The first Indian to win the prestigious All England title in 1980, Padukone said Saina needs to find out where she is going wrong and peak at the right time to realise her dream of winning an Olympic medal next year.
"She needs to see where she is going wrong because the competition is so tough at the top and the other thing is that she has set such high standards for herself that even if she reaches semifinals it looks as if she has not done well," Padukone told PTI.
"Compared to last year, Saina has not performed consistently, so it is a bit of a concern but hopefully she will sort it out with her coach and remain focussed.
"The main thing is to peak at the right time and she has to go through in detail why she has not been performing, what she did last year differently," he added.
Saina had won three Super Series titles - Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong - besides winning the Commonwealth Games and India Open Grand Prix gold last year but this year, even though she won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold and finished runner-up at Malaysia and Indonesia, the Indian ace is yet to win a Super Series title.
The 56-year-old Padukone was also concerned about the Indian men shuttlers who are not doing well enough.
"It is concerning. It is one thing to have one in the top 10 and another to have five in the top 50. Ideally 2-3 players should be in the top 10 because it is easier to reach 20 or 50 by choosing the right tournament and performing reasonably good in some tournament," he said.
"But to break into top 10 after reaching 20 or 50 is not that easy, you have to be consistent. So it is definitely a bit of concern," said Padukone, who was awarded the Padma Sri in 1982.
Padukone, who won a bronze in the World Championship in 1983, said the Indian men shuttlers should show more commitment and emulate Saina.
"When I look back, I think they are getting opportunities so they can't blame it on opportunities, like it used to be in the past," said Padukone, who won the gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.
"I personally feel they need to work a little harder and put in more effort, a little more commitment is required and they should not be happy with what they have achieved so far. They should try to emulate Saina and go even beyond that, be the best in the world.
"So I personally feel a little bit of commitment is required from the players, probably the amount of effort they are putting in is not enough to be in the top 10," he said.
Padukone feels the youngster doing well is a good sign but it remains to be seen how they make the shift from junior to the senior circuit.
"It is a good sign but it remains to be seen how they perform when they cross over to seniors because it is a big jump," he said.
"It takes time, nobody is expecting them to be world number 3-4, it depends on how they are showing progress. How they beat low level players, and consistently improve their ranking. It is a good sign but it is important to monitor how they progress when they cross over to seniors," he said.