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Indoor court, low roof. How does your lobbing change?
Low roof: lob flatter and faster, with depth from pace. Check the ceiling before the first game.
You are playing on an indoor court where the roof is low enough that a high lob would hit it. What adjustment do you make?
Low roof: lob flatter and faster, with depth from pace. Check the ceiling before the first game.
Why
A low indoor roof removes the high defensive lob from the game: anything that touches the roof or its structure is out. The adjustment is to hit lobs flatter and firmer, gaining depth from pace rather than from arc, and to accept that the reset lob under pressure is harder. There is a compensation: a flatter lob is also harder for the net player to smash, because it arrives before they can set up under it, so the low roof tends to make the point faster and to reward the pair with the better flat lob. Look at the roof during the warm-up and hit a few lobs to find the limit before it costs a point.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Before you play indoors, look up. If the roof is low, lob a bit flatter and a bit harder than usual.
Intermediate
Practise the flat lob specifically on low-roof courts. It becomes your only lob there, so it has to be reliable.
Advanced
The low roof punishes the pair that lobs from instinct. If your opponents keep hitting the lights, stay at the net and let them.
Common questions
You are playing on an indoor court where the roof is low enough that a high lob would hit it. What adjustment do you make?
Flatter, faster lobs: depth from pace, not height. Low roof: lob flatter and faster, with depth from pace. Check the ceiling before the first game. A low indoor roof removes the high defensive lob from the game: anything that touches the roof or its structure is out. The adjustment is to hit lobs flatter and firmer, gaining depth from pace rather than from arc, and to accept that the reset lob under pressure is harder. There is a compensation: a flatter lob is also harder for the net player to smash, because it arrives before they can set up under it, so the low roof tends to make the point faster and to reward the pair with the better flat lob. Look at the roof during the warm-up and hit a few lobs to find the limit before it costs a point.
Why not the same lobs, and hope they miss the roof?
A ball that touches the roof is out. Hoping is not a plan.
What should a beginner do here?
Before you play indoors, look up. If the roof is low, lob a bit flatter and a bit harder than usual.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The low roof punishes the pair that lobs from instinct. If your opponents keep hitting the lights, stay at the net and let them.
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intermediateWhat do you do with the return of serve?
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advancedThey are camped at the net and you cannot lob. What now?
If you cannot lift it over them, make them lift it for you. The chiquita is a slow ball at their feet.