allows a greater margin of error. Therefore smash 'cross court
when pressed, but pull your short lobs either side as determined
by the man you are playing.

Never drop a lob you can hit overhead, as it forces you back and
gives the attacking position to your opponent. Never smash with a
reverse twist, always hit with a straight racquet face and direct
to the opening.

Closely connected to the overhead since it is the usual defence
to any hard smash, is the lob.

A lob is a high toss of the ball landing between the service-line
and the baseline. An excellent lob should be within 6 feet of the
baseline.

Lobs are essentially defensive. The ideas in lobbing are: (1) to
give yourself time to recover position when pulled out of court
by your opponent's shot; (2) to drive back the net man and break
up his attack; (3) to tire your opponent; (4) occasionally to,
win cleanly by placement. This is usually a lob volley from a
close net rally, and is a slightly different stroke.

There is (1) the chop lob, a heavily under-cut spin that hangs in
the air. This, is the best defensive lob, as it goes high and
gives plenty of time to recover position. (2) The stroke lob or
flat lob, hit with a slight top spin. This is the point-winning
lob since it gives no time to, the player to run around it, as it
is lower and faster than the chop. In making this lob, start your
swing like a drive, but allow the racquet to slow up and the face