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The lob is going over your backhand shoulder. What now?
Backhand overhead: get side-on, meet it high, block it deep. It will not win the point; it keeps you in it.
A lob is going over your backhand side, too far across for you to run round it onto the forehand. What is the shot?
Backhand overhead: get side-on, meet it high, block it deep. It will not win the point; it keeps you in it.
Why
The backhand overhead is the shot nobody wants and everybody is lobbed to. It is played side-on, with the racket meeting the ball high above the backhand shoulder, as a short, firm block rather than a swing. The ball is pushed deep, usually down the line or through the middle, and the player recovers to the net. It will not be a winner. It does not need to be: its purpose is to keep the net and to show the opponents that lobbing your backhand does not win the point on its own. The alternative, when the lob is deep, is to let it bounce and play the glass.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Turn your back slightly to the net, get the racket up high, and push the ball deep. Do not try to hit it hard.
Intermediate
Contact above and slightly in front of the backhand shoulder, wrist firm, short follow-through. Deep and central.
Advanced
The opponents will target the backhand overhead. Make the block reliable enough that they get nothing from it, and cross for the forehand on the ones that come closer to the middle.
Common questions
A lob is going over your backhand side, too far across for you to run round it onto the forehand. What is the shot?
A backhand overhead, blocked deep. Backhand overhead: get side-on, meet it high, block it deep. It will not win the point; it keeps you in it. The backhand overhead is the shot nobody wants and everybody is lobbed to. It is played side-on, with the racket meeting the ball high above the backhand shoulder, as a short, firm block rather than a swing. The ball is pushed deep, usually down the line or through the middle, and the player recovers to the net. It will not be a winner. It does not need to be: its purpose is to keep the net and to show the opponents that lobbing your backhand does not win the point on its own. The alternative, when the lob is deep, is to let it bounce and play the glass.
Why not run round it for a forehand, whatever it costs?
If you could, you would. When it is too far across, running round it puts you off the court.
What should a beginner do here?
Turn your back slightly to the net, get the racket up high, and push the ball deep. Do not try to hit it hard.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The opponents will target the backhand overhead. Make the block reliable enough that they get nothing from it, and cross for the forehand on the ones that come closer to the middle.
Puzzles like this one
They lobbed you deep. Smash it or play the bandeja?
Deep ball, high hands: bandeja. The shot exists to keep you at the net, not to win the point.
beginnerThe ball is coming off the back glass. When do you hit it?
Move back with the ball, let it pass you, hit it in front of your body.
intermediateShort, high and yours. Bandeja or smash?
Deep ball, bandeja. Short ball with your weight going forward, smash.