# Playing High: Strategic Use of the Lob in Professional Padel
## 4 Discussion  
The aim of this study was to analyze the lob in professional padel, taking into account sex, the player's side of play, the direction of the lob and the efficiency of the lob.  
Irrespective of the sex, players from the right and left sides play a similar proportion of lobs during a match (Table 1). To the best of our knowledge, there is no prior research which focused on this particular aspect at the professional level. Nevertheless, in high-level male players (1 st category from Spain), right-side and left-side players also hit a similar proportion of lobs [26]. This uniformity in lob usage may be attributed to the tactical versatility and adaptability required at professional levels, where players must employ a wide range of shots effectively, regardless of their position.  
Figure 4: Lobs in men’s professional padel: degree of association between lob efficacy and direction.  
Figure 5: Lobs in women’s professional padel: degree of association between lob efficacy and direction.  
Figure 3: Lobs in women’s professional padel: degree of association between the player’s side of play (black line: left side; blue line: right side) and direction ((A): down-the line; (B): central zone; (C): cross-court).  
In men's padel, right-side players tend to play cross-court lobs, whereas left-side players tend to play down-the-line lobs (Figure 2). Even though most of the padel shots are hit cross-court [16], this could be attributed to the fact that players try to lob to the right-side player so as to avoid the left-side player to play an overhead shot due to their more aggressive performances on these shots [34]. Regarding differences between strokes on each game side, [PERSON] et al. [5] found that right-handed, left-side players play more backhand lobs than right-handed, right-side players, while the latter play more forehand lobs. These findings suggest that the tactical choices in lob direction are influenced by both the need to counteract the strengths of opponents and the inherent stroke preferences of players based on their position and handedness, highlighting a nuanced layer of strategy in high-level padel.  
In women's padel, right-side players tend to play more down-the-middle lobs, whereas left-side players tend to play more down-the-line lobs (Figure 3). This strategy suggests that female players on the right side might be aiming for the backhand shoulder of the opposing right-side player, assuming they are right-handed, which is the most common scenario. Conversely, left-side players might be aiming down the line so that right-side player, who is usually the less skilled player, is the one hitting.  
Regarding lob efficacy in terms of successfully passing over the opponents, only 16.3% of lobs in men's padel achieve this purpose. In other words, 83.7% of lobs are intercepted and hit with an overhead shot by the opposing pair. The primary reason for this high percentage of ineffective lobs is that pairs positioned close to the net choose not to abandon this offensive position, as 80% of points in padel are won by the pair in the net zone [35]. Directing the lob down the line appears to be the most effective option in men's padel for surpassing the opposing pair, whereas aiming cross-court seems to be the least effective option (Figure 4). This seems logical because the opposing player directly in front of the hitting player is typically closer to the net than his partner. Additionally, the distance the ball needs to travel is shorter down the line than if the lob were aimed cross-court. Therefore, the player in front has less time to react and respond to the lob with an overhead shot.  
Regarding lob efficacy in terms of successfully passing over opponents, only 26.1% of lobs in women's padel achieve this purpose. In other words, 73.8% of lobs are intercepted and hit with an overhead shot by the opposing pair. However, it appears that the direction of the lob does not affect its ability to surpass the opponents (Figure 5).