When to Rush the Net After a Lob in Padel (and When Not To)

Somewhere along the way, players learn that a lob means run to the net. So they lob, they run, and they get the ball played at their feet before they have arrived.

The lob does not earn you the net. What earns it is what the lob does to your opponents, and you can read that in the second after you hit it.

Rush a bad lob and the ball arrives at your feet

If your lob is short and they are still comfortably facing you, running forward puts you in the worst place on the court: mid-court, moving, with an opponent above the ball.

They do not even need a good shot. Anything downward at your feet wins, because you are hitting up while travelling forwards.

Wait until they turn their backs

The signal is their body, not the ball. When a lob is good enough to push them back, they have to turn and chase it. The moment you see their backs, they cannot see you or play a controlled attacking shot.

That is your cue. Go then, and you arrive at the net while they are still facing the wrong way.

Good lob that does not pass them: go to block

There is a third case people miss. Sometimes your lob is decent but not deep enough to get over them, so they are going to hit an overhead.

Do not stay back and do not sprint in blindly. Move forward to block. You are going up to shorten their angles and put a racket on whatever comes, not to attack.