A lob is a shot in pickleball where you will put some height on the trajectory of the pickleball and send the pickleball relatively high into the air. In pickleball, there are two types of lobs that you can take advantage of:

1. A Defensive Lob – A defensive lob is a lob with much more arch (think of a very high up and down trajectory), where you expect your opponents to be able to hit an overhead back at you; and

2. An Offensive Lob – An offensive is a lob that has a flatter trajectory that is just above the reach of your opponents’ paddle (think of a bridge or a rainbow trajectory just over the outstretched arms of your opponents), where you are trying to win the point. An offensive lob may be good strategy to catch your opponents off guard, especially when they are leaning in at the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line.

To hit a lob, you should prepare for the shot in a similar manner as a drop shot. However, you will have much more follow through up and through the pickleball. In other words, you should:

1. Prepare Your Body – Move your body behind the pickleball so that you are in a position to hit a forehand lob. Forehands lobs will generally be easier and more consistent than backhand lobs. As you are moving behind the pickleball, slightly turn your shoulders and upper body toward your paddle side, bend your knees, and compress your body into your paddle-side hip and knee. This bend and compression motion is similar to your dink and drop mechanics.

2. Prepare Your Paddle – Place your paddle out in front of you and under the pickleball.

3. Short Backswing – Compress under the pickleball and take a short backswing similar to a dink or drop. It is important to disguise this shot as much as possible, so try to limit your backswing while also generating some power to lift the pickleball into the air.

4. Proper Contact Point and Follow Through – Strike the underside of the pickleball out in front of your body. To hit a defensive lob, your paddle will be quite flat and open upon contact and you will have a follow through that is very up, up, up! To hit an offensive lob, your paddle will be more closed and your follow through will be up and out in front of your body.

The key differences between a defensive lob and an offensive lob are (1) the angle of the paddle; and (2) the direction of your follow through. Remember, a defensive lob requires an open paddle face toward the sky and a vertical (or up, up, up) follow through, while an offensive lob requires an angled paddle face with an up-and-out follow through.

Key Takeaways:

1. A lob is a shot in pickleball where you will put some height on the trajectory of the pickleball and send the pickleball relatively high into the air.

2. There are two types of lobs:

a. A defensive lob, which has a very high up and down trajectory; and

b. An offensive lob, which has a flatter trajectory, like a bridge or a rainbow just over your outstretched opponents.

3. To hit a lob:

a. Prepare your body behind the pickleball and compress into your paddle-side hip and legs;

b. Prepare your paddle out in front of your body;

c. Take a short backswing and strike the underside of the pickleball; and

d. For:

i. A defensive lob, make sure your paddle face is open toward the sky with a vertical follow through; and

ii. An offensive lob, make sure your paddle face is angled toward the sky with an up-and-out follow through.