Offensive Volley Lob

Getting the fundamentals right...

A few weeks ago, the Jordan Briones Primetime series featured the offensive lob off the dink. This week, the series continues with his video Volley Lob Accuracy | Pickleball in which he uses the same same drill to practice the lob off a volley.

For the same reasons as the dink lob, the volley lob is an effective shot. It surprises the opponent and forces him to retreat away from the NVZ line. If anything, the shot is even more effective as the surprise factor is higher. First, the ball is hit before it bounces, giving the opponent less time to react. Second, it is a difficult shot that is not used as frequently as the dink lob.

Again, the set up of the court includes a mark-up 4' from the baseline.

Keys to NVZ Lobbing

Its OK to be offensive...

Many player think of the lob as a defensive shot. For them, it is used when in trouble or when needing time to regain position. While those are appropriate, the lob can also be used as an effective offensive weapon. We have discussed this shot in the past, most recently last week's post with Jordan Briones. Tomorrow's Briones' post will also be on the topic. Today's post is an excerpt from Sarah Ansboury's article 3 Keys to a Great Pickleball Lob.

Pickleball Lob Key #1:  Pick the Right time

When you are at the non-volley zone line, you want to look for times when hitting a lob will be most effective.  Typically, this is when your opponent is crouching down.  You are looking for your opponent to be hunched over, head down or their paddle below their waist.  All these are signals that this is a good time to lob.  Take the ball in front of you, keep your body steady and extend from your shoulder.

Disguise Your Lob

Getting the fundamentals right...

This week's edition of the Jordan Briones Primetime series follows up on last Tuesday's video on the offensive lob. The offensive lob is particularly effective off of a dink rally and especially when the lob cannot be "read" by your opponents. This requires disguising the shot by making it look like another dink in the rally. Jordan's video Disguise Your Lob Like A Pro | Pickleball shows how use deception in this shot.

The drill is a simple one. Again, start by setting up the target zone for the lob by marking an area 4' from the baseline just as was done for last week's drill.

Offensive Lob Drill

Getting the fundamentals right...

Our regular Tuesday feature of the Jordan Briones Primetime series continues with his video Ultimate Offensive Lob Drill | Pickleball. In this video, Jordan shows how to practice the offensive lob from the NVZ line.

This shot is highly effective as a surprise off of a dinking rally. As Prem Carnot said in my post Offensive Lob from the NVZ Line:

Hit the Stealthy, Dink-in-Disguise Lob ShotThis is when you & your opponents have gotten into a dinking match and they are getting predictable.  Wait ’til the moment when they are leaning a little too far forward, or getting a little slow moving back to the ready position.  Then, using the exact same motion you would have used to hit a dink,  give the ball some extra loft, and have it go well over their heads into a beautiful lob, which they can’t get back for because they were too far committed to a dink.

But it is effective only if gets over the opponents and lands in the back of the court. Jordan's video shows a drill to practice the lob. The first thing to do is set up the target zone. Jordan puts a couple of paddles about 4' from the baseline but tape or any method of demarcation would work.

Team Movement on a Defensive Lob

See a gap, fill it...

The act of retrieving an opponent's lob and hitting a defensive lob is probably the single play that requires the most adjustment by the retriever's partner. Retrieving a lob almost always pulls at least one player out of position. It is up to the partner to compensate by filling the hole created by the retriever. Mark Rennesson discusses this concept in his video Be Better Handling Lobs.

Mark uses two different teams in identical situations to illustrate the idea of filling the gap. The first is a pro team and the second is a less knowledgeable team. In both cases, the opponent's lob is made over the female partner's head when she is on the right side of the court. The male partner hustles back to make a defensive shot. In the case of the pros, the female partner watches the male player's movement and moves across the court to fill the hole vacated by her partner. This is illustrated in the sequence of 3 photos shown below.

Anticipating the Lob

Tendencies are read through body language...

A good lob hit by your opponents can be difficult, if not impossible, to return. Learning the techniques to get in the proper position is the first step to defend the lob. We covered that in Defensive Lob Positioning. The second step is to get a jump on your positioning by learning to anticipate when the lob is going to be hit. That is the subject of today's post and is based on a Mark Rennesson video called Anticipate the Lob.

Mark discusses two body language indicators that make the lob a probable return. The first indicator is paddle position. The angle of the paddle face when it strikes the ball will determine the direction the ball will take. As the paddle becomes more "open", i.e., more parallel to the playing surface, the higher the ball will be directed. A lob will be hit with a more open paddle face than used for a driving shot.

For almost all players, the paddle position is established well before the actual contact occurs. This is because it is very difficult to change the paddle angle mid-swing. Therefore, a player can anticipate a lob is coming when the paddle face is open as the opponent sets his position as shown below.

A Lob Does Not Change Your Strategy

Have no fear...

A previous post - Defend the Line - discussed the importance of staying at the NVZ line. Concern about a lob should not change that strategy. Knowledge that lob winners are a rarity and developing the skills to defend lobs, as discussed in yesterday's post, should give players enough confidence to hold the NVZ line. Mark Rennesson discusses this in the following article.

Don't Fear the Lob

When I introduce the concept of coming to the net as a team, the immediate reaction is almost always: "But what if they lob us?". People are often fearful of the ball being hit over their head and, as a result, they often stay back from the kitchen. But here's the thing... it's actually poor strategy to guard against the lob by hanging back. Here's why:

1) The lob is actually low risk. The next time you're waiting your turn to play, watch another game. Count how many times a lob is hit as a winning shot (i.e. the lob is hit so well that the receiving team cannot touch it). What you are likely to notice is that this number is very low. In many cases, a team will lob the ball out of bands. In others, they will hit the lob short giving the receiving team a chance to smash the ball. Unreturnable lobs are rare in pickleball.   

Defensive Lob Positioning

Running in circles...

Hitting a defensive lob is often the preferred shot when the opposing team first lobs over you. Their shot forces you to retreat and make a return from an awkward and moving position. Sarah Ansboury addresses some of the techniques to make the shot as easy as possible.

Running Down a Lob SAFELY

There are lots of things to think about when running down a lob. Which partner is going to retrieve it?  Is the wind effecting it? Can it be hit in the air? Should I drop or drive it? All these things are important, but none is more important than doing it safely!

Safety First!

Moving properly to retrieve a lob safely, is numero uno. I have seen people shuffling back on their heels,  looking up, and perhaps tripping over their own feet. Others shuffle sideways, which may also lead to tripping. Balance as always is key. But is is also important to pick up your feet.

Proper Technique for Running Down a Lob

Ideally, you want to hit a forehand after running down a lob. To do this, you need to learn the proper technique:

Read More >>>

When to Hit the Defensive Lob

When you run out of time...

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Following up on the discussions of the offensive lob, let's turn to the defensive lob. We will start with an article from Sarah Ansboury.

You Ran Down the Pickleball Lob…Now What?

Last week we talked about running down a lob safely. Today, we focus on what’s next. What do you do with the pickleball lob return…How do you communicate to your partner…Where you might or might not want to aim.

Pickleball Lobs and Communication

I always say the easiest way to be a doubles player is to be a better doubles partner. Of course, communication is critical to being a good partner. When I am playing with a new partner for the first time, I will try to discuss a number of items with my partner. For example, we will discuss:

• Who should take balls down the middle; or
• The fact that I prefer my partner to move forward as I hit a third shot drop; or
• If one of us is more mobile than the other…who will be responsible for running down a lob.

My preference is to play the forehand (i.e. the left side) court. As such, I am often the person responsible for running down most pickleball lobs. I also will often tell my partner to stay in place, and sometimes will even tell them to “duck”. For me, it is important for the lob retriever to be the primary communicator. What he or she says, goes. I don’t believe there are any absolute rights or wrongs when it comes to whether you should switch. Much of this is just personal preference.

Again, communication is the most important thing. Talking about whether we should stay or switch; and what kind of shot we will hit when in these positions. The more you talk about specific situations you might come across the more comfortable you will feel when something similar happens.

What Shot Should I Hit?

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More NVZ Drills - Offensive Lobs

No one wants to drill, everyone wants to improve...

This post continues the series of Non-Volley Zone drills with the focus on offensive lobs off the dink. It follows drills for volleys and dinks. It continues the focus on NVZ-first learning in alignment with the RV Picklers' recent article, Pickleball 101. 

NVZ Line Drills - Lob

Ball Toss Drills for Lob

As comfort levels at the NVZ improve, additional shots can be added. One of those shots is the offensive lob off of a dink. Lobbing is the act of hitting the ball in a soft high arc over the opponents’ head so that it lands in the opponents’ backcourt. Offensive lobs are hit near the NVZ line. The first lob drill consists of tossing the ball in order to get players comfortable with the arc and effort necessary to clear the opponents' reach and stay in-bounds. A drill to improve technique and shot-making follows.

Simple Ball Toss

Description: Two players stand at opposing NVZ lines facing each other.  One player stands erect with his paddle held over his head. The other player should have a bucket of balls to supply his drill. Using the paddle hand, this player tosses a ball underhanded over their partner’s paddle and into the backcourt.  Toss 20 balls and then switch positions.

Hitting the Offensive Lob

When "over your head" is a good thing...

A couple of posts last week discussed the 2 primary situations for a lob - the offensive lob from the NVZ line and the defensive lob when needed to buy time. 

Note that an offensive lob from mid-court or the baseline is not among the best strategy options. There are a couple of reasons for that omission. First, it is extremely hard to hit a lob to the other baseline from that distance. A short lob generally results in an opponent's overhead smash. Second, the distance the lob travels also gives the opponents plenty of time to react and get into position for a good return. In short, the risk vs. reward relationship does not make this a smart shot.

But today's post is not about strategies. It is about the lob technique. Some of this was covered last year in my post The Lob. We will cover it in more detail today, using Deb Harrison's video How to Hit a Lob that illustrates the offensive lob. The video shows 2 distinct lobs - the regular lob and the topspin lob. 

The regular lob is the simpler of the 2 options. The paddle face is open and angled to establish the desired trajectory of the ball. The paddle face must not be too flat or the ball will be high and short. Nor should the paddle face be too steep or the lob will be too low and more like a groundstroke. Much like Goldilocks’ taste for porridge, the paddle face must be just right.

Use the Lob to Gain Advantage

Adding to your game means improvement...

Continuing on yesterday's topic, a couple of pros discuss the use of the lob. I previously posted an article - To Lob or Not to Lob...that is the Question - from Sarah Ansboury and the RV Picklers in which she affirms the use of a lob from the NVZ line as an offensive weapon and also using the lob as a defensive tool to reset the point. A Pickleball Channel video called The Secret of the Lob is shown below that has a similar message. 

The video first talks about using the lob offensively - to force opponents to chase the ball from the NVZ line. 

Offensive Lob from the NVZ Line

Don't be predictable...

Mixed among the multitude of tournament and miscellaneous posts lies the theme of play at the NVZ line. That topic is important because we know that is where games are won. One aspect of play that many players ignore is the lob from the NVZ line. Over the next few days, the lob will be the primary topic of discussion. We will start today with the portion of an article from Prem Carnot that relates to the NVZ lob.

The Pickleball Lob Shot: A Winning or Losing Strategy?

This may be the first time I’ve dedicated an entire article to a single shot, and it’s not even about the dink or the drop shot. This month, we’re talking about The Sometimes-Boring-and-Annoying-But-Sometimes-OH-SO!-Gratifying Pickleball Lob Shot.

Running Down the Lob

Yesterday's post was from Sarah Ansboury and the RV Picklers about the lob. The same duo also has an article about defending the lob called Running Down a Lob…a Pickleball Must. The general techniques in retrieving a lob were covered in my post Moving as a Team Part 3 - Defending the Lob. Sarah discusses a couple of additional items in her article.

Running Down a Lob…a Pickleball Must

Hitting an overhead or running down a lob is crazy hard. The mechanics of doing it may seem unnatural if you didn’t come from tennis, or badminton. But even if you did play one of these sports, it is still a challenge.

Stay Calm

Some people get so stressed out about getting lobbed that they lose the point before they attempt to return the shot. But running down a lob is part of the game. It is a skill you can develop, just like learning to hit a forehand or backhand. So rather than complaining about it, prepare for it by making it part of your practice routine.

To Lob or Not to Lob...that is the Question

I have written very little about lobs for one reason - they are not a much of a factor in advanced play. Therefore, there is not much discussion about them in expert articles and videos. But I did write a post called The Lob where I discussed techniques and strategies. But the transition of tennis players to pickleball has brought more lobbing into play at intermediate and beginner levels. Sarah Ansboury has written an article for the RV Picklers called Pickleball Lobs…To Lob or Not to Lob that is shown below.

Pickleball Lobs…To Lob or Not to Lob

While hitting a lob is fairly common among new pickleball players, it is used less frequently among advanced players. But any player can learn to hit an effective pickleball lob if they follow these pointers.

Overhead Drills with Lobs

Overhead drills work in conjunction with lob practice. An effective overhead drill requires a good lobber to feed the ball properly. But these drills benefit both players as one gets to practice overhead smashes while the other gets to practice a lob return off the overhead smash.

Drill 1 for 2 players – The lobbing feeder stands at the baseline and hits lobs to the overhead player across the net. The feeder tries to hit high lobs that land between the kitchen line and ¾ court. The other player tries to hit overhead shots back at the feeder so that the ball can be lobbed back. The overhead shot should not be hit at full power. The focus should be on form and control instead. Rotate the feeder and overhead roles often.

Drill 2 for 3 or more players – Two lobbing feeders hit lobs to a single player across the net as in Drill 1. The overhead player practices hitting shots to the center and both corners of the court. After 4 consecutive successful shots, the overhead player can try to win the rally with more emphasis on power and angles. Players rotate roles regularly, including rotating in from the sidelines.

The Lob

The lob is a high and deep shot over the opponents’ heads. It is a specialty shot that should be only used as a change of pace offensive shot or a recovery defensive shot. It is very easy to make a mistake with a lob and leave it short, resulting in an overhead smash from your opponent, or hit it long, resulting in a fault. A good lob requires lots of practice.

The swing for a lob is low to high with the paddle face angled to establish the desired trajectory of the ball. The paddle face must not be too flat or the ball will be high and short. The paddle face must not be too steep or the lob will be too low and more like a groundstroke. Much like Goldilocks’ taste for porridge, the paddle face must be just right.