TIPBIT #19 – Topspin Lob
Last Sunday I’m watching the men’s championship doubles match from Veolia, California and pro Tyson McGuffin hit four successful Topspin Lobs out of six attempts against the John brothers. The lob tends to get a bad rap in pickleball. Several members have told me that lobbing against players ranked 3.5 or above is not a sound option. But the lob and its variations are important ingredients in a complete PB game. The Topspin Lob is a specialty shot much like the topspin dink, third shot drop, slice, scorpion, Ernie or Bert.
Many beginners and intermediate players have a flat defensive lob shot and usually hit it when they’re pulled off the court and on the run. In the Topspin Lob, you need to be in a more stationary position and it can be used as both a defensive shot and an offensive weapon. Because of the added topspin it makes the ball drop hard and fast, bounce high and kick hard once it hits the Glen Park gritted surface. Many times a player thinks it’s just a normal flat lob and will mistime it and blow the overhead or if they try to run it down it kicks and it’s gone!
I use the same take back as my standard forehand, but I lean back onto my back foot at the last second. My swing is almost completely vertical from 5 to 1 on the ball’s face and I tend to finish with the paddle up near my left ear. So, in summary, I try to get under the ball, hit directly up the back, and don’t swing through the shot as much as I would with a flat lob. The key is to add as much spin as you can and have a loose buggy whip arm, which allows you to generate as much paddle speed as you can. Plus, if you’re using a paddle with a lot of grit and RPM (Tipbit #18) ability, that will increase your chance of hitting an effective Topspin Lob.
Another thing is your weight distribution. The weight has to start completely from the leg on the side where you are hitting it from and your leg has to bend as much as possible. Now, instead of just moving the weight forward to the front leg as you would in the regular flat lob, you just move it up as high as you can and with as little forward swing as possible. This way most of the spin will be generated upward and that is where your ball's height will come from and it’s that spin that will bring the ball back into the court behind the opponent, preferably!
The shot takes a massive amount of “vertical paddle acceleration” and even more practice to make this one of your best shots. But, once you master this shot no mortal pickleball player will be able to run it down once the ball is past them as it actually accelerates once it hits the court and will run away from your opponent. Take it from me, it can be a very gratifying stroke to execute and watch.
You may lose some points at first, as your opponent painfully punishes your lob with overheads or swinging volleys, but don’t let that discourage you from using the lob when the time is right. Most pros like to lob when on the NVZ, when all four players are leaning forward with their toes on the NVZ line.
Many times I still hit the darn thing too shallow or I fail to impart enough spin and it goes way out. It is such a difficult shot it really needs just tons of practice to get consistence. The more you practice and use the topspin lob in game play, the more successful you will be at executing the stroke.
With any lob always check out the wind direction utilizing our new (soon to arrive) windsock, remember to lob over your opponent’s backhand side and if possible lob diagonally to take advantage of the extra 4’4” in court length.
​
So give this underrated, under practiced and underutilized Topspin Lob a try :-)
​
C' ya on the Glen Park courts. Let the westerlies blow! President Lueck