5 Strategies to Beat a Pusher
Ah! The grand ol question I’ve received more times than I care to remember. Not only from juniors, but from adults as well! Players across all levels struggle against pushers.
I get it. They’re terribly boring to play against. They give you no rhythm. They make for long and exhausting matches that test not only your physical fitness, but your mental fitness as well.
Well say no more to those horrible nightmares! It’s time for the pushers reign to end. Here are 5 strategies to beat those frustrating opponents.
#1 Increase your consistency and fitness.
If you hate playing against pushers, odds are that you either don’t have the fitness to stay out there all day with them, the skills to put a thousand balls in a row, or the patience to work the point properly.
So by increasing your fitness and consistency levels, you’ll be less likely to hit the panic button when the ball keeps coming back. You’ll be ready to play as long a match as the pusher will require, and you’ll have the patience required to work a point as long as you need to until you get an easy short ball to attack.
This now leads into our second strategy.
#2 Become the pusher yourself!
Pushers are used to pushing, but when pushing doesn’t work, they don’t know what to do, and they’ll hit panic mode. They’ve spent so much of their life pushing, they haven’t developed other skills that are strong enough to beat you. They’ll try to play offensive, but they’re unsure of what they’re doing, so they don’t do it well enough. They don’t know how to create their own pace consistently, so they’ll hit your soft ball back even softer, making it easier for you to be offensive on the next shot.
It’s a beautiful thing. It was my favorite strategy in juniors, and even in the pros. Watching the pusher panic because they’re being outpushed brings an immense amount of joy.
#3 Improve your approach and volley skills
Pushers might make a lot of balls but they’re not all deep. The problem in juniors is they don’t work on approaches and volleys enough to be able to finish points off at the net. Because of this, players are timid to move forward. They lose confidence too quickly. But when you attack and come forward, and have the skillset to put balls away, you’re going to force your opponent to play a more aggressive game style first.
Now instead of playing an opponent using their A game, you’re playing one with their B game. No pushing against you, and they’re not playing with their strengths anymore. That will increase your chances of winning.
#4 Develop a good drop shot.
A player can’t run to the net, push soft balls, and run around forever at the net. If they hit a weak shot from the net, they’re in a terrible position to defend. By using a drop shot, you take them out of their comfort zone and force them to be aggressive, a scenario they won’t be comfortable with.
#5 Develop the ability to hit angles.
Pushers can run a lot of balls down, but only to a certain extent. Pushers hate playing opponents that can use angles because that opens up the court for the next shot. If they have to defend too many angles, it will be difficult to defend well. So learn how to hit angles on both your forehand and back, and learn how to hit the wide serves. This will leave a big open court to be aggressive into for your next shot, without having to hit close to the lines.
So for all of you that hate playing pushers, there’s no need to panic! You now have 5 strategies here to overcome them! Develop the appropriate skills in practice, and rather than hating playing against them, you’ll look forward to them!