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Your lob hits their back glass before it bounces. Point?
Floor first, then walls. A ball into their glass before the bounce is out.
You lob and the ball flies straight into the back glass on their side without touching the floor first. Whose point?
Floor first, then walls. A ball into their glass before the bounce is out.
Why
The walls only become part of the game after the ball has bounced once on the floor. A ball that hits the opponents' glass or mesh before touching their floor is out, whether it is a lob that flew long, a drive into the side glass, or a smash. This is the first thing to learn about the walls and the rule that catches every tennis player who arrives on a padel court: the back glass is not a backboard for the ball on the full.
What this means at your level
Beginner
If your lobs are hitting the glass on the full, they are going out. Aim to bounce a metre inside the glass, not against it.
Intermediate
A lob that bounces close to the glass is the ideal. It is hard to attack and the second bounce is unreachable. Against the glass on the full is an unforced error.
Advanced
Depth control is the lob. Practise landing it in the last metre and a half: deep enough to be unsmashable, short enough to be in.
Common questions
You lob and the ball flies straight into the back glass on their side without touching the floor first. Whose point?
Theirs: floor first, then walls. Floor first, then walls. A ball into their glass before the bounce is out. The walls only become part of the game after the ball has bounced once on the floor. A ball that hits the opponents' glass or mesh before touching their floor is out, whether it is a lob that flew long, a drive into the side glass, or a smash. This is the first thing to learn about the walls and the rule that catches every tennis player who arrives on a padel court: the back glass is not a backboard for the ball on the full.
Why not replay it?
No let. The ball was out the moment it hit the glass before the floor.
What should a beginner do here?
If your lobs are hitting the glass on the full, they are going out. Aim to bounce a metre inside the glass, not against it.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Depth control is the lob. Practise landing it in the last metre and a half: deep enough to be unsmashable, short enough to be in.
What do the rules say?
A ball that touches the opponents' walls or mesh before bouncing on their floor is out.
Puzzles like this one
Both of them are at the net. What is the highest-percentage ball?
Only the lob moves a net pair backwards. Everything else invites them forward.
intermediateWhat do you do with the return of serve?
The return lob is how the receiving pair steals the net. Aim over the player who is still moving.
intermediateCross or down the line: which way should the lob go?
Lob cross-court by default. It is the longest line on court and it makes the far player run.