Hitting a Lob
New players don’t recognize the lob as a weapon. To them, it looks like just another soft, high forehand or backhand. However, players who can use the lob are sure to frustrate those who can’t. It is not on a typical list of shots to be practiced, but it should be. A good lob can become an offensive and defensive addition to your growing arsenal of weapons.
If you are a baseline player, you can strategically place a lob over the head of a serve-and-volley player, you can use it to return smashes hit directly at you, and you can hit a lob when you need extra time to recover from a shot that pulls you off the court. If you have trouble with power players, the lob works like a change-up in baseball. It upsets opponents’ timing and prevents them from getting into a groove.
There is not much time to prepare for a defensive lob, so the swinging motion is at times little more than an abbreviated block, or rebound, of a ball that has been hit with an overhead smash. Defensive lobs should usually be hit crosscourt to give you more room for error. When you are in control of a point, your preparation for a lob should look as much like a normal groundstroke as possible to prevent an opponent from adjusting to it.
Low, offensive lobs shorten the time your opponent has to react. The shot should be hit in a direction parallel to the closer sideline, just high enough to be out of reach. When possible, lob to the backhand side. Even if your opponent reaches your lob before it bounces, she will have to return it with a high backhand—a very difficult shot for almost all players.
Try a lob occasionally even if you lose the point. If nothing else, it will surprise your opponent. Without the threat of a lob, other players don’t have to defend against the possibility. They can anticipate that you are going to keep the ball in play with normal groundstrokes, and that gives them an unnecessary advantage.
Include the lob in your doubles game plan. The alleys are in play after the serve, giving you more space to hit. Returning difficult serves, lobbing on an offensive service return over the player at the net, and lobbing when both opponents are at the net are all ways to set up a winning point. Read step 10 for more about the role of the lob in doubles.
Tennis: Steps to Success Jim Brown,Camille Soulier