Responding to Lobs

[johnyandell]

Let's get your thoughts on Leo Giraldi's article, "Responding to Lobs"

[stotty]

Option 1 is always the best.

Actually there is a fifth option. If you chase a lob quickly enough and it bounces high enough, you can his a smash over your shoulder.

Go to 26 seconds on this clip to see Bahrami do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HY40ywqmK8

Nastase used to do this at lot in his career and hit winners doing it. I think Nastase was the inventor of the shot.

[arturohernandez]

Option 1 is always the best.

Actually there is a fifth option. If you chase a lob quickly enough and it bounces high enough, you can his a smash over your shoulder.

Go to 26 seconds on this clip to see Bahrami do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HY40ywqmK8

Nastase used to do this at lot in his career and hit winners doing it. I think Nastase was the inventor of the shot.

This is my favorite overhead because no one has any idea where the ball is going. A lot of times they think you are letting it go.

Is this a variation of the the Bolo or Jimmy Connor's overhead? Or are they two different shots in your options?

[stotty]

This is my favorite overhead because no one has any idea where the ball is going. A lot of times they think you are letting it go.

Is this a variation of the the Bolo or Jimmy Connor's overhead? Or are they two different shots in your options?

I am not sure if the shot has a name. Nastase used to hit them a lot and would sometimes pull off winners. He did the shot in the film Players starring Dean Martin Junior. Pancho Gonzales also starred in that film.


Go to 4:24 on this clip. It's a good point but watch the last shot in the rally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEDUlcvMQWo

It's a nice clip if you want to watch two ridiculously talented players playing each other. I still think Nastase is the best mover I've ever seen.

[leogiraldi]

Love all of those links! Also unless I'm mistaken, I believe Guillermo Vilas was the "tweener" shot originator "La Gran Willie" back in the 60's!
Thanks for the opportunity John

[don_budge]

Actually there is a fifth option. If you chase a lob quickly enough and it bounces high enough, you can his a smash over your shoulder. Nastase used to do this at lot in his career and hit winners doing it. I think Nastase was the inventor of the shot.

I am not sure if the shot has a name. Nastase used to hit them a lot and would sometimes pull off winners.

Bud Collins used to call it the "Bucharest Backfire".

[stroke]

Good one, Bud certainly had an enduring quality

[klacr]

Love all of those links! Also unless I'm mistaken, I believe Guillermo Vilas was the "tweener" shot originator "La Gran Willie" back in the 60's!
Thanks for the opportunity John

Vilas may have been an originator but Gabriela Sabatini made it sexy. They called it "The Sabatweenie"

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Let's get your thoughts on Leo Giraldi's article, "Responding to Lobs"

This is a strange video historically speaking. There have been a lot of imaginative ways to return a lob over your head that you must chase down and reach before the ball bounces twice.

Option one, two and three is to get to one side or the other of the ball as soon as you realize that you are not going to be able to play the ball in the air. You run like the devil to get back quick enough and option number one is probably a defensive shot that will enable you to make your opponent play a shot that is the least aggressive and usually this calls for a lob. The defensive lob in return needs to be thought of tactically speaking as you try to get the ball over the backhand side and deep to the opponent.

I emphasize getting to the side of the ball immediately as the author here appears to be running back directly under the ball. This is understandable as in modern tennis this is the option the unfortunately takes precedent over the percentage play.

The "tweener" is the worst of all possible choices. Although the professionals will sometimes hit an amazing or unbelievable shot between the legs, more often than not it produces a losing effort and fails miserably at getting the player chasing down the lob back into a point where the defensive play might just buy him enough time to neutralize the situation. When you factor in that the modern player is not that anxious to follow to the net even when his lob is over the head of his opponent you begin to realize the folly of the "tweener". It used to be in the days of classic tennis that any lob you get over your opponents head you would immediately if not sooner get your behind to the net to end the point there. Usually with a smash off of the defensive return.

The "wind sider" is actually the more viable option for a desperate play on a ball over your head. This shot can be hit on a dead run going backwards and the element of surprise can be a compelling reason to attempt this shot if all else is out of the question. The percentages of making a successful shot are enhanced because the player does not have to be concerned with hitting himself squarely in the family jewels as well. The is where "The Sabatweenie" makes just a little more sense than the male version of the shot. She had that much less to lose on such an attempt.

"The Bucharest Backfire" was actually an offensive shot from an uncanny position and it was enabled by the player actually hustling back to get in position to make such an attempt. So often these days in the era of "faux tennis" we see the professional lolly gagging after the ball is over his head in order to hit the "crowd pleaser" tweener. Perhaps the worst element of this play is the message it sends to the junior player. When junior players see this sort of nonsense they are inclined to imitate it. The temptation to "hot dog" comes early to young and talented players.

[doctorhl]

Another desperation lob return that has some success at the amateur level is the “sky lob”. It is a total wrist extension/flexion shot with the goal of hitting the ball as high(30’+) and as deep as possible. The ball is too high for opponent to easily take in the air and if deep enough, you buy enough time to recover to anticipate your opponent’s return from the baseline.