How to play against… · 4 min read
How to beat the pusher (the one who gets everything back)
They get everything back without risk and wait for your mistake. The key: patience, pulling them out of their comfort zone and not giving away points.
Why they beat you
You don’t beat a pusher with power: you beat them by choosing well. At amateur level matches are decided by unforced errors, and their game is built to make you commit them. When the ball keeps coming back, frustration pushes you to go for shots you don’t have.
The plan
- Get ready to suffer: assume from the start that every point will be long. Change your goal from “win fast” to “don’t miss first”.
- Come to the net on short or mid-court balls. Forcing them to pass or lob makes them decide and execute shots they don’t like.
- Draw them to the net with short, low balls (short slice, drop shot). You pull them off the baseline, their safe place.
- Soft is harder: don’t give them pace. The harder you hit, the easier it is for them to send the ball back with your own speed.
- Hit “seconds” with your first serve too: a safe, spun, well-placed serve forces them to generate pace.
- Use height and depth: high balls to the backhand with margin over the net until the short ball shows up.
Sign it’s working
They start shortening, going for lines or complaining about the pace. Stick with the plan: don’t change it just when it starts paying off.
To review after the match
In the app, when you mark that your opponent was “Pusher”, we ask whether you tried:
- I was patient and played with margin
- I came to the net on short balls
- I drew them to the net with short balls or drop shots
- I didn’t give them pace (I slowed down)
Avoid
- Hitting harder and harder
- Going for the lines on the third shot
- Starting to just “push the ball back” yourself: they do it better
To practice on court
Rally to 20
Crosscourt rally; the point is only played from the 20th shot on. No winners before that.
Goal: Tolerance for long points without losing quality.
Short ball → net
Your partner alternates deep balls and a short one. On the short one: approach to the backhand and volley.
Goal: Recognizing and attacking the mid-court ball.
Drop shot and passing shot
Play points where you have to win the net with a drop shot + volley or a lob.
Goal: Pulling them off the baseline.
Fitness that helps
- Point-style intervalsIntense 10 s movement bouts with 20 s rest, like the points in a match.
- On-court shadow movementMovement patterns with shadow strokes: forward, back and to the sides.
Ideas inspired by Brad Gilbert, “Winning Ugly” (ch. 8, “Destroying your opponent’s game plan”).