As a teaching
professional, I am commonly asked questions on basic lobbing
strategy. In general, the back-court players have - -.- -- options
to lob down the line or cross-court. There are clear benefits
and appropriate times to hit each lob. Here is what I have learned
over the years.
1. The
player down the line from you is closer to you, so they have
less reaction time when you lob it over their heads. Conversely,
the opponent cross-court from you is further from you and therefore
has more reaction time to cover the lob.
2. If your
opponents are constantly hitting overhead after overhead to
your corner (the pick and stick strategy), you must be lobbing
cross-court. If you lob down the line, they can't hit to your
corner without giving you a chance to attack the ball with a
forehand drive. This is because your opponents a forehand drive.
This is because your opponents have to hit the ball straight
to you. They can't hit it to you at an angle anymore.
3.
If your opponents at net are playing the "T" strategy,
you can rip them apart by lobbing down the line. The only
way the "T" works is if you lob cross-court. To
play the "T," the player at the net who is close
to the side of the court where the ball is, positions himself
very close to the net and, straddling the singles line on
that side of the court, is responsible only for balls that
are driven. The partner at net who is cross-court from the
ball has backed up a number of feet from the net (number of
feet to be determined by the person teaching this strategy)
and is responsible for all overheads. If you lob down the
line on a team that plays the "T" and the "T"
player covers the overhead, you now have two players on the
same side of the court. If they hit it back to you, they can't
get it to your side screen. Be ready to drive the ball to
the open court (cross-court). If the "T" player
hits the ball cross-court to your partner, he should be ready
to drive down the line.
4. When
you lob down the line, where is the most logical place for your
opponents to hit their overheads? They would most likely hit
it cross-court, and since most teams don't shift properly (unless
they hit a great overhead that you can't drive), there are a
lot of gaps through which you can drive the ball.
5. If you
lob down the line and your opponents hit a good cross-court
overhead (which your partner cannot drive), your partner can
then chose to lob down the line. Just think of the movement
that you're getting from your opponents. You will be amazed
at how often they get out of position.
1. If you
have a difficult screen shot and are just trying to get it back,
lob it high and cross-court so you have more court for which
to aim.
2. If you
are playing a lefty-righty team and they have their backhands
in the middle.
3. If you
lob the ball down the line and your opponents hit the ball cross-court
to your partner who misses too many screen shots, then you should
lob cross-court.
4. If the
player cross-court is the weaker player and is more likely to
make an error.
5. If the
player cross-court happens to be closer to the net than the
player down the line.
If you
can aim your lobs well, lob a greater percentage of them down
the line and you will see weaker overheads coming back at you,
creating many more opportunities to attack the ball.
