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Lets consider exactly where you want your lob to go.

Well if you hit a lob nice and high coming into the back corner here and you can get it to hit the side wall somewhere about here that is going to be pretty devastating. Your opponent won't be able to take it before it hits the side wall. It is then going to hit here, come off at a sharp angle were steeply and die right in the back corner. This I guess is your ultimate lob. One obvious problem with aiming for here is that you only have to be 20cm too high and you have hit the ball out of court and lost the rally.

The other alternative you can consider is to aim straight towards the corner. How is that going to pan out for us. Well if you can get the ball up high and dropping steeply then her is still not bad. The ball will be 'volleyable' for your opponent round about here. Is that a big problem? Well it is a bit easier for your opponent than trying to take it off the side wall but still they are going to have to come off the 'T'. You have bought yourself some time and you'll be back on the 'T'.

So what factors are going to impact our decision as to where we might aim in the back corner?

Well firstly, how much control have we got from here? If you are a beginner or you are not particularly good at lobs then you are not going to aim for that small margin of error high on the side wall. Something that goes high, steeply into the back corner with out going too close to the side wall is probably the sensible decision for you.

Equally here you can be a brilliant lob player but if you are at absolute full stretch it will be a bit risky to try and nail it right on a six-pence onto the side wall. So I am going to give myself a bit of margin for error here and pull it slightly into the middle. OK it is not going to be quite such a devastating lob but it is going to get me back into the rally.

One other fact to consider is your opponent's ability in that back corner. For instance if they are a left hander it is going to be on their forehand volley and they are likely to be a lot stronger. If it is on their backhand they are likely to be a lot weaker. Not always the case but often! Therefore if they are a bit weaker you don't need to push your margins quite so tight. You can aim further for the corner rather than the side wall. Your not taking such a great risk but you are still getting the reward.