Better way to position the ball on the paddle

[npetrovic04]

I found perhaps a lighter and better way to position the ball on the paddle. In the hierarchy, the ball is set to be a child of a paddle game object, then when space is pressed, the ball is launched in a random direction. When life is lost, the ball is automatically set to be the child of the paddle and if that is the case
if (Input.GetKeyDown (KeyCode.Space))
{
if (transform.parent! = null)
{
SetDirection ();
}
}
then the ball will fire on the space button, and if the ball is in play, it has no parents and the condition is not met.

public float Speed = 0.2f; 
private Vector2 _direction;

void Update () 
    {
        transform.position = transform.position +_direction * Speed * Time.deltaTime;
     
        if(Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space))
        {
            if(transform.parent != null) 
            {
                SetDirection(); 
            }
	}


public void SetZeroDirection()
    {
        _direction = Vector2.zero;
    }

    private void SetDirection()
    {
        float x = Random.Range(-2f, 2f); 
        float y = Random.Range(5f, 10f); 

        _direction = new Vector3(x, y, 0);

        _direction.Normalize(); 

        transform.parent = null; 
    }