The lob in padel: the most undervalued shot in the game
The lob is not a panic shot. At every level from club to professional it is the main tool for taking the net, and the players who lob well are the ones who look like they have all the time in the world.
Why it matters so much
A pair at the net hits downwards; a pair at the back hits upwards. You cannot out-hit that difference, so you have to change it. The lob is the only shot that moves a net pair backwards. Everything else, drives, drops, angles, invites them forward.
Where to aim
Cross-court, deep, by default. The diagonal is about 22 metres against 20 down the line, so you get more margin, and the ball lands behind the player with the furthest to travel. Down the line is the surprise, worth playing when their net player has crept in too close or has a weak overhead on that side.
Aim at the back fence, not at the sky. The most common lob error at club level is not hitting it long. It is hitting it short, which is a free smash.
How to hit it
- Get side-on and take the racket back low.
- Open the face and lift from low to high, brushing slightly up the back of the ball.
- Contact out in front, and finish high with the racket pointing where you want the ball to go.
- Keep the swing long and slow. A lob is a push, not a hit.
The half nobody plays
A lob without a run forward is a wasted lob. As soon as the ball clears their net player, both of you move in together, stop about two metres from the net, and split-step as their racket goes back. If you stand and watch it, you have bought two seconds and spent them on nothing, and they will simply lob you straight back.
If you cannot get in safely, neither of you goes. A connected pair at the back beats a broken pair anywhere on court.
Reading the reply
Watch their contact point as you move forward. Set up comfortably underneath it means a bandeja is coming and you should stop and split. Reaching, turning, or taking it behind their head means they are in trouble: keep going all the way in.
When not to lob
Against a pair with a genuinely big smash who are reading your lob, a third identical lob is just feeding them. That is when the chiquita earns its place: a slow, low, dying ball into their feet that has no pace to use and forces them to lift instead. Lob is your default. It should not be your only note.
Defending against the lob
The same shot is being played at you. The answer is to turn early rather than backpedal, take it as a bandeja whenever you can reach it in the air, and only let it bounce when you genuinely cannot, because every ball you let bounce behind your own service line is a metre of court you just gave away.