How to Win EVERY Lob You Hit

Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Coaching Newsletter!

The lob can be a polarizing shot. You either hate it, or you love it!

When executed correctly, the lob is an incredibly effective way to win a rally.

But, a poor lob is one of the easiest ways to lose a rally by giving your opponent an overhead slam.

Today we’re going to break down the key strategies to give you the highest success rate possible on your lobs (they’re simpler than you may think), watch it in practice, and hear from top pro player Andrei Daescu.

Let’s get started.

The lob is a risky shot. There’s no doubt about it. Hit it just a little bit to low, and you’re going to get slammed. Hit it too high and you run the risk of hitting it out.

In fact, there’s a very small window to hit the ball perfectly to both avoid the slam and hitting it long. So much so that the lob is typically considered to be a low percentage shot.

That is true, unless you follow the two key strategies that I am about to share with you. These make hitting successful lobs so much easier. So much easier that you’ll even be able to get away with hitting bad lobs. 👀

Tip Number 1: Select the Right Ball to Lob

The best time to hit a lob is when you can take a dink out of the air. Lobbing out of the air as opposed to off the bounce is effective because it gives you the best chance at hiding it.

When you are hitting the ball out of the air, you have three options and they are all offensive: speed up, dink volley (ideally with topspin), and lob. Typically when you take a dink out of the air, your opponents are expecting you to speed up as the first choice.

Now, think about what your body positioning should be when you’re preparing to defend a speedup: paddle high and in front, wide athletic stance, and weight on the balls of your feet with your feet planted so that you can counter hard. This is not the optimal preparation to defend a lob. The best way to defend a lob is to turn sideways and prepare to move backwards. If you do this and your opponent does end up speeding up, you will have no ability to defend.

So, you can use that psychology to your advantage. When you take a dink out of the air, your opponent is most likely going to be preparing for a speed up, not a lob, so they will not be able to get a head start on it.

Tip Number 2: Lob Over the Backhand Side

This one is the real hack. If you do this every single time, your lob success rate will soar. Most players cannot put away backhand overheads. The backhand overhead is significantly weaker than the forehand overhead, even for players who have exceptional backhands on their other shots. Reaching over your non dominant shoulder simply isn’t a strong position.

That means that you don’t necessarily have to hit the lob all the way over your opponent’s head if you hit it to their backhand side, because even if they can reach it, they are unlikely to hit an offensive shot.

So if you hit a good lob that gets over your opponent’s head, great, you have the advantage. But if you hit a bad lob that your opponent is able to reach, but it is over their backhand, you will still be in a good position to win the rally.

These tips are truly transformational when it comes to hitting lobs. Try them and let us know which one helped your game the most!

See you on the courts!

- Matt Slowinski (Co-Founder, Pro Player & Coach)

Take a look at the placement of the lob in this video.

It went right over the right side player’s backhand! It wasn’t even particularly high, but it was super well placed, so it pulled both players off the line to allow the far team to finish the rally. That’s how it’s done!

The Paddle You Use Matters More Than You Think

When it comes to high-level pickleball these days, there is one line of paddles that is dominating the sport. And that's JOOLA's Pro IVs.

The Pro IVs come in JOOLA models you already know and love, including the Perseus, Scorpeus, Magnus, and Hyperion. But the Pro IVs are made with TechFlex Power technology, which increases dwell time, flexibility and feel. AND Pro IVs are Dual Certified by both UPA-A and USAP, which means no more having to worry about where you can play with them because they’re approved and legal everywhere. JOOLA also came out with an Agassi model that has a sweet new shape.

Last thing we'll mention is that JOOLA doesn't just make paddles for elite and advanced players. They make paddles for every player you can imagine from total beginners to the all-time greatest player — Ben Johns. Check out all of JOOLA’s paddles right here OR watch Matt’s review on the Perseus Pro IV below.

Insights from World No. 4 Ranked Pro Andrei Daescu

The lob is becoming more and more predominant at the professional level and it’s quite a weapon at the amateur level if used in the proper situations. Lobs are most effective when executed from the kitchen line as your opponents will have less time to react to it. The lob could also be used from mid-court or the baseline for defensive purposes but you need to be mindful of your opponents speed and the pace they can generate with their overheads. Topspin is your greatest ally when lobbing because it makes the ball drop faster.

See you all for my next bulletin!

-Andrei

^{For more from Andrei, follow him on Instagram, and feel free to check out his sponsors Proton and LEORÊVER and use code “andrei10” for 10% off!}

Ready to see the two tips we learned above in action? Check out this video from Coach Matt where he breaks down the keys to getting the highest win percentage possible from your lobs.

Well, that’s a wrap… so let’s recap what we learned this week:

• Lobs are only low percentage shots if you don’t have an underlying strategy

• The best time to lob is when you are hitting a dink out of the air

• Lob over the backhand side for best results, especially if you don’t hit it perfectly

Thanks for reading! We hope you can put these tips to good use the next time you’re out on the courts.

Reply to this email with anything you want to see in our future newsletters 😄 

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic