racket technique
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