Beat Lobbers: Stay on the Balls of Your Feet, Play Upright, and Stand a Foot Off the Kitchen Line

Summary

Tanner’s fix for lob-happy opponents starts with why amateurs get beaten: they stand flat-footed on the kitchen line like their feet are in cement and lean in — of course they get lobbed.

Instead, stay on the balls of your feet so you’re more agile, and play a little more upright so you can react when the ball goes up. Take it one step further and play a foot off the kitchen line. That spacing makes you much harder to lob.

Key takeaways

• Don’t stand flat-footed and lean in at the kitchen line — that’s how you get lobbed
• Stay on the balls of your feet and play more upright so you can react to the lob
• Playing a foot off the line makes you harder to lob

Action items

• Next kitchen session, start a foot off the line, on the balls of your feet, more upright
• Have a partner mix in lobs and see whether the extra foot of space lets you recover