questions about pushers.

[mrcapslock]

Hi. I'm a beginning player and I keep hearing about pushers. What exactly are pushers anyways and how exactly do they win matches?

I heard all they do is defend, but can you kill it if all they do is hit it back so that you would get an easy shot?

When I played players far better than me, I guess I would be consider a pusher since I just try to get the ball in play, but I never manage to get close to winning since they would just hit winners that are impossible for me to save.

Please clarify for me what a pusher is and how exactly they win.

 

[mj01]

Use the search engine, you'll find about 100 posts on this subject, with great detail and disagreement.

Simple definition- a pusher is someone who does not try to hit winners, but is basically waiting for the other player to make an error. Their way of doing this tends to be by just keeping the ball in play with very little pace. They don't swing through the ball so much as push it back (thus the term pusher).

The pushers who win do so because they get very good at retrieving shots, and simply wear down (physically and mentally) the opponent. At a certain skill level (probably 4.0 to 4.5 level) this ceases to be effective, because the opponent has enough consistent power that the pusher isn't going to be able to chase down shots any more.

 

[ask1ed]

Pushers are much hated by big hitters who lose to them but you are allowed to win that way.

 

[mrcapslock]

what exactly is pushing the ball back? sorry, i'm not very familiar with the terms used in tennis.

 

[Shinichi]

pusher isn't necessarily newbies at tennis.
There are players that play for years, and still is a pusher.

In my definition, a pusher is some one that play like a little girl, but they can return almost everything (some how..idk)
Most of them hit the ball REALLY soft, some use slices ALL the time, and some hit the ball really high (but in).

"I heard all they do is defend, but can you kill it if all they do is hit it back so that you would get an easy shot?"

no. pushers aren't defenders.
some players that i played with defend-style are definitely NOT pusher, because they know how to hit the ball and how to manage it.

Pushers just keep hitting the ball in with no intentional of hitting it there.
I'd say it's just some kind of miracle that they can hit it in.
and because of that, players usually got frustrated and start hitting harder, and make their mistake.

 

[Pomeranian]

Pushers work against inconsistant/impatient people. I would love playing a pusher, it would be kind of like running a fitness session. Make him run here, there, here. I just wonder how many times a person can sprint during a point.

 

[mj01]

what exactly is pushing the ball back? sorry, i'm not very familiar with the terms used in tennis.

Think of a baseball player taking a normal swing versus bunting the ball. Its not quite that extreme of a difference, but it illustrates the concept. Its guiding the ball as opposed to actually hitting it.

 

[mrcapslock]

so pushers always happen to return the ball at a spot where you generally can not kill like closer to the baseline?

 

[GuyClinch]

Pushers.

Pushers are people whose weapon is consistency rather then power. I think people don't like them because they expose the fact that despite a good "powerful" shot here and there most people aren't as good as they think.

If your really better then a pusher his inability to hit with power can be taken advantage of IMHO.

Pete

 

[AngeloDS]

Pusher is a completely defensive person who has no weapons other than luck. They win matches by causing the other person to lose against themselves.

What do they do? They block the ball a lot which so usually the ball usually never has more pace than the ball you throw at them. By blocking I mean taking compact strokes with no follow through, or no stroke at all just putting the racquet out there.

It's a good tactic that works for beginners but once you start playing better people. Pushers easily get blown off the court in higher level of play.

 

[ohplease]

Pushers are smart players who realize that even at surprisingly high levels of club tennis, slow, loopy, deep balls often work better than hard, low trajectory, short ones.

You've got to be a more than decent tennis player to consistently hurt your opponent off a ball like that. Players with typical shot tolerance will just hand you buckets of errors.

When I play someone new, they need to prove to me they can consistently hurt me if I give them slow loopers. If so, they I'll ratchet up the pace some. If not? Easy day at the office. Crack real pace at 40-0, 40-15, but otherwise hang out.

Think of it this way - you're helping them out by pointing out a gaping hole in their game. If you don't beat them this way, someone else will. And they should.

 

[redtennis55]

What's it called if you get the ball back deep with topspin, but hit safe shots without too much pace and about in between the middle and doubles alley?

 

[lucky leprechaun]

Pushing is more a mindset. You can tell that the guy on the other side of the court is patiently waiting for you to miss. That's a pusher.

 

[mrcapslock]

seems like they're taking this concept to the extreme.

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