When I started playing padel, I only used the lob defensively as a way to try and get myself out of a cramped position at the back of the court. It was only when I began watching professional padel players that I began to realize that there was more to playing a lob. I noticed that placing a lob in the right spot increased the chances of winning the point. So I set about learning how to do that too.
There are three areas of the padel court you can aim your lob. Novice players should begin by playing their lob on the diagonal where they have more space to aim their lob. As your skill improves you can progress to playing a lob to the center and then tight, down the line which is most difficult.
Let’s take a closer look at the ways that you can use the lob to win more points when you next play padel.
The Lob In Padel Is An Attacking Shot
I came to padel from a tennis background, the same as the majority of recreational padel players that I know.
Back in my days of playing tennis I remember only using the lob in those defensive situations where I had been stretched to the limits of my reach by my opponent. I would hit a high lob in the hopes that the extra time that the ball would be in the air would give me the opportunity to get myself back into position so I could continue the point.
In the game of padel, the lob is more important. The smaller court makes holding the net position a strategic goal if you want to dominate and win more points. The ideal way to push your opponents back from the net and gain the strategic net position for you and your partner is by playing a well-placed lob.
These well-placed lobs are attacking shots that are played from positions where you are in control of your shot and have the choice of where you want to aim your shot.
Why The Lob Is An Important Padel Shot To Learn
One key factor of the lob is that the ball is in the air for longer. This has the effect of slowing the game down. I’m not suggesting that your aim should be to just play slowly. If you vary the pace of your shots it makes it more difficult for your opponents to predict your play.
If you have opponents that only play hard, fast shots then playing shots at varying speeds can put them off their game plan.
You and your partner can use this additional time that the ball is in the air to change your positions on the court. Most often this means moving up to take the net position.
When you play a lob your opponent will be running back to get to the ball. This means that they will have their back to you and won’t be able to see you moving up to the net. If your opponents have poor communication between them, the player running back to retrieve your lob will have no idea where on the court you or your partner is. I see this often in social games.
The Pros And Cons Of The Cross-Court Lob In Padel
The diagonal lob was the first lob that I learned to play in padel and was the lob that I gained confidence with the quickest.
When you play a diagonal lob, you are playing across the longest part of the court, giving you more space to work with. This means that there is a greater chance that your lob will land before hitting with the side or the back wall.
The one drawback of the diagonal lob is that it is the easiest type of lob to return with a Bandeja before the ball bounces. If one of your opponents is good at playing the Bandeja, you should take that into account before choosing this kind of shot.
However, many beginner padel players have not yet mastered the Bandeja, making this the ideal first kind of lob to learn as it is the easiest to play.
Another advantage of the diagonal lob is that the ball dropping down into the corner is much harder for your opponents to deal with.
The Pros And Cons Of The Padel Lob Tight Down The Line
When you play a lob tight down the line it will be very difficult for your opponents to smash as they will have to smash with substantially more accuracy than normal.
Playing a lob tight down the line means playing your lob down the shortest part of the court. That means you have much less space to work with.
What’s more, you need to be more accurate when playing a lob tight down the line as it will be easy to hit the ball out.
This makes the lob down the line a low percentage shot and needs a higher skill level to be able to play it with consistency.
It is for this reason that I seldom play a lob tight down the line as my skill at padel is not yet at the point where I have confidence in the shot. Sometimes when I’m on the court with a group of friends playing a social game I’ll try the lob tight down the line so that I can begin to get a feel for how to play the shot.
The Pros And Cons Of The Padel Lob Down The Middle
When it comes to learning how to play the lob in padel, the lob down the center or the lob to the center is usually the type of lob that you will learn to play once you have mastered the easiest lob across the diagonal but are not quite ready to play the lob tight down the line.
If you are playing against relatively strong players you need to be aware that a lob down the center of the court is the easiest kind of lob for your opponents to play a Bajada. A Bajada is a tricky shot to deal with as I explain in this article here on World Padel Insider.
In these circumstances, it will be a better idea to play a lower, faster lob so that your opponents have less time to get back into position to play their Bajada.
Considerations For Choosing Where To Aim Your Lob
You need to take into account the conditions on the court when choosing where to aim your lob. If you are playing outside and it is a bright sunny day then a well-aimed lob will have your opponents squinting into the sun to see the ball.
Similarly, outside courts at night present another opportunity. If you hit your lob high it will go above the height of the floodlights and disappear into the inky blackness of night. The ball will re-appear when it is on its way back down to the court giving your opponents less reaction time.
The opposite holds true for some indoor courts where the roof of the building is relatively low. In these situations, you will have to play lower lobs so that the ball does not hit the roof.
