For all the pushers out there...do you guys ever feel guilty?

[Thepowerofchoice]

I'm a former "pusher". Today I was playing against very soilid 4.0 base liner. He hits very loopy forehands top spin...almost like moonball with a lot of actions. I knew I needed to step in and take the ball early but found myself getting tight and gave away many short balls...

So I decided to give him no pace, slicing forehands and backhands. I completely through him off his game and he was running like a mad man. I won.

I was not completely pushing because I finished many points at the net and had a couple of winners from the baseline.

Happy ending but I'm feeling kinda guilty LOL

[LeeD]

They call it junkballing.
Pros Gilbert, Mecir, Rochus did it to some effect.

[user92626]

So, where in the court did you slice your fh and bh to?

A 4.0 cannot run there and hit (good) groundstrokes back?

(to be honest i'm quite confused by all this rating and "styles")

[federer_FREAK]

Originally Posted by user92626

So, where in the court did you slice your fh and bh to?

A 4.0 cannot run there and hit (good) groundstrokes back?

(to be honest i'm quite confused by all this rating and "styles")

Yea I think a lot of people on this forum overrate their ratings.

[Thepowerofchoice]

Originally Posted by user92626

So, where in the court did you slice your fh and bh to?

A 4.0 cannot run there and hit (good) groundstrokes back?

(to be honest i'm quite confused by all this rating and "styles")

Yes he can but I'm very fit and can chase everything down so he started to go for it a little too much ended up making bunch of mistakes. I can hang with him on the baseline but his high bounces big loopy forehand topspin got better of me.

He has weaker backhands compare to his forehands and likes to camp out on his backhand wing. His net game is also questionable so I slice/dropshot him to his forehand to pull him to the net and lob(or pass) him depending on my/his positions. He also did not like my deep low backhand slice DTL to his forehand. May be because of his extreme grip? I also have a pretty decent forehand slices from playing squash for many years.

I'm not saying I'm a better player than him but my strategy worked against him this time. I don't really feel guilty about what I did to my opponent but I felt little disappointed that I took the easy option and did not try to improve upon my own weaknesses.

[Thepowerofchoice]

Originally Posted by LeeD

They call it junkballing.
Pros Gilbert, Mecir, Rochus did it to some effect.

I guess that sounds more like it. I have a good backhand slice and I can do pretty funky stuff with my forehand slice being a squash player also.

[Wuppy]

Originally Posted by Thepowerofchoice

I can do pretty funky stuff with my forehand slice being a squash player also.

These days I refuse to play with guys who hit forehand slices, or even backhand slices every time. IMHO a man under the age of 60 should only be hitting forehand slices when he's got to go way out wide and wants to slow down the point.

How often do you see pros hitting forehand slices? Maybe once a match?

[TeflonTom]

the reason pros dont hit fh slices is that their opponents r too good to let them get away with it. it's not because they're not 'proper' strokes and are beneath them

if fh slices were as effective against their opponents as they clearly are against u, then u can bet they'd be hittin them all day

u seem 2 be whining about stuff that is mostly a result of u being a poor player. htfu and learn 2 beat the players u dont like playing. then it won't be a problem

[goran_ace]

Originally Posted by Wuppy

How often do you see pros hitting forehand slices? Maybe once a match?

You'd be surprised. It's a common defensive shot. Unorthodox, but not unheard of as rally stroke - Santoro used to use it a rally stroke when he played and currently guys like Tomic and Dologpolov regularly hit slice forehands. Sliced forehand approach used to be a common shot, but not so much anymore because players don't approach the net as much.

[Thepowerofchoice]

Originally Posted by goran_ace

You'd be surprised. It's a common defensive shot. Unorthodox, but not unheard of as rally stroke - Santoro used to use it a rally stroke when he played and currently guys like Tomic and Dologpolov regularly hit slice forehands. Sliced forehand approach used to be a common shot, but not so much anymore because players don't approach the net as much.

Santoro is one of my favorite player.

[Venetian]

Originally Posted by Wuppy

These days I refuse to play with guys who hit forehand slices, or even backhand slices every time. IMHO a man under the age of 60 should only be hitting forehand slices when he's got to go way out wide and wants to slow down the point.

How often do you see pros hitting forehand slices? Maybe once a match?

Do you have people submit a resume before playing you so you can evaluate whether or not you want to hit with them?

Good grief, you must have like a whole...2 people to hit with regularly. Improvement by avoidance. I think you've stumbled on a whole new approach to learning tennis! Or uh, stagnating at tennis.

[sandiegoman]

Originally Posted by Wuppy

These days I refuse to play with guys who hit forehand slices, or even backhand slices every time. IMHO a man under the age of 60 should only be hitting forehand slices when he's got to go way out wide and wants to slow down the point.

How often do you see pros hitting forehand slices? Maybe once a match?

I totally agree.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Wuppy

These days I refuse to play with guys who hit forehand slices, or even backhand slices every time. IMHO a man under the age of 60 should only be hitting forehand slices when he's got to go way out wide and wants to slow down the point.

How often do you see pros hitting forehand slices? Maybe once a match?

this comparison is not fair. pushers are at the bottom and pros at the top. Of course pros don't hit too many forehand slices, they have much better shots to use whereas, for most pushers that's all they could produce. I am sure any pusher would love to hit the ball like the pros do, if they had the talent and ability .

[Jay_The_Nomad]

Pros prefer not to hit the baxkhand slice cuz it gives the opponent time to run it around and hit it with the forehand.

Federer has an awesome slice but even then he prefers to go for the backhand drive.

[5263]

Originally Posted by Jay_The_Nomad

Pros prefer not to hit the baxkhand slice cuz it gives the opponent time to run it around and hit it with the forehand.

Federer has an awesome slice but even then he prefers to go for the backhand drive.

good luck running around a well hit slice to hit a Fh.
you would be lucky to get a good hit on it from the Bh side.

[DeShaun]

I've never been able to junk ball an opponent as a means of reversing momentum when he was getting the better of me and my normal stuff. On the other hand, many times in matches I realized I had been overcooking my shots or donating too many points, and in those cases I quickly took pace off of my shots, resolving to see if I could simply outlast the opponent. Sometimes depriving an opponent of pace fetches me the win, but other times it does not. Usually if I am having trouble executing an attacking game--say, my timing is off, or my fitness is not where it should be--and so, I change my strategy mid-match in favor of a consistency game, yet neither of these approaches is bearing any fruit against the opponent, then my trying to junk-ball him usually will not work either--it seems I lack enough tricky spin shots for this style of play to pan out successfully.

[dhawk]

everyone plays how they play- usually when someone calls another a pusher its because they just lost to one! push on

[LeeD]

Now that would depend on WHO you played, wouldn't it? One person's experience might not be enough to get a qualified analysis of whether junkball can or cannot work.
It works sometimes, against some players, and not othter times, against other players.
But if you keep executing a losing game, you probably will not go to the next round.

[sundaypunch]

Good for you. You had a strategy that wasn't working and changed to one that did. Nothing wrong with exploiting someone's weakness.

[TennisDawg]

Originally Posted by Thepowerofchoice

I'm a former "pusher". Today I was playing against very soilid 4.0 base liner. He hits very loopy forehands top spin...almost like moonball with a lot of actions. I knew I needed to step in and take the ball early but found myself getting tight and gave away many short balls...

So I decided to give him no pace, slicing forehands and backhands. I completely through him off his game and he was running like a mad man. I won.

I was not completely pushing because I finished many points at the net and had a couple of winners from the baseline.

Happy ending but I'm feeling kinda guilty LOL

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.