How do I Know if I am a Pusher?
June 12, 2009 in Tennis Lessons, Tennis Tips
Few players are more widely disliked by tennis players than pushers. The fact that pushers can — and often do — win games, sets and/or matches against tennis players with better skills is frustrating. At times, it can be infuriating.
In the years that I have been running tennis leagues and programs I have encountered many skilled players who would rather quit a tournament or a league than be forced to play a pusher. They would rather lose by default than have to suffer the indignity of actually losing the match to a player who doesn’t know enough about the game even to hold the racquet correctly.
Pushers, meanwhile, love the game and genuinely want to play. Most are oblivious to the fact that their technique is poor. Moreover, most are also unaware of how much their opponents dislike playing tennis with them.
The truth is that pushers often can’t help themselves. Either they were taught to play this way by a friend or they have brought their tennis habits over from another racquet sport. In order to change, they must first recognize that they are pushers. Then they must make an effort to learn how to play tennis correctly.
In my experience, most pushers enjoy tennis and respect their opponents enough that they are willing to change their pushing ways.
How Do I know if I am a Pusher?
Warning Sign 1: Opponents Think You are Strange
Pushers tend to have a poor understanding of tennis technique and etiquette. Typically, they can run around the court and return shots, but they are unable to play with consistency from the baseline. If your opponents are describing your style as unorthodox, strange or weird, then you may be a pusher.
Warning Sign 2: Holding Your Racquet Like a Frying Pan
Proper tennis technique demands, at the very least, that you hold the racquet with a continental grip. Nowadays, most players will in fact hit their forehands with a western or semi-western grip and their backhands with an eastern backhand grip. If you don’t know the difference, you may be a pusher.
Warning Sign 3: Standing Behind the Ball
Proper tennis technique requires that you stand behind the ball at about a 45 degree angle when you hit it. It also requires that you hit most balls at about waist height. If, however, you are consistently standing directly behind the ball and/or hitting it out in front of your face, then you are probably a pusher.
Warning Sign 4: Bumping the Serve
Proper tennis technique requires that the first serve is a power serve while the second serve is a spin serve. While many tennis players cannot execute either serve as well as they would like, they are at least committed to trying. Pushers, however, don’t really have a first or a second serve. All they do is bump the ball over the net to get it in. As a result, their serve has no power and tends to bounce almost straight up in the air.
This more than anything else is what causes tennis players to dislike pushers. On one side of the net, you have a player who is committed to serving correctly even if it means that it will cost him some points. He does this out of respect for the game, for himself and his opponent. However, on the other side of the net stands the pusher who is more interested in winning than in respecting the game, himself or his opponent.
Warning Sign 5: No Top Spin
All modern tennis technique is built on a foundation of top spin. Players are taught some basic techniques for generating top spin from a very early age. They are also taught that top spin is the norm and backspin is the exception.
Pushers, by contast, cannot generate top spin. Everything they hit is characterized by side spin, back spin or a combination of both. Hence the description of their style as unorthodox, strange or weird by players who have learned proper technique.
How Can I Change?
Fortunately, help is available for players who want to stop pushing and want to start playing. They can invest in their development with a basic four lesson package that will teach them how to hit forehands and backhands with top spin, how to volleys with directional control and how to serve.
Contact one of the many tennis instructors in our network and tell them that you want to become a better tennis player. I promise you that every one of them will be willing to help you make the transition from pusher to player.
Brent Johner is a certified tennis, squash and badminton coach in Calgary, AB, Canada. He is also Racquet Network’s founder and Executive Director. He can be reached at brentjohner@racquetnetwork.com.
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Justin said on May 17, 2011
Why would a skilled player care if their opponent bumped over a serve? I’d be happy if everyone I played did that. The return would be a guaranteed cold winner 1 out of 4 times.
To me playing a pusher is like batting practice. You should relish the opportunity early in a tournament. It will give you more confidence later on.