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They lob over your partner. Who chases it?
The lob belongs to whoever can get behind it facing forwards. Then both of you drop back together.
You are both at the net. They lob over your partner on the far side and it is heading for the back corner. Who goes?
The lob belongs to whoever can get behind it facing forwards. Then both of you drop back together.
Why
The usual club answer is that the player who was lobbed takes it, and that is fine when the lob is short. When it is deep, that player ends up running backwards with the ball over their shoulder, which is the worst position in padel. If you can cross behind them and arrive facing the ball, take it and let them rotate into the space you left. Whoever plays it, the pair drops back together: a lob answered from the back with one player still at the net is a point you are about to lose.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Call it early and loudly: "yours" or "mine" while the ball is still going up, not when it is coming down.
Intermediate
If you cross, your partner must slide into your old side rather than stand and watch. The switch is a two-person move or it is a hole.
Advanced
Crossing is also an attacking choice. If the lob goes over your partner’s backhand and you can get behind it for a bandeja, taking it is worth the switch even when they could have reached it.
Common questions
You are both at the net. They lob over your partner on the far side and it is heading for the back corner. Who goes?
Whoever can get behind it facing forwards. The lob belongs to whoever can get behind it facing forwards. Then both of you drop back together. The usual club answer is that the player who was lobbed takes it, and that is fine when the lob is short. When it is deep, that player ends up running backwards with the ball over their shoulder, which is the worst position in padel. If you can cross behind them and arrive facing the ball, take it and let them rotate into the space you left. Whoever plays it, the pair drops back together: a lob answered from the back with one player still at the net is a point you are about to lose.
Why not your partner. It went over their head?
Sometimes, but not by default. A player running backwards with the ball already behind them arrives late and hits with their back to the court.
What should a beginner do here?
Call it early and loudly: "yours" or "mine" while the ball is still going up, not when it is coming down.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Crossing is also an attacking choice. If the lob goes over your partner’s backhand and you can get behind it for a bandeja, taking it is worth the switch even when they could have reached it.
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.
intermediateYour partner got pulled wide. Where do you stand?
The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle.
beginnerYou have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.