When to Lob: Padel's Most Important Decision
Quick Answer: Lob when both opponents are at the net and you are meeting the ball below net height. Send it high and deep, over the shoulder of the player with the furthest to travel, then move forward with your partner. Do not lob off balance while moving backward — a short lob is a free smash.
The lob is the shot that separates padel from every other racket sport, and club players use it least. Ask a crew why and the answer is always some version of "it feels like giving up".
It is the opposite. The lob is the only shot in padel that takes the net away from a pair without you having to hit through them — and since the pair at the net is the pair being paid, taking the net back is how you win points from the floor.
What the lob is actually for
Two opponents are standing two or three meters off the net. You are behind your own service line with a ball at knee height. Your options are:
- Hit it hard and low. It has to climb over the net, which means it arrives in their strike zone and they hit down on it.
- Play it soft at their feet — the chiquita — and hope they volley it up.
- Send it over their heads and make them run backward.
Only the last one changes the geometry of the point. A lob that lands deep forces both of them to turn, retreat and play from behind their own service line, and their reply has to travel upward. That is the safest ball you will be offered in the whole rally, and it is your invitation to advance.
So the lob is not a defensive shrug. It is the reset button, and used well it is an attacking shot that happens to travel upward.
The decision tree
Five checks, in this order. The first three happen in the second before you swing; the last two you settle before the match starts.
1. Are both opponents at the net? If they are, the lob is on the table. If they are both at the back, it usually is not — a lob to a defending pair hands them a comfortable ball and all the time in the world. If one is up and one is back, lob over the one who is up.
2. Where is your contact point? Above net height, you can attack: drive at a gap or hit down. Below net height, you cannot — everything you hit has to climb — so your real choice is lob or chiquita. This is the single most useful test in padel, and it takes no skill to apply.
3. What is your balance doing? Feet set, or moving into the ball: lob whatever you like. Stretched, or running backward: keep the ambition small. Get it high and get it deep and accept an imperfect one, because the alternative — a flat swing on the run — is worse.
4. What is above you? Outdoors in late sun, a lob into the low light is a gift to nobody, including you. Indoors, check the roof. The FIP Rules of Padel set a minimum height of 6 m over the whole court, but plenty of older converted venues sit lower, and a ball that hits the ceiling is out of play under the out-of-court rules unless your club has posted a local rule of its own. The in-or-out guide has the detail. Ask once, before the first point, and then stop thinking about it.
5. Which shoulder? See below — this is the part worth a paragraph of its own.
Which shoulder, which corner
A lob is not one shot. Where you place it decides whether it resets the point or wins it.
| Send it over | When | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| The backhand shoulder | Almost always the default | An awkward overhead, usually a weaker reply |
| The player nearest the net | One of them has crept forward | The longest possible retreat, often a mistake |
| Cross-court, into the far corner | You are balanced and in control | The longest flight path, so the most margin, and a double-wall corner for them |
| Down the middle | You are stretched, or the sun is a problem | Maximum safety: lowest net, no side line to miss, and both of them deciding |
Two habits follow from that table. The first is to look at your opponents' feet, not their faces, in the moment before you hit — the one who has drifted forward is the one to lob. The second is to accept the middle lob without embarrassment when you are under pressure. A safe lob that lands deep in the center is worth far more than an ambitious one that lands short, for reasons the next section will explain unkindly.
Reset lob or attacking lob
The same shot, two intentions, and it helps to know which one you are playing.
The reset lob goes as high as you can send it and as deep as you dare, usually toward the middle. You are buying seconds: time for you and your partner to get organized, time to recover position, time for the point to become neutral again. Height is the priority, not placement.
The attacking lob is flatter and faster — still over their heads, but arriving quickly, landing within a meter or so of their back glass so it dies in the corner instead of bouncing out to a comfortable height. You play it when you are balanced, and you follow it forward with your partner immediately, because you have just created the weak reply you want to volley.
The difference in intention is the difference between a pair that lobs and stands still and a pair that lobs and takes the net. Both of you move up on a good lob. Every time.
When not to lob
The honest list, because a bad lob is genuinely one of the worst shots in padel.
- Moving backward, off balance, stretched. The lob that comes out of that motion lands short, at a comfortable height, in front of two players who are already looking up. That is a free smash, and you gave it to them.
- When they are already at the back. You have nothing to take from them, and you have handed them an easy ball on their terms.
- Twice in a row to the same player from the same place. Anybody can adjust once. Vary the shoulder, or change to a ball at their feet.
- Into low sun, or under a low ceiling. See the decision tree. This is a court condition, not a tactic.
- When you have a real gap. If a net player has drifted wide and there is a corridor, drive at it. The lob is the default when there is nothing better, not a religion.
The short lob deserves one more line, because it is the shot that makes players give up on lobbing altogether. A lob that lands around your opponents' service line is the single most punished ball in the sport. If your lobs keep landing short, the fix is not to stop lobbing. It is to aim two meters deeper than feels safe — the back glass is a wall, not a line, and a lob that reaches it is still in play.
What happens next
You lobbed well. Both of you are moving up. What is coming back is one of three things:
- A bandeja. The controlled, sliced overhead that lets them keep the net — deep, low, usually down the side glass. Expect it, and expect to defend it. It is the shot that decides who ends up in charge of the point, and the bandeja article explains why they play it instead of smashing.
- A smash. If your lob landed short. Get back, get low, and give yourself room off the glass, as in where to stand.
- A defensive ball, high and floating. The gift. This is what all of it was for: take it above net height and hit it down, ideally through the middle.
You lobbed badly. Both of you go back, immediately, to a meter off the glass, knees bent, and prepare to start the argument again from the floor.
How many lobs should you be hitting?
There is no honest number, and anyone who quotes you one for club padel is guessing. But there is a diagnostic that works: if you got beaten by a pair who spent the whole night at the net, and you finished the match having hit almost no lobs, you have found your leak.
The crew experiment is cheap. Play one set with a house rule: from behind your own service line, the only shot allowed is a lob. Nothing else. You will feel ridiculous for two games and then you will start winning the net back in points you used to lose, and you will discover how deep a lob has to land before it stops being a present. Run it with the online padel scoreboard going so the set counts for something, and then go back to normal rules with a better instinct. The full picture of where this fits sits in the guide to getting better at 2v2.
FAQ
When should you lob in padel?
When both opponents are at the net and you are meeting the ball below net height. Those two conditions together mean you cannot attack and they are in the strong position, so the lob is the shot that changes the situation rather than prolonging it. If they are at the back, or if your contact point is above the net, choose something else.
How high should a padel lob be?
High enough that it lands deep. Height and depth trade against each other: a very high ball gives you more time to reposition but is easier to track, while a flatter one arrives sooner and is harder to run down. Aim to land it within a meter or two of their back glass, and if your lobs keep dropping short, aim deeper than feels comfortable.
Is the lob a defensive shot in padel?
It is played from a defensive position and it produces an attacking one, which is why the label misleads people. A deep lob forces both opponents behind their own service line and forces their next ball to travel upward, which is your cue to move forward with your partner and take the net.
What happens if a padel lob hits the ceiling?
It is out of play — anything not part of the court is treated as out under the out-of-court rules, so the point goes to your opponents. FIP specifies a minimum height of 6 m above the court, but converted indoor venues are sometimes lower, and clubs with tight roofs often post a local rule instead. Ask before the first point rather than arguing at 5–4.
Should you lob down the middle or into the corner?
Middle for safety, corner for damage. The middle has the lowest net, no side line to miss and two opponents who both have to decide; the corner is harder for them to retrieve but easier for you to miss. Under pressure, take the middle. When you are balanced and want the point to change hands, go cross-court over the backhand shoulder.