Strategy against pushers?

[dacrymn]

I played this HUGE pusher today who would run everything down and lob the ball like 20 feet over the net, so that he was ALWAYS in position again, just so I could hit it and repeat the same thing over again. Yeah I know, these guys suck. Regardless, i still have to beat him, so I thought of some strategy. I'm normally a baseliner, so I thought playing net might work. This is all after I lost, but it's really getting annoying thinking about it. I had to go "consistent mode" and EVERY SINGLE ONE of our rallies in fifteen games were probably like 30 balls. It was aggrivating. So this was the strategy I came up with:

He doesn't have a powerful serve, so I'll attack him mentally by standing almost at the service line. Even if he does get it in, I can still hit it back. If he does, I'll hit it moderately hard into his court, and rush the net. He can't lob if my shots are deep and he's just served. Hopefully, he'll just block it back and I can win with angle volleys. I just need to make sure i don't keep my racket face too open and block it out, or frame it.

My question is, do you think this will work? Do you have any advice as to what I should to after I rush the net (specifics)? Thanks.

[Supernatural_Serve]

You've got the right idea. Pressure him, use angles, and create a net point as soon as possible. That's a good basic strategy.

There are two key things I like to learn early about a pusher and then my strategy proceeds from there.

Can the pusher hit with depth and placement or will I get plenty of short balls today?

What happens to the pusher when I'm at the net and what kind of midcourt/net game does the pusher have if I force him forward?

I also play with more consistency focus, keep my feet moving with lots of little steps especially on those paceless balls, trying to be more concious of form in general and resist overhitting.

[SilverBullet]

First of all Pushers do not suck.
When the pusher sends up a high ball:
-step in and hit it on the rise
-send up a moonball approach shot(obviously approach the net)
To end the point:
-Drop Shot
-Approach the net on a good approach shot
Another good thing to try is to lure him to net by hitting a short ball and testing his net game. If he's weak at net you'll get alot of free points off this.

[dacrymn]

Okay, well, they DO win games, but I was saying "suck" as in like figuratively. Anyhow, I guess I could hit it on the rise, but that would only do me good if I still had extremely good placement, and that's really hard to do on off-the-bounce shots. Secondly, that moonball approach shot is really good. The idea is that they can't get under the ball to lob, right?

One problem with drop shots: The guy is fast. Drop shots don't work, even when they're nearly perfect. I can't get him to come to net because if I hit a drop shot, he reaches it and hits a SKY-HIGH moonshot and then just runs back to the baseline. Unfortunately, the only way to win points is to force an error or hit an outright winner. I wasn't doing a very good job of this on the baseline, so I had to turn to net. Thanks anyway though.

Besides moonballing, what kind of approach shots would force him to not be able to lob? Remember, he's ALWAYS at the half-point hash mark. Thanks.

[EasternRocks]

Dealing with pushers are not an easy thing to do
Some tactics are
- drop shot and then lob
- hit a moon ball, (then try to come in to volley the ball away)
- or serve and volley, try to take time away from the players shots and movement)
If the guy is fast and very athletic, try to be smart when and what time to throw in one of those tricky drop shots

[Frank Silbermann]

Another approach is to stand near the baseline, and as soon as you see that he's hit one of his semi-lobs, step into no-man's-land and drive-volley his lob with a full swing. Advantages:

* You get to hit a dropping ball (easier to topspin) at whatever height you prefer.

* You no longer have to generate all your own pace, because you're hitting his ball before the bounce has greatly slowed it down.

* You have turned his lob into a short ball -- your return won't travel as far as it would if you were hitting it from farther back. This gives you lots of angle, so you can run your opponent wider. Air-resistance won't have as much of a chance to slow it down, so your shot will come at him with more pace. You'll be closer to your target, so your accuracy may be better. Your opponent will have much less time to react to your shot.

* You can step back or rush the net after your shot as you please.

It has all the advantages of taking the ball on the rise, but better. Plus, it's an easier shot to learn.

[shojun25]

against pushers, i....

1. play net more often
2. try to hit their feet and body
3. make them run a lot (drop shots, corner shots, etc.)
4. hit hard shot, make them lob, then follow up with a smash
5. hit deep shots, luring them back, then a drop shot
6. hit high balls to their weak side

[Slazenger]

I'm confused about people asking for specific strategy to play a certain kind of player.

What is YOUR gamestyle??
You have to play your gamestyle and impose your game on your opponent to win.

So if you are a counterpuncher and you come across a pusher, your job is to out-counterpunch the pusher. Keep the ball in play with good, deep topspin groundies till you get a ball you can end the point with.

It would be silly to ask a counterpuncher to serve and volley against a pusher because that is not his A game.

[tennis_hand]

if a pusher is simply better than you, you can't beat him. A pusher can be a very complete player, good at net and baseline and use lobs to return the balls.

btw, what is wrong with a moon ball? that is what u should do if u are stretched back and most likely the opponent is at net waiting, a moonball is one of the best shots in hits situation. if u can't hit it back or smash it, he just exploited your weakness.

[beernutz]

WORK ON YOUR OVERHEAD. Pushers that I've played, and my brother is a 4.0 pusher whom I play regularly, tend to lob a lot. They get so good at lobbing they can hit them within a couple of feet of the backline consistently.

That means you need to have an equally competant stroke you can use to attack lobs. You don't have to necessarily put away their first lob with an overhead, but you need to be able to consistently hit crisp overheads to make them run, and hopefully make a mistake like hitting a too short lob. </ my $.02>

[Geezer Guy]

I played this HUGE pusher today who would run everything down and lob the ball like 20 feet over the net, so that he was ALWAYS in position again, just so I could hit it and repeat the same thing over again. Yeah I know, these guys suck. Regardless, i still have to beat him, so I thought of some strategy. I'm normally a baseliner, so I thought playing net might work. This is all after I lost, but it's really getting annoying thinking about it. I had to go "consistent mode" and EVERY SINGLE ONE of our rallies in fifteen games were probably like 30 balls. It was aggrivating. So this was the strategy I came up with:

He doesn't have a powerful serve, so I'll attack him mentally by standing almost at the service line. Even if he does get it in, I can still hit it back. If he does, I'll hit it moderately hard into his court, and rush the net. He can't lob if my shots are deep and he's just served. Hopefully, he'll just block it back and I can win with angle volleys. I just need to make sure i don't keep my racket face too open and block it out, or frame it.

My question is, do you think this will work? Do you have any advice as to what I should to after I rush the net (specifics)? Thanks.

Not a bad strategy. You don't need to crowd the service line, but attacking his weak serve IS a good idea. You can return serve from your normal position, but try to do something with your return to put him at a disadvantage.

Taking the net is a good strategy, but don't over-commit too soon. If he love so lob and you hug the net, you're going to be doing a LOT of scrambling. Advance to about the service line, split step, and see what he does. If he throws up a lob, you can take a few steps back and hit an overhead. If he doesn't lob, you can take a few steps in and angle-volley. (Unless you get a short lob, don't feel you HAVE to go for a smash-winner. Just get the ball back and deep, and he'll probably throw up another lob. After 2 or 3, you should get one you can bounce out of the court.)

Pushers are tough to beat. Be prepared for a long grueling match. Don't be discouraged if your strategy doesn't work right away.

[35ft6]

The secret to playing pushers is to PLAY THE BALL.

Pretend you're being fed balls by a teaching pro... just play the ball... hit 80% power shots corner to corner... then wrong foot him or come to the net.

A pusher wants you to play HIM, that is, to psychologically panic and start going for winners, making tons of errors in the process, or rush the net too soon. Basically, he's playing the highest percentage, lowest risk tennis possible and he's betting that you're going to play a lower percentage, higher risk tennis and lose while you're at it.

And yeah, you have to play the ball against any opponent, but with a pusher it's way more important. It's critical. I've never had problems with pushers, they don't bug me the way a serve and volleyer can. Because I would just stay calm and hit corner to corner, knowing they're going to start losing a fraction of a step each time they hit the ball, and eventually I can just end the point.

Also, resist the urge to just rush the net behind anything because you're so freaked out over the thought of another endless rally.

PLAY THE BALL. PRETEND YOU'RE BEING FED BALLS BY A COACH... NO PRESSURE... JUST HIT CORNER TO CORNER. If they totally suck at volleying, draw them to the net, but not by going for drop shot winners, put plenty of margin for error on these intentional short balls and KNOW THAT WHEN PUSHERS SEE A DROP SHOT, THEY'LL OFTEN TRY TO HIT A DROP SHOT OFF THE DROP SHOT.

[Jracer77]

The secret to playing pushers is to PLAY THE BALL.

Pretend you're being fed balls by a teaching pro... just play the ball... hit 80% power shots corner to corner... then wrong foot him or come to the net.

A pusher wants you to play HIM, that is, to psychologically panic and start going for winners, making tons of errors in the process, or rush the net too soon. Basically, he's playing the highest percentage, lowest risk tennis possible and he's betting that you're going to play a lower percentage, higher risk tennis and lose while you're at it.

And yeah, you have to play the ball against any opponent, but with a pusher it's way more important. It's critical. I've never had problems with pushers, they don't bug me the way a serve and volleyer can. Because I would just stay calm and hit corner to corner, knowing they're going to start losing a fraction of a step each time they hit the ball, and eventually I can just end the point.

Also, resist the urge to just rush the net behind anything because you're so freaked out over the thought of another endless rally.

PLAY THE BALL. PRETEND YOU'RE BEING FED BALLS BY A COACH... NO PRESSURE... JUST HIT CORNER TO CORNER. If they totally suck at volleying, draw them to the net, but not by going for drop shot winners, put plenty of margin for error on these intentional short balls and KNOW THAT WHEN PUSHERS SEE A DROP SHOT, THEY'LL OFTEN TRY TO HIT A DROP SHOT OFF THE DROP SHOT.

This is excellent advice. I played an extremely fast and fit pusher and just made him run in and back, side to side and he eventually got frustrated with MY GAME and started to go for more on his shots than he was capable of. I thought that was great

[thatguy]

When playing a pusher you must think for a second, "Why does this player push?" Typically its be because they are comfortable just running around the baseline and do not like to be aggressive with anything. For me, I like to bring pushers up to the net. This gets them out of their compfrt zone and immedieately throws off their game. Pushers do nto tend to be good volleyers, nor do they want to come in. Sometimes, if you get too aggressive and try net rushing, you're falling right into their trap unless you can consistently execute deep approach shots and solid volleys.

[Baghdatis72]

The only annoying thing about pushers is that they don't return the ball with a lot of pace and the match can become a bit boring as there is no steady fast rhythm.
What I do against pushers is the following:

1) Hit many cross court shots that are not too deep to make them run and get tired.
2) Hit a drop shot after a deep shot on the baseline to bring them to the net and then depending on the approach hit a ground stroke on the line or do a neat lob.
3) Be careful not to hit the ball too hard too often as they feed from my unforced errors.

[35ft6]

This is excellent advice. I played an extremely fast and fit pusher and just made him run in and back, side to side and he eventually got frustrated with MY GAME and started to go for more on his shots than he was capable of. I thought that was great There was this Japanese guy in NYC, a really great guy, who would win 5.0 tournaments with strokes that were more fitting for a 4.0 player. He was fast, maniacally patient, and was steadfast in his strategy, which consisted of nothing more than "keep the ball in play." Yeah, did the same thing to him you did to your opponent. He was gassed by the end of the first set, started going for shots he didn't have. If a pusher insists on making every point a 20 shot rally, then make him pay the price for that.

[TheGreatestAudia]

I lost to a pusher the other night and I'm severely frustrated. They make you feel like you beat yourself and that is the worst because then you don't get any better and you keep on making the same mistakes. Gotta hand it to them, though. A lot of them know what they are doing and that is the bittersweet beauty of a pusher's "game".

[aroddick]

School tryouts...

I will be playing a bunch of pushers. So give me tips!
I can hit cross court, inside out, a heavy topspin, topspin, flat forehands.
Backhands - just flat
net is average. my speed is normal.

We will be playing king of the court as our first day and so far pusher are making the 1st cuts.

My goal: scare them, hit them, hit cross court, and my motto: push like you are constipated.
Make a least amount of errors, and have the opponent hit errors which drain thier confidence, since they are killing themselves. i find it that i lose more confidence when i make more errors than when my opp. hit more winners. I feel like i got no chance.
give me tips to play a pusher

[dacrymn]

haha. thanks for hijacking my thread.
Just kidding.

So anyway, I think I'll stick with my mental service pressure (I'm sticking with this because he seems mentally weak), and then off a weak serve, crushing it cross-court, but instead of running up, staying where I am. If it's a block return, I volley/swing volley/drop shot it, if it's a lob I can run back and overhead it, and if it's in between I can hit it off the bounce. I'll continually hit deep from no-man's land (so it sounds like I should STAY in no-man's land. Is this a good idea?) and take advantage of weak balls to crush and then hopefully follow up with a smash/volley. If i'm stuck on the baseline, I'll hit high, deep balls to force a weak return, and repeat as I said above. When I'm baselining, I'm gonna just try to tire him out by going for corners. Getting him to come to net is impossible because as I said before, he just won't stay, unless I backup enough so that hopefully I can hit an off-the-bounce before he gets back in position. I guess I'll try that, and if it doesn't work, I'll stop. I'll try frustrating him too, just to see if it'll work. It probably will, but I don't know if he'll start going for more or not.
If I'm missing anything from what I've put together from everyone's comments, please tell me.

Questions: If I'm at the baseline, should I hit high, deep shots or powerful shots corner to corner? Keep in mind that I'll probably be more consistent with the former. 2) if I hit an off the bounce or drive volley shot, should I got for power/placement or deepness/placement? 3) Generally, what temps someone to stay up at net? this might be nothing, but I thought I'd ask anyway.Thanks.

[mdhubert]

Believe in your game, be focused, stay low and take the ball early. Should work.

[Rickson]

I played this HUGE pusher today who would run everything down and lob the ball like 20 feet over the net, so that he was ALWAYS in position again, just so I could hit it and repeat the same thing over again. Yeah I know, these guys suck. Regardless, i still have to beat him, so I thought of some strategy. I'm normally a baseliner, so I thought playing net might work. This is all after I lost, but it's really getting annoying thinking about it. I had to go "consistent mode" and EVERY SINGLE ONE of our rallies in fifteen games were probably like 30 balls. It was aggrivating. So this was the strategy I came up with:

He doesn't have a powerful serve, so I'll attack him mentally by standing almost at the service line. Even if he does get it in, I can still hit it back. If he does, I'll hit it moderately hard into his court, and rush the net. He can't lob if my shots are deep and he's just served. Hopefully, he'll just block it back and I can win with angle volleys. I just need to make sure i don't keep my racket face too open and block it out, or frame it.

My question is, do you think this will work? Do you have any advice as to what I should to after I rush the net (specifics)? Thanks.
If he's a good lobber, you'll be in some trouble. I play against a couple of pushers and my strategy is to simply overpower them. Force the error on the pushers and believe me, they will make errors if you're hitting your balls twice as hard as they are. Try jamming them on the backhand side and if they're still pushing, you might examine your own strokes to make sure you're not pushing with them.

[Mick]

this pusher, his forehand and backhand are both reliable ? If not, pick the side that is least reliable and continue to hit to that side until he produces the errors or until he hits the short balls that you can finish them off at the net. That would be my strategy.