Racquetball Lob Serve Swing Mechanics
You can hit the lob serve from the forehand side and from the backhand side. It can be beneficial to learn both but not completely necessary. The video above demonstrates hitting lobs using your forehand.
To hit a forehand lob serve stand within the service box facing the side wall with your arm that is holding the racquet closest to the back wall. That is, stand facing the same way as you would for a forehand shot.
Your knees should be slightly bent and your feet shoulder width apart. The ball is held in your left hand while your right hand holds the racquet (for right-handed players). It can be a good idea to hold the ball against your strings as your racquet stands upright in front of your body. This is to give you a starting point that will lead to consistency. Baseball pitchers generally begin their pitching motion by holding the ball in their pitching hand and placing it in their glove. It is a starting point for them as well.
Once you feel comfortable with your starting point, and you know what serve you’re going to hit you are ready to bounce the ball and hit it. When you bounce the ball into the ground don’t simply drop it, as the ball will probably not have enough momentum to bounce high enough into the proper hitting zone. For most lob serves in racquetball the hitting zone is between waist and shoulder height. Some people feel comfortable with the former, and some the latter. As your lob serves progress you will find the appropriate height for yourself. Again, you will find it easier for the ball to reach this hitting zone if you bounce the ball rather than drop it.
As the ball bounces up into your hitting zone take a small step with your lead foot toward the front wall in order to gain just a little bit of momentum. Your racquet will either be held low or high depending on which lob serve you are going to hit. Remember to follow through.
When trying to aim your lob serve it is more important to focus on where you are contacting the ball within your hitting zone than to “pick a spot on the wall” and aim for it. However, for the purpose of beginners experimenting on how high and how hard to hit a lob serve so that it goes to the desired location it is allowable to aim for certain spots on the wall.
Ultimately you will want to rid yourself of this habit. There are many different types of racquetball courts from club to club and the “spots on the wall” aren’t always the same. It is much easier and more productive to focus on bouncing the ball to certain contact points within your hitting zone in order to hit consistently accurate serves. This methodology also comes into play with the basic forehand and backhand stroke. After all, it wouldn’t be very smart to pick a spot on the wall while trying to return a fast moving ball coming right at you would it?
Make sure you check out the section on Types of Lob Serves. There are a LOT of them, and they're not only extremely fun to learn and hit, but they can leave your opponent's heads spinning trying to figure out which one you're going to hit.