This video is not titled how to beat a pusher or how to destroy a pusher in this video i'm going
to explain to you why you are losing to pushers because let's face it pushers have a really good
strategy basically they're going to give you very soft balls and now it's going to be up to you
to be aggressive and what happens to most recreational players they start making a lot of
mistakes and end up beating themselves now this is not only a problem at the recreational level it's
also a problem at the junior level and even at the elite level maybe not so much on the atp tour
but i do see it from time to time on a wta tour where defensive play whether it be moonballing
slicing or dinking the balls back can win you a lot of matches and i'm going to explain to you
why this is the case and guys here are some examples of what i'm talking about here's a
slice forehand that's usually going to be short this is going to be a tough shot to play or
a moon ball where the ball is going to be bouncing high on the other side also very little pace
or the worst one of them all a dink shot with no pace whatsoever just a flat ball
sitting there in the middle of the court and the reason why a lot of tennis players
will beat themselves when they're presented with these type of shots is threefold
number one players with inferior technique will have a hard time playing these type of
shots because they're not getting any pace coming to them they have to generate more of their pace
and they're usually going to try to be more aggressive and with inferior technique
there's going to be a lot of mistakes the second way players struggle with these type of balls
is ball recognition so they don't read these type of balls early enough therefore they're not
set up properly and they end up making a lot of mistakes and thirdly and most importantly and this
is where even elite players get into some trouble is shot selection so there's going to be a lot of
different balls that you're gonna get for example on a slice the shot selection has to be different
than if you get a moon ball for example i'm gonna explain each one of these factors why
you struggle against defensive players in more detail and obviously if you have bad technique
you're gonna struggle in tennis regardless but especially when there's no pace because here's
what's going to happen when you get very little pace coming at you you're going to have to swing
harder because you're not using as much pace from the incoming ball and anytime this is the case the
chances of missing are going to be a lot higher so when you swing faster there's more of a likelihood
that you're going to make a mistake so it is of the utmost importance when you face someone who
doesn't give you a lot of pace that your technique is sound you have to learn the fundamentals of
your strokes in order to have a chance to beat the defensive player and the second factor
why you struggle against defensive players is ball recognition and ball recognition is
something that high level players do not struggle with so much but recreational players have a very
difficult time recognizing what type of ball they're getting so for example they're standing
at the baseline and now someone gives them a slice that ends up being inside the service line
they recognize this type of ball too late and then they're scrambling forced to hit
the ball off balance on the run and therefore have more of a likelihood to make a mistake
and it's not only recognizing the depth of the ball it's also recognizing how much spin or under
spin the ball has also how high it's going to be and how much penetration it's going to have
going through the court and how do you develop better ball recognition you have to be patient
this is something that you learn over time because you're going to have to see a lot of balls coming
your way to start reading them better and finally shot selection is something that even elite tennis
players struggle with and is often a big problem when it comes to playing against defensive players
and there's a lot of variables when it comes to playing defensive shots coming from the other side
so for example if you get a slice that's short and low this is the most common mistake i see at the
rec level is that players go for too much so when the ball is below your waist and you're standing
close to the service line what's going to happen is you'll have to hit the ball up with top spin
now what happens with this type of ball is that the ball is flying on a curve and since you're
standing closer to the other baseline there's more of a chance to miss in other words the ball
doesn't have as much space to fall down from the curve inside the court if we compare it to hitting
a ball from the baseline there we have a lot more space the ball can safely fall inside the court
where here we're closer and it's just a lot more difficult to bring that ball inside the baseline
and often players will sail the ball along as a result of that so what do you do when you get
a ball like that you have to be cautious you have to reduce your swing speed to 50 percent and just
get the ball in do not go for a winner place the ball and then look to get a better chance on the
next shot on the other hand if the ball is short and slow but high this is where high level players
absolutely demolish these type of balls this is what high level players wait for they hit great
shots from the baseline and then finally they get something mid-court that's a little bit higher and
they can absolutely destroy a ball like that and they hit it for a winner almost every time
but here's the problem at the rec level most recreational players are uncomfortable
with hitting the ball at a higher level this is something that i personally work on with
my students in every single practice session rec players love taking the ball at the waist
and they are uncomfortable taking the ball higher between the chest and the shoulder area therefore
when these type of players get a ball mid court that's higher they do not crush it they do not put
it away they do not demolish it they have a very difficult time hitting these type of balls because
they're uncomfortable making contact higher and here's what happens to a ball that struck higher
compared to a ball that struck lower from this area of the court when we strike the ball higher
now the trajectory it doesn't have to be up and down anymore we can swing straight across or if
we're a little bit closer to the net depending on the height of the incoming ball we can also
swing down on the ball when we do that all of a sudden the trajectory is not up and down anymore
it's more straight down and therefore these type of balls can be hit very hard without the risk of
the ball going long and what i see from a lot of recreational players is that they're uncomfortable
taking the ball higher so they simply wait for the ball to drop to the waist but now they have the
same problem that i mentioned previously ball will have to travel on a curve and cannot be hit that
hard if it's hit hard from the waist from this area it's going to be a low percentage shot so
what you absolutely must do is in every practice session include some high balls which will not
only help you putting balls away from mid court but will also help you if you ever face a moon
baller when you play someone who gives you moon balls you are facing the very difficult problem of
hitting the ball higher and this is a big problem for example the junior level where players are not
as strong and they cannot hit winners very easily from behind the baseline and now they're stuck
playing moon ball rallies but the problem with moon balls is the same as the problem with
sitter balls mid-court most players are uncomfortable with taking the ball higher and
this is something that you definitely must include in every single practice session to have a chance
to compete against a defensive type player and the mental aspect of having to compete against these
type of players is something that many players struggle with and this is also true at the elite
level so players will experience a very negative feeling generally having to play someone like that
it is not fun to play a player like that so you're gonna have to really tough it up and try to think
positively as difficult as that may be also you're gonna have to be patient and this also has to do
with shot selection you can't get frustrated and try to get these horrible points to end
very fast this is not going to be a way to beat a player like that it's only going to lead to
you beating yourself so patience is key but it's also connected to shot selection there are certain
balls that a defensive player will give you where you can go a little bit harder if you possess the
right technique on the other hand there's going to be a lot of balls that a defensive
player is going to give you where you shouldn't go for a winner so shot selection and having the
patience to stay in the points longer is something that you absolutely must develop to have a chance
of beating players that are very defensive realize that pushers have been around for decades this has
always been the case that defensive players win matches because players who struggle with
the factors that i mentioned in this video will simply beat themselves and the road to victory
is very hard it's going to be a long road of constant work to develop number one your technique
number two you're gonna have to have good ball recognition and most importantly you're gonna
have the proper shot selection and patience to be able to finally start beating defensive players