I would like to give a go at this, because I couldn't beat "pushers", but now can. And, have their definition. A pusher, a true pusher, hits no spin, or just backspin, aims every shot to the center of the court, never tried to hit a winner. Its hardly what us "normal players" see on tv, and definitely how we see "tennis" should be played.
It then ANGERS us, when that shorter ball played basically at the service T, we hit OUT, over and OVER again!.. And, all the wimpy pusher does, it seems, is NOTHING!(what is actually happening is, the pusher takes away our a)length, b)height(keeps the ball low), c)margin(as this is a ball nobody practices hitting d)spin(we are used to playing with other "normal" players who hit a decent amount of topspin, and so their is a weight to the ball that pushers take away by hitting no spin or slight backspin)
Well, worked on my approach shot off these short balls, with spin and without, for about 8 solid months, to where I could hit 8 out of 10 in. Then, played my local pusher(and, believe me, their are TONS of them out there!), and, beat him, first set, 6-0. He challenged me to a second set, after barely winning a point. Beat him, 6-0. Then, sure, another set!.. Well, of course, things are going to change now! 6-0. He then threatened to play me for $20 next week! haha! I loved it! But then he waited instead until tournament time to rig the tournament and play me first round(because their would be more "pressure" and i would then "cave in". Yup, i did.. beat him 6-0, 6-1!
So, lesson learned, work insanely hard on an aggressive approach shot, and follow overhead/volley, and, well, they will still p*ss U off majorly, because it is not cool tennis, and it is nothing you want to practice for or aim to be.
I will go on to say i know other "pushers" who hit that same ball to the T, but instead, well, they hit topspin! Its a strange variance of the same concepts, and harder to beat(because it is harder to hit an effective/hard/low approach shot off this shot vs one with no pace/spin). I have seen this guy in a 4.0 match hit nothing but this for HOURS against another 4.0 pusher, for him to finally prevail in one of the most BORING matches i have EVVER seen! So, in this way, i would say that pushing is also bad for your HEALTH! haha
And finally, everybody, at some point, pushes, even the pros. If you are one the run and have to play defense, you have to block, push, shove the ball back over, until you can get back a hold on the point and then hit your regular game. Its just that these guys, the true "pushers" are in perfect position to hit regular shots, but mentally refuse, or just simply don't have proper training to hit even a decent topspin ball, and have learned that 'blocking" is safer than "stroking" and learn to just track everything back and block it to the center of the court. Oh, it sucks, and many are in denial of this strategy, they think they are "Andre Agassi" and various other pros that don't hit ANYTHING like these players do. I blame the "widebody racket" haha. It should be and was built for older/amateur players with slower strokes, but is a mainstay for the crafty "pusher". I most times can guess just on the equipment of what kind of day I am out for, by how thick their frame is! haha So, with all this said, I say the opposite of "pusher" is just everybody else trying to play "normal tennis".
