When the Lob Goes Up
A Club Player's Guide to Tennis Overheads: Safe Footwork, Clean Contact, Powerful Smashes, Smart Targets, and Calm Under Pressure
Stop dreading the ball that hangs over your head.
The lob goes up. Your opponent waits. You turn late, shuffle in the wrong direction, and meet the ball with a swing that feels more like an apology. Sound familiar?
When the Lob Goes Up gives recreational singles and doubles players a practical plan for turning that uncomfortable moment into a calmer, smarter shot. Instead of simply telling you to "keep your eye on the ball," Nandi Esposito breaks the overhead into decisions you can observe, practise, and test.
Inside, you'll learn how to:
- Build reliable tennis overhead smash technique, from a comfortable trophy position to contact and follow-through.
- Use tennis overhead footwork drills to turn early, make safe adjustment steps, and recover your balance without blind backpedalling.
- Understand how to hit a tennis smash with a continental grip and a coordinated swing, without forcing the wrist.
- Improve tennis lob defense and recovery by knowing when to attack, play a controlled reply, or let the ball bounce.
- Put continental grip overhead tennis fundamentals to work, including racket drop, natural forearm rotation, and clean contact.
- Make better decisions with tennis doubles overhead strategy, clear communication, and smarter placement to feet, gaps, and open court.
- Handle tennis performance anxiety when a routine lob suddenly feels like match point.
Sixteen focused chapters cover ball tracking, the pointing arm, contact height, target geometry, defensive overheads, lob-versus-smash choices, and a structured eight-week practice programme. Troubleshooting guides and measurable drills help you identify what to work on next. The case studies are clearly identified as illustrative examples rather than claims of real coaching outcomes.
You do not need a showpiece smash. You need a shot you can set up safely, choose wisely, and trust under pressure. Start there. Power can follow.
For: adult beginners, returning players, club competitors, doubles partners, and anyone whose least favourite sight is a perfectly good lob.