FROM THE USAPA
Mastering the Pickleball Lob
BY BOB ATHERTON, NORTHERN ARIZONA DISTRICT AMBASSADOR
T
he lob is a shot in
pickleball where
the ball is lifted over
the heads of the op-
ponents in order to
drive them away from
the front of the court
to the back of the
court. At the same time
it allows your team to
come up to the front of
the court. So when to
hit this shot, and when
not to, is a story we
shall explore.
But first a little
review... The ball by
rule has to be served
and bounced before it
can be returned by the opponents. When returned to the
serving side, the ball has to bounce before they can hit it.
You may recall there is a line seven feet back on each side
called the kitchen line. This is what both sides try to get
to right away in the game after they hit the bounced ball.
Problem is, opponents run right up to that line after they
hit the bounced ball and create a wall of hurt and pain for
the serving team. The serving team is still at the back of
the court waiting for the ball to bounce before they can hit
it. So how do they get past that wall in front of them?
One way to handle it is to hit a drop shot as we ex-
plained in a previous article. But the other way is to throw
or scoop a shot over the opponents’ heads and make them
run back while the offense runs up to the seven-foot line
and gains what the opponent had just a few seconds ago.
Simple so far. Now the difficulty. When you lob a ball
you have about a 25 percent chance of the ball landing in
on the opposite side. In a high wind, the percentage is even
lower. Why? Because one-half of the court is 22 feet deep
from the net. When either side sees a lob coming they
can take one step back and cover all but 25 percent of the
court.
So what? If the opponent can reach a lob and hit it, it
will be a powerful overhead or wheelhouse slam, which can
be a really hard shot to return, if at all. That is why it is the
third hardest shot in the game to get good at, right behind
12
the drop and restart
shots.
Here is a tip for those
of you who already
play the game: High
winds produce some
problems and advan-
tages for the lob. The
reason is the ball is like
a wiffle ball and catches
air, and especially so
as it descends. In high
winds it can blow the
ball right out of the
court. So hitting the
ball in a cross-court
wind or when the wind
is in back of you is not
such a great idea.
But according to Pastor JT Schulze of Starting Point
Church, who is a 5.0 top player in the game, if the wind is
right into your face the ball has a good chance of drifting
back onto the court. That can produce some interesting
moments in the game as well as laughter.
Here is another tip: No matter where you’re at on the
court, if one or both of the opponents are hanging around
in the back of the court, in that case it is never a good idea
to hit a lob.
It is always better to hit the drop, or a hard blocking or
put away shot in the opposite side where the person stand-
ing back is located.
Then there is what I like to call the “stinky” dink. All
parties are near the net, dinking away...one thing you can
do is throw a lob over the opponents’ head from the dink.
Surprise!
It works — I have done it, and for recreational players it
is a hard recovery for opponents.
Pickleball is an easy game to learn, hard to get really
good at but a game everyone can play from ages 9 to 90
and up. It is really not a game of power so much as strat-
egy, finesse and control. It was developed as a family game
and at the recreational level remains the same today. •
Bob Atherton is a Tier 2 pickleball coach and the Northern
Arizona District Ambassador for the United States Pickleball
Association. He can be reached at [email protected] or
928.499.2498.
TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 888.308.3720 OR GO TO THEPICKLEBALLMAG.COM