Many recreational players are fearful of the lob and this leads to all sorts of
tactics whether it's not coming to the net in singles or staying all the way
back in doubles just to avoid the dreaded lob. So in today's video I'm
going to show you what you should and should not do when you get lobbed and
why you need to take an overall more relaxed attitude towards getting lobbed.
And let's start off with why you are fearful of the LOB in the first place.
And just to clarify I'm not talking about a situation where you are in
control of the point and you are pushing your opponent way off the court and they
then put up a high ball. Players usually do not have a hard time putting those
type of lobs away but it's more a situation where the lobber
is in control and you are at their mercy. So the reason why you are fearful of
getting lobbed is that you're perfectly happy at the net looking to put the
point away and now all of a sudden the LOB comes and it is really annoying it
disrupts the point. Now number one you're being put on the spot and you have to
put the overhead away or even worse you have to run back and cover the lob. And
it's usually the person that's lobbing that's having fun. They will have a smile
on their face while they're lobbing you while you on the other hand are
scrambling to get back or even worse in doubles sometimes chaos is created
because now your partner has to cover your side you have to switch over to
theirs. So the number one thing that you can do to stop fearing the LOB is to
realize that the vast majority of lobs at the recreational level are hit
defensively. There's a big difference between an offensive lob that's struck
with topspin versus a defensive lob. So if you get a lob that struck flat
there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't win the point of a lob like
that so you can therefore relax and simply accept that lobs are part of the
game and you have a great chance to win the point if you get lobbed.
And the first thing you should do when you get lobbed is not commit to the lob
too early. So when the ball is flying high you have to realize that a
defensive lob will slow down dramatically. So the longer you wait the
more you move your feet and back up gravity will pull this ball down and you
actually have very often a chance to hit an overhead. So don't do not commit to
getting lobbed too early. In other words you see a high ball and you're like "oh I got
lobbed" and now your feet are stuck. Simply track the ball and keep backing up and
many times you will actually be able to hit an overhead.
And if there's no chance to hit an overhead here's what you need to do. You
need to leave the ball to your side. So if you get a lob coming over your
forehand side you need to run next to the ball. So if the ball is flying you
have to leave the ball on your side so that when it bounces you have enough
space to actually hit a forehand. And if you get lobbed over your backhand side
you're gonna leave the ball to your left. So you're gonna run back while the ball
is with plenty space away from you so that that when it bounces you can hit it a backhand.
Do not lose sight of the ball. If you lose the ball even for a split second
you will be completely disoriented you will not know where the ball is. So it's
absolutely crucial that as you're getting lobbed you keep your eyes on the
balls flight path the entire time so that you can position yourself
accordingly.
The number one mistake at the recreational level is when players run
back right underneath the ball. Now once that ball bounces is gonna be right in
front of you like this. Now the only option you have is to do this type of
shovel shot right above your head and this will rarely result in a winning point.
At the professional level players will get lobbed and they will sometimes come off with
spectacular shots such as the behind the back shot or even better the between the
leg shot. And now while these shots are spectacular I want you to realize that
the very rarely result in a winning point even at the professional level.
At the recreational level I advise that you try to hit a forehand or a backhand if
you get lobbed. Do not attempt the behind the back or the legger because not only
is the degree of difficulty super high and you're most likely not going to be
able to pull off a shot like that, but let's say even if you do get one in, the
chances of actually winning the point are still slim to none.