Pusher?

[Nadal-groupie]

Just wondering, what is a pusher?

Whats so bad about them, my friend says in tennis Im a pusher

[Headshotterer]

they hit the ball so its only in and they have bad technique and there annoying to fight

[soyizgood]

Pushers play in a way that baits you into making hordes of unforced errors. They hit junk either due to lousy technique or because it's their best chance to win.

Pushing is quite defensive in nature, but works at the beginner and intermediate levels. Pushers are content to deflect your pace, make you grind out longer rallies, and do things like lob/moonball/slice to frustrate their opponent. Often these pushers are quite fit and can run down most balls going side-to-side on the court all match long. Basically these guys don't beat themselves, but they rarely win matches on their own (more like you lost the match for them).

[wyutani]

pusher is like a wall.

[matchmaker]

A pusher is a player who keeps hitting balls back, never taking the initiative, except for playing short balls followed by lobs.

It is the most irritating type of opponent as they generally do not make errors, at least not on the first few strokes.

There is a whole thread on how to combat them.

There is another thread on the different playing styles, you can read it through and see if you correspond to the pusher's profile. Maybe you are not really a pusher but rather a softballer. Anyway, read the thread.

[user92626]

It is unfortunate that RECREATIONAL tennis has the term 'pusher' for losers to use as an excuse.

Just play the way you play best and enjoy, and that's exactly how recreational tennis is meant.

[Ultra2HolyGrail]

pusher is like a wall.



Bjorn Borg was the ultimate pusher then.

[jserve]

Just wondering, what is a pusher?

Whats so bad about them, my friend says in tennis Im a pusher

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing bad about being a pusher. It's a term used by frustrated players to justify their losses to a more consistent player.

[halalula1234]

Pushers are aka Counter puncher or defensive base liner...They have good speed around the court and will get almost every ball playable back, they will simply run for everything and will make their opponent play an extra ball which will wore them out and will cause them to hit errors and you win the point. some of these players are Jelena Jankovic, Nadal, Michael Chang,Lleyton Hewitt, kim clijster and chris evert

[Nadal-groupie]

So your saying Nadal, and them are pushers?

[jserve]

So your saying Nadal, and them are pushers?

The term used was counter puncher which does correctly define the defensive baseline style of most of them. I would have to say that Nadal was a counter puncher at one point, but he has since added a ton more power and aggression to his baseline play.

[WildVolley]

So your saying Nadal, and them are pushers?

Strictly speaking, Nadal is not a pusher. Anyone who regularly hits heavy topspin forehands at over 80mph is not a pusher.

At the professional level, Santoro is probably the closest thing to a pusher. But even in his case, I think a junk-baller is a more accurate description. He throws odd slices and shots that most pros don't like to field.

[Toxicmilk]

Pushers are aka Counter puncher or defensive base liner...

I wouldn't exactly call pusher the same thing as a counter puncher.

[VadeRetro]

Pushers have no other ambitions in their game than getting in your head, frustrating you, provoking tons of unforced errors, so in the end you selfdestruct and they smile.

[raiden031]

I'm guessing the term 'pusher' was derived from a recreational player whose stroke resembles a push, where the racquet hits the ball mostly flat and without much follow through. These types of players are notorious for giving more orthodox players trouble at the 3.0-4.0 levels because they are able to rally endlessly without making mistakes, even though they have lousy technique and hit the ball soft.

This is an inferior way to play the game because an advanced player will blow them off the court because they lack the skill needed to put any sort of pressure on their opponent. So its not just sour gr@pes as some will say, because I've had problems against a few pushers but I have also avenged those losses by developing my game while they have not.

[Mick]

Just wondering, what is a pusher?

Whats so bad about them, my friend says in tennis Im a pusher

it's better to be a pusher than to be a player who cannot keep the ball in play :)

[kelz]

Bjorn Borg was the ultimate pusher then.

Ill second that for nadal.

[wyutani]

Bjorn Borg was the ultimate pusher then.

no, hes an ultimate wall.

[TommyGNR]

Here is what pushers do:
- keep the ball in play at all costs.
- Hit slow flat or slice balls.

Here is what pushes dont do:
- hit winners.
- hit with pace.
- come to net.

I my opinion too many people label baseline counter punchers and machine baseliners that they lose to pushers.

[JediMindTrick]

On this forum, a pusher is any player that beats you without killing the ball on every shot.

[iamke55]

Basically a pusher is a good player who wins many matches.

[tennisdad65]

Just wondering, what is a pusher?

Pusher = The smartest tennis player at his skill level.

[Brendan]

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing bad about being a pusher. It's a term used by frustrated players to justify their losses to a more consistent player.
How about the fact that if you are a pusher, you aren't going to improve much at all except maybe better foot speed?

[stpaul000]

The problem with a pusher is that he is not playing tennis. Imagine playing Air Hockey and your opponent keeps his plastic "thingy" tightly against the goal...blocking every shot. No matter what angle or how hard you hit it, you will not make a goal. Your opponent is "technically" playing Air Hockey...but he really isn't. In the case of Air Hockey you might hit him in the head with your plastic thingy....in tennis you can't do this. So what you do is try to make amazing shots off of his wimpy short balls...you will try down the line, very wide angles, anything. This forces you to make errors over and over. This is how a pusher wins his matches.

Unless you are a solid 4.0 or higher, where your placement and power is close to awesome, you will not beat a professional pusher. Not because he is using an effective technique against you...simply because he is not playing tennis. He is letting you do the playing...and the errors.

[wyutani]

Pusher = The smartest tennis player at his skill level.

the robin hood in sherwood forest, irritatin, but its always there.

[Xisbum]

All of you pusher distainers are right - we should just shoot them or at least banish them to the tennis ghetto. How dare they presume to play OUR game THEIR way! Outrageous. ;-)

[GuyClinch]

A pusher is someone who uses incomplete strokes and relies on gravity to pull the ball back into the court. This shot is called a push.. Pros will push - alot of blocked back tough serves or "reflex" shots are pushes. In my view any players below 4.0 is something of a pusher.

But contrary to posters guys like Michael Chang - Nadal - Hewitt are not "pushers" because they use full strokes and spin pulls the ball onto the court.

The real truth of the matter is at least IMHO most of the people that whine about pushers are in fact pushers who try to hit the ball a touch harder (usually flat) and make tons of errors doing so. The so called "pusher" uses a similiar stroke but just hits the ball softly.

Players who can rip the ball and use spin to pull the ball into the court simply don't lose to pushers. I don't agree that pushers don't come to the net. I come to the net and I consider myself a guy who pushes (out of bad technique) quite a bit.

I don't 100% care for the term pusher though - because like I said the people who use it are often pushers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YxD3xyfuEQ

Both guys are "pushers" it's just the one guy thinks he has good strokes.



Pete

[GuyClinch]

Pusher = The smartest tennis player at his skill level.

Agreed. For the most part the pusher recognizes his lack of skill and tries to keep the ball in play. The "non-pusher" he loses to imagines he has skill - hits the ball out with similiar strokes - and then complains about the pushing. <g> Good players don't even complain about pushing. They just see either opponent as unskilled and dominate them.

[raiden031]

The problem with a pusher is that he is not playing tennis.

I disagree with this. Statements like this give us anti-pushers a bad name. Pushing is a legit strategy to playing the game of tennis, although the caveat is that its only good for low level tennis. If not developing good strokes and just pushing the ball over the net was a good strategy, then the top ranked amateurs and pros would be doing it. It is obvious to me that you have to develop all areas of your game to make it to these levels and you have to know how to hit with variety, something pushers don't really do well because they don't need to at low levels of play.

I don't recommend anyone be a pusher because they will severely limit their potential for improvement as a player. My motto is that if your game does not resemble advanced play, then you will never be an advanced player.

[wyutani]

my friend used to say its better to be a good pusher than a lousy serve and volleyer.