Defensive lobs are generally hit with some backspin. The intent is to get it high and deep to give you some breathing room. You are not expecting to win the point on this lob, only to keep yourself in it. Sometimes at the pro level you will see an exchange of several desperate defensive lobs and overheads in a single point.

Offensive lobs are slightly different. First, they are almost always hit when your opponent is at net. Second, they often have an element of surprise because you could just as easily have hit a regular ground stroke (e.g., a passing shot) but instead elected to loft the ball over your opponent's head. Finally, the offensive lob is generally hit with some top spin and is not hit as high as a defensive lob. The intent is to get the ball just over your opponent's outstretched racquet. Usually, if you are successful, you win the point outright, because your opponent cannot catch up with the forward spinning ball once it lands behind him.

The defensive lob is fairly simple to execute. Open your racquet face, strike underneath the ball, and finish with your racquet high over your head and out toward your target. The
swing is a long smooth arc from below the ball to above your head. Your racquet face, though open, remains parallel to the net throughout the stroke.

Keep your head down and eyes focused on the ball. Most mistakes on the lob result from looking up just as you strike the ball. The other cause of errant lobs is a failure to finish high over your head. Don't forget, the ball must travel nearly as far in a good, deep lob as it will on a moderately paced ground stroke, so you need to put a little muscle behind it. Don't baby it too much. Also, if you use an extreme western grip on your forehand, you will probably have to shift your grip toward an eastern forehand or your service grip (continental).

Depending on how desperate your situation is, you may need to add a little wrist flip (like a squash shot) to get enough zip on the ball to get it high and deep. The more time you have to set up properly for the lob, the less need there is for any wrist movement on the stroke.

Offensive lobs are executed differently. The shot is hit with lots of topspin and with an emphatic brushing up the back of the ball. You don't need to change grips, but you need to finish the stroke with your racquet above your head and behind your ear on your dominant side. Like the defensive lob, the swing is a long smooth arc from backswing to finish. Topspin is required to take some of the pace off the ball and bring it safely into the
court. The added benefit of the topspin is that once the ball lands it rapidly exits the court, making it impossible for your opponent to catch up to it.

The lob in doubles is particularly under-utilized. You can lob off the return of serve, whenever one player is at net and the other is at the baseline, or when both opponents come into the net. Instead, what I observe is that the majority of players would rather try to drive the ball through their opponent(s). This is not percentage tennis. This is high-risk, go-for-broke, overpower your opponents tennis, and the result is generally a loss of the point.

My friends, leave the machisimo to the racquetball players. In tennis, use your head, play smart. Play percentage tennis with the lob and you'll be winning a lot more points, games and matches.

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)