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The flat lob over the backhand shoulder: when and how?
Flat lob over the backhand shoulder: opponents standing deep, you in balance, a firm contact. It wins the net outright.
You want to hit the attacking flat lob over the net player's backhand shoulder. What conditions make it work?
Flat lob over the backhand shoulder: opponents standing deep, you in balance, a firm contact. It wins the net outright.
Why
The flat, fast lob over the backhand shoulder is the most aggressive lob in padel. It is hit with a firmer contact and lower trajectory than the defensive lob, aimed to pass just over the backhand-side shoulder of a net player standing three or more metres from the net, too high to volley, too flat and fast to set up a smash, and on the side where their only shot is a weak backhand block. It needs time and balance, because the margin is small: too flat and it is a volley, too high and it is a bandeja. Against players crowding the net it is wrong; against players standing deep it is the shot that ends their time at the net.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Not yet. Get the high, deep lob reliable first; the flat one comes when the depth is automatic.
Intermediate
Aim for the shoulder, not the sky. Hit through the ball with a firm wrist and a flatter arc, and target the backhand side of the deeper net player.
Advanced
Disguise it as the high lob until the last moment: same preparation, firmer contact, less lift. The net player who reads it as high is beaten before it arrives.
Common questions
You want to hit the attacking flat lob over the net player's backhand shoulder. What conditions make it work?
They stand deep; you have time and balance. Flat lob over the backhand shoulder: opponents standing deep, you in balance, a firm contact. It wins the net outright. The flat, fast lob over the backhand shoulder is the most aggressive lob in padel. It is hit with a firmer contact and lower trajectory than the defensive lob, aimed to pass just over the backhand-side shoulder of a net player standing three or more metres from the net, too high to volley, too flat and fast to set up a smash, and on the side where their only shot is a weak backhand block. It needs time and balance, because the margin is small: too flat and it is a volley, too high and it is a bandeja. Against players crowding the net it is wrong; against players standing deep it is the shot that ends their time at the net.
Why not they are crowding the net and cannot get back?
Against players tight to the net, the flat lob is a high volley for them. Lob high instead.
What should a beginner do here?
Not yet. Get the high, deep lob reliable first; the flat one comes when the depth is automatic.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Disguise it as the high lob until the last moment: same preparation, firmer contact, less lift. The net player who reads it as high is beaten before it arrives.
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.
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.
intermediateShort, high and yours. Bandeja or smash?
Deep ball, bandeja. Short ball with your weight going forward, smash.