ALW Lob Serve: Deep, Disguised, Accelerate Low-to-High
Summary
Anna Leigh Waters on the lob serve: get it deep so returners take time and arrive late to the kitchen, and use the high bounce that leaves people uncomfortable above their strike zone. Same pre-serve routine as a hard serve for disguise.
Technique: drop the paddle and wrist low, then accelerate even harder low-to-high than on a pace serve. After contact, split-step and move — short returns are common, and watching your “amazing” lob wastes the advantage.
Key takeaways
- Deep lob serve delays kitchen arrival + lifts them out of strike zone
- Same routine as other serves for disguise
- Drop paddle low and accelerate more (low-to-high); then split-step
Action items
- Hit 15 lob serves with an explicit wrist drop + louder acceleration cue
- After every lob serve, take two recovery steps before the return lands