There is another ally of the ground stroke in its defence against the net rusher. It is one which, in the past decade, has been almost forgotten in singles, yet it is actually one of the most valuable and intelligent shots in singles as well as in doubles. (In doubles, its virtues have always been recognized. ) This shot is the lob, which is nothing more than are turn of a stroke with a high toss of the ball in the air. There are three types of lob:
1. The slice or backspin lob (defence).
2. The flat lob (defence).
3. The loop or topspin lob (attack).
1. The Slice Lob. This is simply a chop stroke made with a definite tilting of the racquet back so that the flight of the ball, meeting the face of the racquet, is angled back up into the air. Control is gained by adding a little wrist flick, and there is very little backswing or follow-through.
2. The Flat Lob. To hit a flat lob, just drop the flat racquet face under the ball and hit it high in the air. It has not enough spin to control it, and is not as good as the slice lob.
3. The Loop or Topspin. This is a very daring, dangerous shot that is almost a trick shot. To hit it, drop your racquet head below the ball, hit up the back of the ball with a distinct lift, and turn your wrist over the ball, imparting a very heavy forward rotation. This will toss the ball about ten to twenty feet in the air and bring it down suddenly just behind the service line of your opponent’s court. It is valuable only when your opponent is almost on top of the net and is expecting a drive. Frankly, I do not advise this shot; I believe that the slice lob, played at the unexpected time, will produce the same result with much less chance of error.
The slice lob is the most widely used lob and is purely a defensive measure, used when in difficulty to give you time to recover position. It is a slice or chop stroke, hit at a very high trajectory because the racquet head is tilted backward instead of being flat. There is very little in the way of variety to this shot. It is hit with the Continental or Eastern service grip (number 3) and is played the same way off forehand and backhand.
The easiest way to describe the shot is to say you just bump the ball up in the air without much swing but giving it a definitely sliced or backspin quality. The reason for the backspin is that the spin, working against the air, holds and retards the flight of the ball, controls the distance of its flight, and gives you more time to recover position before your opponent hits his next shot. This shot should always be played high, at least twenty feet or more in the air, and as deep as you dare into your opponent’s court. Remember you are not trying to win the point with this shot but to keep the ball in play while you get back into position, and perhaps get an error from your opponent.
Therefore, all my yourself a good margin of safety. Your chief danger is that you will lob too short and give your opponent an easy kill. Therefore, risk your lob going over the baseline rather than hitting too short or too low. Make good use of the greatest distance you can-so send most lobs on the diagonal, or cross-court. As a general rule, the lob going toward your opponent’s backhand corner is very valuable, but it also may allow him to try the angle smash into your backhand, if your lob is not high and deep enough to put him on the defensive.
The lob to the forehand corner is good if it is played unexpectedly. It may catch your opponent off balance. Do not lob every time you get into difficulties. So many players make this mistake. The moment they are pushed by an attacking shot sending them wide, they “poop” the ball up. All the opponent needs to do is come halfway in and wait for it. Most singles players of today seem to fall into either of two classes: the ones who never lob, and the ones who always lob when attacked. The lob is of value only when it is played as part of the pattern of the whole game, and not simply a shot set apart. It should be used at the unexpected moments, not when it seems certain to be played.
In these days of modern net rushers who don’t seem to understand that there is such a shot as the lob, a clever player will occasionally mix in a slice lob in place of the usual short, soft drive. This often works well because, in the first place, the net rusher is moving forward so fast that the lob may well go over his head for a winner, or catch him so off balance that he will miss his attempted overhead. Second, after a couple of lobs have been tossed over him, the net rusher begins to slow up on his advance, so that your chance to pass him with a fast drive is greatly increased, and at least your slow short shot now catches him at his feet as he comes in. Once again the effect of the lob pays off not only for itself, but also by increasing the value of your other shots.
Another use for the lob, which many players forget and which wins by its element of surprise, is off a short volley when your opponent closes in on top of the net to cut off your passing shot. Go low with your racquet and with a flat racquet face push the ball high and not too deep. You must get it up high enough to get over the fully extended racquet reach of the net player. He cannot go back after it, since he is already moving forward to make a killing volley off your expected drive. Closely allied to this shot is the lob-volley in doubles. It can be used only when all four players are close in at the net, and it, too, is just a high toss over either man. Both the lob off the short bound and the lob-volley win entirely by their surprise element; unless you play them with no indication of your intention, you will get them rammed down your throat by the return kill from the net player.
The ways to use the lob are:
1. When it is unexpected and not the shot that your opponent would look for, particularly when he is advancing to the net and is prepared for a passing drive.
2. When you are drawn in directly in front of your opponent at the net and he jumps in on top of the net.
3. When you are forced so far out of court that you require a lot of time to regain position.
The lob, in singles, is a prime example of one of the refinements of the game that has been overlooked in the past decade. It is one of the most valuable, and it is time to bring it back into its proper place in tennis strategy.
We come now to the trimmings, the shots that are the last word in the game and the strokes that need not be taught. When a player reaches the place where he should use them, he is good enough to evolve his own way to play them, because they are largely a matter of “feel,” or tennis instinct. These shots are:
1. The half-volley or pickup.
2. The drop shot.
I will not coach these shots, except where an already completely equipped player requests it, because I believe no player should monkey with either one until he is master of all the other strokes. However, I am going to give an idea of the shots and discuss their uses.