A lob can be an effective tool on the pickleball courts. Try the following lob strategies to use the lob in the right circumstances and avoid setting your opponents up for too many overheads:

1. Where You Are on the Pickleball Court – Try to use the lob when you are at the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line or in the Transition Area. If you are at or near the baseline, avoid using the lob. This is because you will give your opponents too much time to react to the lob and you will probably hit your lob too short, setting your opponents up for an easy overhead.

2. Use the Elements – Whether you are playing outdoors or indoors, use the elements to your advantage. Lobs can be especially effective if you use the wind, sun, lighting, and rafters to your advantage. In particular, lob the pickleball so that your opponents have to look into the sun, lights, or rafters to find the pickleball. Your opponents will probably have a difficult time tracking the pickleball if they need to look directly into the sun, lights, or rafters. With respect to wind, be careful. The best rule of thumb is to lob into the wind, but not with the wind. In other words, try using the lob when the wind is at your face, as the wind could act as a wall and help make a difficult shot for your opponents. However, be careful hitting the lob too short and giving your opponents an easy overhead. In other words, when lobbing into the wind, you may have to hit the pickleball with a little extra “umph.” Also, avoid using the lob when the wind is at your back, as the wind will likely carry the pickleball out of bounds.

3. Aim for the Non-Paddle Side – Lob to your opponents’ non-paddle side. This will require your opponents to run around the pickleball to hit an overhead or force your opponents to hit a high backhand. If you lob to your opponents’ paddle side, you could be setting your opponents up for an easy overhead.

4. Target the Player with Weak Mobility – A lob is effective because you make your opponents move back on the pickleball court, so target your opponent with the weakest mobility. Also, consider the height of your opponents. Is one of your opponents shorter than the other, making for an easy lob?

A lob can be an effective shot. However, do not overuse this shot. Remember to remain unpredictable with your shot selection.

Key Takeaways:

1. Consider the following strategies when trying a lob:

a. Lob when you are at the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line;

b. Lob in a direction that allows you to use the wind, sun, lighting, or rafters to your advantage (i.e. lob into the wind and lob in a direction that your opponents would have to look into the sun, lighting, and rafters to see the pickleball);

c. Lob to your opponents’ non-paddle sides; and

d. Lob in a direction that forces your opponent with the weaker mobility to move.

2. Do not overuse the lob; remain unpredictable!