To Lob or Not To Lob? That Is the Question

Pickleball has many different shots depending on your court position, your opponent’s court position and what kind of shot is coming at you. In the past few articles, we’ve discussed dinks, drops, drives and placement of those shots. Now it’s time to add the lob to our toolkit.

A lob in pickleball is a high, arcing shot hit over an opponent’s head to push them back from the net. It can be an offensive weapon if your opponents are both at the kitchen line and don’t have the ability to move to the backcourt quickly and safely. It’s also an effective defensive shot if you’re caught in the backcourt and want to gain time to allow you and your partner to reset the volley and improve your court position.

To execute a lob, use a compact backswing, contact the ball out in front of your body with an open paddle face, and lift the ball with a full follow-through, using your legs and shoulder to generate power. Lobbing diagonally is often easier to master and allows more wiggle room when trying to place it perfectly behind your opponents while still keeping it in play.

Good lobbers disguise their lobs by making it look like a dink or drive stroke, and then — surprise! — it’s over their heads.

Statistically, lobs rank last in accuracy and effectiveness. If you hit it too shallow, your opponents are rewarded with an easy overhead smash or kill shot. Too deep, and it sails out of bounds or wide, so you lose the volley. If you want to add a lob to your repertoire, you need to practice until you can control your accuracy.

Personally, I like the half lob, which is lower than the traditional lob and, I find, is easier to control. Executed properly, it leaves less time for your opponents to react and effectively return it.

Playing inside is much easier for lobbers. There’s no wind to deal with, which affects the distance your lob will travel.

Bottom line, pickleball is a game usually won by the team that makes the fewest unforced errors. Be careful not to give up too many points trying to get the lob in the perfect spot.

How should a team defend the lob? The most important tip I can give you is to NEVER BACKPEDAL when the lob goes behind you or your partner. Pickleball players suffer major injuries trying to play this shot, including broken wrists, injured elbows and shoulders, and, even worse, concussions or lacerations to their head. Yes, these are very common injuries and can be prevented by using the proper technique when defending this shot.

I teach the baseball/softball outfielder sideways run method of moving from the net to the backcourt.

Once you’ve recognized the lob and committed yourself to defending it, you need to pivot on one foot, turn your hips to the sideline and run diagonally to the back of the court. Keep your eye on the ball as you are running, and stop just behind where you believe the ball will land. If you have time and can set your feet, you have a nice overhand smash/kill shot. If you’re just getting to that position, don’t worry. Let the ball bounce — since it’s a lob, it will be a high bounce — and you can drop it or drive it.

Some players lob consistently; I adjust my court position by standing a few feet behind the kitchen line. This allows me to get to more balls sooner and allows me to smash/kill the shot. I’m also inviting my opponent to drop the ball in front of me — which is what I really want.

If you watch professional pickleball, you won’t see much lobbing, if any at all. Those players are so athletic that they get to the backcourt quickly, and more times than not they can smash/kill it.

Just like the “Body Bag or “Nasty Nelson,” which have bad reputations, lobbing into the sun angers opponents when playing on sun courts (courts should be oriented north-to-south, but some are east-to-west). Some players will lob against injured or older, less mobile players just to win a point.

Personally, I lob a few times a game to keep my opponents on their toes and change my strategy up a little bit. Lobbing is a part of the game, and you need to be able to execute as well as defend it.