Lob

Verb - throw or hit in a high arc.
Noun - 1. (in football or tennis) a ball lobbed over an opponent or a stroke producing this result. 2. (in cricket) a ball bowled with a slow, underarm action.
Origin - originally in the senses "cause or allow to hang heavily" and "behave like a lout": from the obsolete lob - "lout", "pendulous object", probably from Low German or Dutch.

When a simple lob goes horribly wrong

Lob. It's not big, it's not clever, but it is a great word. It's a word that kind of flops out of your mouth as you say it. The initial L produces a curl of the tongue that any footballer or tennis player would be proud to achieve on a ball while the B sounds like a ball that hits the ground and doesn't bounce. I like the fact that it comes from a word meaning 'lout', as 'lob' does seem somewhat loutish. However, the less we say about 'pendulous objects', the better.