How To Improve Your Game

The Lob Serve

by Pete Tyson (adapted for 1-Wall by Albert Apuzzi)

I hate playing against a player who has a good lob serve! And most of the players I know, including many of the pros, hate receiving the lob serve! But this serve, like the overhand serve, should be used a lot more often. So why isn't it? Maybe John Bike said it best: "Hitting the lob serve is just admitting you are not enough of a man to hit the ball hard!" Well, he was only kidding, but I'm sure he would like his opponents to believe he was serious. Like most of us, Bike would prefer that you serve him anything but the lob. Yes, the properly hit lob serve is definitely one of the best serves in the game. Nine-time USHA national singles champion Joe Durso used this serve often at the peak of his career. Another fine player, Charlie Sheldon, used the lob serve to frustrate many players like Ed Golden and Al Torres. I know someone will say that I'm talking about the players of the past, and today's players are so gifted with their off hands that the lob serve is no longer an effective serve. Maybe you should ask some of the top pros who have faced Joe Durso. So why isn't the lob serve used more? One reasons is that it is similar to the overhand serve: Unless it is perfectly controlled, it isn't hard to return effectively. But remember what is happening when you serve. You are standing perfectly still in the exact place in the service zone that you choose. You have plenty of time to use your most comfortable stroke with your dominant hand. You are hitting the ball from only 15 - 18 feet from the wall. What all of this means is that, with practice, you can develop the necessary control to hit great lob serves. Another obvious advantage in serving the lob is that it takes such little effort. It's almost like you are getting to rest while your opponent is going to have to expend a lot of effort to make the return from deep in the back court with his overhand off hand. OK, so where should you stand? How should your feet be aligned? What stroke do you use, and with which hand do you bounce the ball? Where should the serve contact the wall? Where should the ball contact the floor after rebounding from the wall? What if your opponent's overhand off hand is so good that he can easily hit a defensive shot? What should you do if your opponent runs up to hit the serve before it strikes the floor?

Let's answer each question:

Where should you stand? The server's position should be fairly close to the side line. Somewhere between 1 and 3 feet is generally a good starting position, although this may vary from player to player. Some players feel that their stroke is cramped when they stand too close to the side line. You want the opponent to attempt the return with his off hand. You must understand that even if the serve is well-executed, the opponent may have time to run up and attempt the return shortly after it passes back across the short line. If you stand too far from the side line, there will be room for the receiver to use his dominant hand on the return. By standing close to the side line, even if the opponent moves up to make the return, he will still have to use his off and. Actually, you do not want the receiver to move up on your lob serve. Ways to prevent this will be discussed a little later.

How should your feet be aligned? On shots attempted below the shoulders, the player is usually facing a side line as he strides into his shot. However, on shots hit above the shoulders, especially on the lob serve, the player should be facing more toward the wall. Whether you face the wall or position yourself at a slight angle from it may vary from player to player. Because pinpoint control is so important on the lob serve, the server should eliminate any unnecessary body movement that might interfere with accuracy. The main enemy of the lob serve is the poor placement. When the rebounding serve lands "out", or in the center of the court. (This is called losing.) By facing more toward the wall, the server can eliminate much of the shoulder rotation. Notice that one foot (the opposite of the hitting hand) is slightly ahead of the other. You don't face toward the target area. I know there are players with excellent lob serves. If you are one of these players and your serve rarely hits the side line, don't change anything. But if you are among the other 98 percent who have difficulty keeping the ball from hitting the side line, facing the wall more should be the cure.

What stroke do you use? The best lob serves are hit with the overhand stroke. Some players do hit good lobs with the underhand stroke, but I don't recommend this. Hitting the ball underhand imparts backspin, which means the ball must land several feet behind the short line to rebound deep into the back court. As we'll discuss, if the ball rebounds that far behind the short line, it will allow the receiver the opportunity to move forward and fly the return. You definitely do not want this to happen!

With which hand do you bounce the ball? The answer is with whichever one you have the most control. This is one of the difficulties when attempting the lob serve. You need to bounce the ball with enough height and accuracy so when you stride toward the wall, the ball is almost directly above the hitting shoulder. If the ball is not in this area, you are going to have to change your stride or alter your stroke, either of which can greatly decrease the accuracy of your serve. Remember, you have 10 seconds to serve after the referee calls the score. A very important reminder: If your bounce is not just right, catch the ball and try again. You might have to bounce the ball several times before you get it right where you want it. Try to make contact with the ball at a level that is about at the top of your head. To contact the ball at this height your elbow will be bent about 90 degrees as it leads the stroke. This will wall as the ball rolls off the fingertips. Contacting the ball higher than this will probably cause the ball to contact the wall too low. It will also cause you to swing harder to get the ball to rebound past the short line, which will probably give the receiver an easy shot.

Where should it contact the wall? This is a very individual thing. Most good lob servers hit the wall anywhere from 10 to 14 feet high. As was previously mentioned, if you hit the wall much lower than 10 feet, you will probably hit the ball too hard, which will result in an easy shot. If you aim much higher than 14 feet, you are in danger of hitting the ball over the wall. So just experiment a little and find out the height with which you feel comfortable. Part of your decision will be based on the answer to the next question.

Where should it contact the floor? The answer is as close to the short line as possible. Yes, you will hit some short serves, but that is better than the ball hitting so far behind the short line that the receiver has room to move up and fly it. If your lob serve bounces just across the short line, the receiver can't legally make this fly return. Just to refresh your memory: 4.4-B says: "In making a fly return, the receiver must play the ball after it passes over the short line, and no part of his body may extend on or over the plane of the short line (back edge) when contacting the ball. A violation results in a point for the server. After contacting the ball the receiver may step on or over the short line without penalty." Thus, it is nearly impossible to legally make a fly return of the lob serve if it bounces just behind the short line. But this is also a good reason to not attempt this serve if you already have one fault. The overhand serve is usually the best serve to attempt with one fault.

Where should the ball rebound? What you should be trying to accomplish with your lob serve is to have the receiver attempt the return with his overhand off hand from as deep in the court as possible. You will probably notice that when you hit your soft lob serve so it contacts the floor just behind the short line, the ball will reach the back court at the proper height. Now you have hit your accurate lob serve, and the receiver is pinned up deep in the back court, hitting the ball with his overhand off hand. Will he return the ball? Probably. But the real question should be: Can he hit a good defensive shot from that position? If he can't, you will probably get a setup--the opportunity to win the rally with a kill shot or a pass shot--and getting a setup is the purpose of the serve. Another benefit of the good lob serve is that even if the receiver does make a defensive return, you should have time to get into good position to hit the ball with your overhand dominant hand. From this position, you can hit a very accurate drop shot to win the volley. Hopefully, you can see the importance of developing a good drop shot to complement your good lob serve. But let's say that you happen to be playing against the 1 or 2 percent of players who can consistently hit good defensive-shot returns off your lob serve. Does this mean the lob serve is not the serve you should be hitting against that player? Well, maybe. Before you give up on the lob, try one small adjustment. Hit your serve slightly harder so the ball will bounce on the floor 3 to 4 feet before the long line. This will leave your opponent with the choice of short-hopping, or backing up, on the return. The pass is the primary defensive return in this situation. What you are trying to find out is if the receiver can hit a good pass from this difficult position. The fact is: Most players can't! And remember, the strategy of successful serving is hitting a serve that your opponent has difficulty returning. This is how you gain the all important setups, the opportunities to win rallies. Even if the receiver is successful in hitting good defensive returns early in the contest, this does not mean he will still do this late in the game.

How to keep him from moving in? Nothing you can do can totally prevent the receiver from moving in and attempting to hit the return from close to the short line. But at least be prepared to do something that will disrupt his timing so if he does move in, he will still have a difficult shot. The receiver must travel a long way from his receiving position to attempt a return shortly after the ball clears the short line. In fact, he will probably have to start moving forward before you actually contact the ball. He will have to time his run forward so he arrives at the spot at the same time he thinks the ball is going to arrive. He has a good chance of doing this if you always hit your lob serve with the same height, speed and trajectory. You can do several things to disrupt the receiver's timing: Occasionally change the height and speed of the serve. Overhand drive the ball in an attempt to jam the receiver as he is coming in. Without changing anything in your service motion except your follow-through, push the ball with an overhand stroke that is between the lob stroke and the overhand power stroke toward the opposite side of the court. The successful player is not necessarily the one with the better offensive shots. Rather, it's the player who gets the most opportunities to hit offensive shots. I have rarely seen anyone, other than a few of the best players, easily defense a well-controlled lob serve. Mastering the lob serve will definitely increase your opportunities for offensive action. But remember, not every good serve is successful against every opponent. The greater variety of well-controlled serves you can execute, the better your chances of finding your opponent's defensive weakness. And, of course, this means you will gain more opportunities to win rallies.