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JAK'S MONTHLY ESSAY SERIES: Achieving Your Personal Best

Defending the lob over your net partner – The "Switch"

February 2023

For many years now, despite my commitment to correct a particularly rampant club double's positioning misperception, I still shudder every time I hear, or observe, the dreaded "switch" between club players – some who should know better - intending to adjust their one-up, one back initial alignment after a successful lob over one's partner at the net (See accompanying image of the troublesome lob over the netman by the returner).

Defending the lob over your net partner - The Switch

"Switch" does not mean the lobbed over partner simply moves horizontally across the front court - paralleling the net - to the opposite side service box position. It does, however, mean moving over-and-back on the diagonal to the position vacated by the covering back court player. The back court player, faced with an often considerable challenge, must run down the incoming lob (moving from deuce to ad court being the most difficult for a righty) in order to try and return the ball back successfully enough to not present a lurking, salivating opponent at the net with a cup cake opportunity to take advantage of the sitting duck net player previously lobbed over.

The latter happens frequently when the back court player is often hard pressed to manage a response that is not taken advantage of by the opposing net player, who then totally dominates the lobbed over player who "switched" directly across into the line of fire, now a dead duck facing possible dental work. (Don't blame an opponent for attacking your then vulnerable position… blame your partner for setting you up, and yourself for "switching" into a potential dead duck position. Double whammy.)

Qualifier: If you're playing with Caroline Garcia or Jack Sock, or even a high level club player – ones who can easily neutralize these lobs without putting their net partner in jeopardy – you could then just move across, and "switch." 

So, if you're not partnering with that kind of player then it's definitely move over-and-back to the partner's previous, now vacated, position. Now, if the back courter's response isn't stellar there is a much greater opportunity to stay in the point with both players playing back in a defensive, stay in the point, alignment. Not still one up and one back!  

Additionally, if you're the one being lobbed over, make it a point to call out "you" or "yours" as soon as possible to alert any sometimes late to react partners to immediately cover and make the save. They should lob the save back very high (30'-40' in the air), hopefully deep, but safely back down-the-line to the original lobber who has, typically, not joined their partner at the net to fully capitalize on those often weak responses in club play, and remains at the baseline. 

If Caroline or Jack do show up to partner with you, then just cross over. It's okay.

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Past Essays

  • March 2024 - Get Your JuJu On
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  • February 2024 - Giving Opponents too Much Respect
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  • November 2023 - "You're Only as Good as Your Second Serve"
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  • October 2023 - good misses vs bad misses
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  • September 2023 - Why good players are good players!
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  • August 2023 - On poaching and fake poaching: Becoming a Force at the Net in Doubles
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  • July 2023 - The Beautiful Game is Getting Ugly
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  • June 2023 - The Approach Dropper: Lob Killer
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  • May 2023 - Why club players don't practice
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Essay Archives

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2023

  • April 2023 - DON'T FIGHT TIGHT
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  • March 2023 - Classic finish line failure
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  • February 2023 - Defending the lob over your net partner - The "Switch"
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2022

  • December 2022 - E. I. D. - Extended Impact Duration
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  • November 2022 - Movement Enhancement to Stay Better In-Point Connected
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  • September 2022 - Advanced Visualization 301
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  • August 2022 - Tennis' uniqueness: warming-up the enemy
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  • July 2022 - Extracting Double Faults Through Receiving Positions... and more
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  • June 2022 - Consider Serve and Volley
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  • May 2022 - How the Toss Primes the Serve Relaxation Pump
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  • April 2022 - Ball Watching and Science
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  • March 2022 - Caving
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  • February 2022 - Kenny G and Emmo
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  • January 2022 - The Knees
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2021

  • December 2021 - The Match is with You
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  • November 2021 - The Backup Racket in Your Bag
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  • October 2021 - Every Tennis Player Can and Should Have a Weapon
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  • September 2021 - LEARNING NEW SKILLS: First the Process, Then the Results
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  • August 2021 - The Challenge of Visualizing… For Some
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  • July 2021 - Playing with both your feet and your hands
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  • June 2021 - Finding the Range
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  • May 2021 - The Focus
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  • April 2021 - About Your Butt Cap
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  • March 2021 - The Essential Forehand and Backhand
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  • February 2021 - On Being a Doubles All-Courter
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  • January 2021 - Same Grip Volleying Myths
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2020

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  • November 2020 - THE BIG 3: The Glue That Keeps Your Best Game Together
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  • September 2020 - Protocol and Game Tradition Revisited
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  • August 2020 - As Good as Your 2nd Serve
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  • July 2020 - Shot Shaping
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  • February 2020 - The service toss: myths and realities
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  • January 2020 - Shot Gazing
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2019

  • December 2019 - The Dreaded High Bouncing Moonball Dilemma
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  • November 2019 - Chalk Flew: Troublesome Line Calling without Hawkeye in Clubland [read more]
  • October 2019 - In the Spirit of Don't Drink and Drive… Don't Think and Hit [read more]
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  • August 2019 - Getting the Ball Where You Want It [read more]
  • July 2019 - Taking Points Off…What? [read more]
  • June 2019 - Confidence Is Confidence: Take It Wherever You Can Get It [read more]
  • May 2019 - TENNIS INNOVATION IMPLODES [read more]
  • April 2019 - Defending the Court with Older Bones: A Club Player's Guide to Saying "Nice Shot" Less [read more]
  • March 2019 - Do You Have Doubles Rally Tolerance? [read more]
  • February 2019 - I Knew Jimy Van Alen: A Historical Look Back [read more]
  • January 2019 - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Mental Toughness Skills [read more]

2018

  • December 2018 - Less Bling is the Thing [read more]
  • November 2018 - Anatomy of a Doubles Serve Return…from the Inside Out [read more]
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  • September 2018 - The All-Important Dynamic of Gripping [read more]
  • August 2018 - The Cinemascope Syndrome: Undermining Your Ball Watching [read more]
  • June 2018 - Serving and Returning Better with a Quiet Eye [read more]
  • May 2018 - The Man Who Breathed for Two [read more]
  • January 2018 - Rituals Anyone? [read more]

2017

  • December 2017 - Why Serving is so Difficult in Clubland [read more]
  • October 2017 - Managing your body and mind in tennis space [read more]
  • August 2017 - Why Bother Breathing to Improve Your Game [read more]
  • May 2017 - The "Maintaining" One's Game as One Ages Fallacy [read more]
  • February 2017 - Punta Gorda Tennis Clubs: Setting the Bar [read more]
  • January 2017 - State of the Club Game: The Growing Death of Sportsmanship [read more]

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