Beating Pusher Who Hits to Corners

[Fighting phoenix]

I played a high level pusher this weekend in a cities playoff match - 7.4 utr, I was the underdog and he’s definitely in better shape than me. My strategy was to keep my shots either short cross court angles, followed by deeper penetrating shots to force him to hit off his back foot, and attack whenever I had a chance, as there was no way I wanted to get into a war of attrition with him. Patience and hard work paid off and I beat him in straight sets. Very satisfying.

 

[Roforot]

did you finish a lot of points at the net?

 

[Fighting phoenix]

did you finish a lot of points at the net?

Yes absolutely, in this case (and probs against most pushers unless you’re a better pusher in better shape) I attacked every short ball I got.

 

[naylor73]

Where should I be returning the ball?

Almost everywhere I look says return deep middle.

How should I be constructing?

Deep middle is good as well as loopy or aggressive dtl. Just going middle on every return will become predictable.

 

[Jst21121]

Sometimes the best way to beat a pusher is a mirror match.

The other weekend, I versed an undefeated pusher for the year. Hit zero pace, but was super consistent- and annoying.

Every hard serve I did, he dinked the return- sometimes I would get the ace- but at the expense of to much energy. Same with hitting groundstrokes- I would expend to much energy and he would dink it back.

I literally COPIED his entire gamestyle. Dink serve- zero leg drive. Dink return- zero leg drive. Bring him to the net- lob him or pass him.

Sometimes, when you verse a pusher at a lower level where you don't have weapon consistency- you just have to play smarter. It was almost a joke. Dink serve, dink return, dink rally, drop shot to the net, he comes up to the net, soft lob or soft passing shot angle- sometimes whip a nasty forehand directed at him and he messes up the volley. Rinse repeat for the 6-1 6-1 win.

Mirror Match- look it up. When you do a mirror match- it becomes more of a psychological warfare type of tennis. Lets see who can outlast who and lets see if you are up to the test of playing against your own type of crap game...where the opponent plays the exact way like you.

And when you dismantle their game with their own crap game- they completely fall apart.

 

[ptrbwmf2026]

I finally made it to 4.00 UTR today! I was 3.99 for about a week or so. The pusher who beat me is at 3.78.

I think that shows I had an off day.

In addition, it was on a weeknight after I worked all day. My worst matches have come on weeknights.

 

[Airspun]

OP is a very sore loser pusher

 

[ErrorMachine]

We need a rematch

 

[ptrbwmf2026]

We need a rematch

I beat him 6-4, 6-4 the first time we played.

We played the second time on a weeknight after I worked all day. My three worst performances have all happened under that scenario.

As a whole, I play worse in the evening whether or not it’s a workday. I played last Saturday evening starting around 6 pm (non-work day) and played terribly. The next day, I played at noon and played great.

I did play at 5:30 a few Sundays ago and beat the guy 6-1, 6-2.

 

[jm1980]

Btw, I nominate this thread title for the TTW Hall of Fame.

The original post reads like satire, comical gold

I was initially convinced the OP was making fun of players who lose to "pushers" and then confidently assert they are the better player. Despite, you know, the score being obvious proof of the contrary.

But then I read his other posts in the thread...

 

[ChrisJR3264]

I embarrassingly lost to a pusher on Monday. He somehow got me running corner to corner, yet I couldn’t get him moving that much. My only play was to outhit him.

How do I keep somebody from sending me corner to corner?

PS - I lost 7-6, 5-7, 0-1.

I’m confused.
How did the pusher have you running around ? Normally atleast from my experience the good pushers are the ones able to run around and sending back moon balls from the baseline.

Are you mistaking a “pusher “ to a counter puncher? Two completely different playing styles.

 

[ChrisJR3264]

I played a high level pusher this weekend in a cities playoff match - 7.4 utr, I was the underdog and he’s definitely in better shape than me. My strategy was to keep my shots either short cross court angles, followed by deeper penetrating shots to force him to hit off his back foot, and attack whenever I had a chance, as there was no way I wanted to get into a war of attrition with him. Patience and hard work paid off and I beat him in straight sets. Very satisfying.

Slicing or moonballs are the tactics of a pusher or “junk baller”.

And agree with your tactics. It’s always about patience with these players. If you’re not in a good mood before the match - playing a pusher is going to irritate you even more lol

 

[Deleted member 775640]

Being a 4 UTR while whining about opponent shot quality is basically the lowest rank on the karmic totem of tennis

 

[ChrisJR3264]

Sometimes the best way to beat a pusher is a mirror match.

The other weekend, I versed an undefeated pusher for the year. Hit zero pace, but was super consistent- and annoying.

Every hard serve I did, he dinked the return- sometimes I would get the ace- but at the expense of to much energy. Same with hitting groundstrokes- I would expend to much energy and he would dink it back.

I literally COPIED his entire gamestyle. Dink serve- zero leg drive. Dink return- zero leg drive. Bring him to the net- lob him or pass him.

Sometimes, when you verse a pusher at a lower level where you don't have weapon consistency- you just have to play smarter. It was almost a joke. Dink serve, dink return, dink rally, drop shot to the net, he comes up to the net, soft lob or soft passing shot angle- sometimes whip a nasty forehand directed at him and he messes up the volley. Rinse repeat for the 6-1 6-1 win.

Mirror Match- look it up. When you do a mirror match- it becomes more of a psychological warfare type of tennis. Lets see who can outlast who and lets see if you are up to the test of playing against your own type of crap game...where the opponent plays the exact way like you.

And when you dismantle their game with their own crap game- they completely fall apart.

Ya I played a pusher a few weeks ago who targeted returns in the short corner to draw you in. But the ball came over so awkward it was either drop shot or a conservative ball he can hit over your head.

The things about those pushers you’ve not played yet though is: they don’t have that much in their arsenal so the two things are to stay patient and figure them out. The second set was a breeze in all honesty. First set was wind and playing a pusher at 9 am lol. Once I settled in - it was over. Eventually the pace won over and patience and understanding what he couldn’t do made it simple.

If you’re patient and understand their tactics - it should end up being a win. That’s if indeed they are a pusher. Sometimes throwing those moonballs back deep will set up a short ball in itself.

Just don’t confuse pushers with counter punchers. Different tactics.

 

[buscemi]

I was able to approach the net and hit a few decent volleys, but he was able to lob the majority of the time.

The way that I look at it, he completely out tacticized me and still nearly lost the match. I had a match point in the 3rd set tiebreak.

That say that I have more talent.

Next time you play, test his ability to lob off of all six possible approach shots:

1. Slice to his forehand​

2. Slice to his backhand​

3. Hard/flat to his forehand​

4. Hard/flat to his backhand​

5. Topspin to his forehand​

6. Topspin to his backhand​

Usually, one of these six approach shots will work against a "pusher." In particular, if he has a two handed backhand, the slice approach to his backhand will probably be effective and difficult for him to lob. And, if he has a one handed backhand, the topspin approach to his backhand will probably be effective and difficult for him to lob.