There are two levels of pusher. A pusher and a junkballer. A pusher is a player that uses your energy to create hit shots. He has a small, truncated swing that is all sorts of ugly. It seems as if they are pushing the ball forward. They rely on consistency to win and they are completely defensive...on the surface.
They are however being very psychologically offensive. Pushers are so annoying that no one plays them in practice. So they have an automatic advantage. They do not have the strokes to out skill most people so they become mental assassins. Most people hate playing pushers because it drains them mentally and they don't know. Here are a few things that pushers do to create unforced errors:
- They reinforce that they are bad players. Mentally they humble themselves to the point where you think that you should be wiping the floor with them. They tell you they are OLD. They act as if they are physically inadequate. They dress like hobos with rackets. Their strokes show their lack of skill. BUT if the opponent makes a few mistakes, they will be upset that they aren?t playing so well and make more mistakes. It is an ego trip.
- They take all the energy out of the ball. It is hard to attack the ball when it doesn?t every bounce at a reasonable height. The pusher will just rebound the ball off their racket like a human wall. It throws off the opponents timing, it makes them impatient, it makes them think too hard about hitting the ball.
- They talk all the time. They will try to kill your focus. So they will talk during changeovers and after points. It will normally be about something that is not tennis related.
- Other mental tricks. Pushers will also slow time down or speed it up. Buy special balls that bounce lower or play on clay courts. Most tricks are designed to make you mentally unstable. There are no limits.
- They have excellent footwork. Because they slow the tempo of the game down, they are able to run down most anything on the court. It is very rare that you see a pusher off balance, even if they are really overweight.
Brad Gilbert: One of the best professional pushers and author of the book "Winning Ugly"
At lower levels, pushers win very often. But in the higher levels they become junkballers. Junkballers have a few more tricks up their sleeves. But at base they are still pushers. So the tricks they have are extended to:
- They vary the shots. They are called junkballers because they give you junk. They will hit all parts of the court with all different spins. Once they find a stroke you don't particularly like, they will hit all sorts of different shots to that spot. Its called "Peppering"
- They play better all court game. Junkballers become better at the net. They would never bring themselves there on purpose. But can handle themselves well if brought.
- They have a great game plan.
Fabrice Santoro: One of the best professional junkballers
Some of the things that make pushers lose:
- When the opponent gives their game respect and doesn't let the pushers mental games persist. There is only so far a pusher can go without making it look like obvious gamesmanship.
- When the opponent figures out a way to pressure the pusher. If the opponent seems to be handling the pushers mental tricks and adjusting to the spin easily, their confidence waivers.
- When the opponent is another pusher. Two people trying to out mental each other is like watching two people trying to get on each other?s nerves.
Mentally speaking, I feel that pushers are usually guys or girls that have accepted that they have been handed a bad hand in life and are trying to make the best of it. If you feel that you have low self esteem but you are pretty smart (geek) and you feel that it is poetic justice to outsmart guys that are more athletic than you, you should like being a pusher. No shame.
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