How To Beat A Pusher - Tennis Strategy and Tactics

[@TomAllsopp]

Warning: No balls are hit in this video... But it will help you win more matches!

[@claudiow1129]

Perfect!!! There are a bunch of videos about playing pushers, and all of them focuses on the technique, and you just focused on the mental and strategy and that's great. By the way I would love if you could make more videos like these, like what to be thinking about during the game... Shot selection... It seems like those guys who can't "play well" because they don't have good technique, but win matches, they have a very intuitive and good shot selection. So it would be great to learn how to make the best choices in a intuitive way

[@johnddwyer]

I agree bring your lunch box and get ready to work. I've played a guy like this that killed me. Drop shot followed by lob followed by drop shot. I was worn out by the 4th game. All of his shots were unorthodox but very well placed. I found myself over hitting everything like a Kamikaze pilot. This is really great advice and be prepared the matches are exhausting unless you have weapons of mass destruction. I had better strokes but with no patience it didn't matter. Be patient, find your chances, enjoy the grind. I was shocked how hard it was to win a point. From my experience as a 4.0 I'd say if I can hit 4-6 quality balls in a rally without missing I'll win the point(or if I get to the net then 65-70% of the time I'll win the point). Not true with the pusher. I'm generally at the 10-15 rally mark with an expert pusher. The ball just keeps coming back and it's worse when they have really great lobs when using the strategy to take over the net. Also, work on your overheads! You are going to hit a 1000 of them if you come into the net.

[@sarkology]

Short low slice is so effective. Federer did it to Hewitt all the time. Brought him in then passed him.

[@pakchu2]

I don't understand why everyone thinks they're entitled to beat a pusher if they only find the "right strategy". Most players who try to employ these magic tactics should just focus on improving their basic game, namely: 1. Keep the ball consistently in and deep from the baseline 2. Take advantage of short balls by hitting a quality approach Obviously there are tiers of "pushers" all the way to the pros. In my experience playing pushers on my level (~4.5) - there's nothing special about playing a pusher - I win when I'm better at these basic fundamentals than my opponent, and I lose when I am not. None of this slicing and moving them to and from the net has made any difference - in fact it actually backfires, because that's not something I practice.

[@Romasterrr]

Such a good explanation about their decision making. Really like this.

[@wiggi9339]

Good pep talk. Thanks.

[@mayabergom]

Great stuff. I love this strategy of bringing the pusher into the net.

[@MrIvanbrewer]

i played competitively solid 4.0, got elbow problems and now playing lefty since 3 months. Very interesting for the brain, coordination and discipline. Shots which i used to do without thinking i cannot do at all anymore. Power is way less. Spin is way less. My balls are floating and sitting. I cannot slide. All i try to do is hit as deep as i can and anticipate well, a perfect pusher:) I am trying to get better but it is difficult and takes hours and hours to rebuild coordination and timing. In the meantime it is very interesting to see when some players get frustrated with my slow paced mid center shots on 3rd shot and shoot down the line unforced errors all the time.

[@TomAllsopp]

I beat a 4.0 pretty comfortably playing left handed the other day. They hate it. I can anticipate like a pro and make good decisions. I made one unforced error and they couldn’t break me down. It’s pretty interesting. Watch tomorrow’s video, I’m playing lefty!!

[@MrIvanbrewer]

@@TomAllsopp it will be cool to see you playing points as a lefty (whatever the results are:)) and your thoughts about it after, also in terms of decision making and how much “power” is really needed to play well at 4.0 level as compared to other elements like anticipation, balance, footwork and decisions!

[@mukundmadabhushi5550]

If only pros watched this video before playing Djokovic

[@osteouk]

I had my arse kicked by a “pusher” many years ago as we all thought I’d win. Massive respect as I realised that I couldn’t make headway with his easy slow balls, so I wasn’t as good as I thought I was (fast balls are easier to hit of course). Now I can hit slow balls back by not overhitting. I do laugh now when someone tells me how they lost to a pusher after I heard this: Losers say, ‘how’? Winners say, ‘how many?’ Respect the winner! 😁

[@markanderson607]

"Promo SM"