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How do you know your lob is good enough to follow?
You know at contact whether the lob is deep. Deep, advance together. Short, hold and defend the smash.
Not every lob deserves an advance. As the ball leaves your racket, what tells you whether to move forward or hold?
You know at contact whether the lob is deep. Deep, advance together. Short, hold and defend the smash.
Why
Advancing behind a lob is a decision made at the moment the ball leaves the racket. A well-struck deep lob has a particular feel, clean contact, the right height and pace, and experienced players start forward as they finish the swing, without watching it. A short or mishit lob feels different, and the correct response is the opposite: hold deep, get low, and defend the smash that is about to come. The mistake is to make the decision from where the ball lands, because by then the opponent is hitting and you are in no man's land whichever way you were moving.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Start noticing how a good lob feels when you hit it. When it feels right, walk forward. When it feels wrong, stay back.
Intermediate
Say the read out loud to your partner: "up" for a good one, "back" for a short one. Both of you then move the same way.
Advanced
The lob you followed that turned out short: that is a smash at a pair in no man's land. If in doubt, hold. The net can be won on the next ball; the point cannot be un-lost.
Common questions
Not every lob deserves an advance. As the ball leaves your racket, what tells you whether to move forward or hold?
The feel of the contact. You know at contact whether the lob is deep. Deep, advance together. Short, hold and defend the smash. Advancing behind a lob is a decision made at the moment the ball leaves the racket. A well-struck deep lob has a particular feel, clean contact, the right height and pace, and experienced players start forward as they finish the swing, without watching it. A short or mishit lob feels different, and the correct response is the opposite: hold deep, get low, and defend the smash that is about to come. The mistake is to make the decision from where the ball lands, because by then the opponent is hitting and you are in no man's land whichever way you were moving.
Why not wait until it lands and then decide?
By then they have hit the overhead and you have missed the window either way.
What should a beginner do here?
Start noticing how a good lob feels when you hit it. When it feels right, walk forward. When it feels wrong, stay back.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The lob you followed that turned out short: that is a smash at a pair in no man's land. If in doubt, hold. The net can be won on the next ball; the point cannot be un-lost.
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.
beginnerYou have served. Where do you go?
In padel you serve in order to get to the net. Serve, then go.
intermediateWhat do you do with the return of serve?
The return lob is how the receiving pair steals the net. Aim over the player who is still moving.