These videos changed my attitude in how I approach these players. I used to be in the "disrespect them" crowd. Now I view them as just another challenge to solve and try to keep my ego out of it.
Just played a pusher and had this video in my mind for the whole match. Took 4 games to get into a groove, opponent was so similar to the videos, I'm not up to tennis troll's standard but needed to find a way to win. Used drop shots, deep heavy topspin and looking for high percentage winners. Always looking to get to mid court for winners. One thing missing from the video series is how difficult it is to hit good techniques against the junk balls. Comfortable win in the end but definitely thanks to this series
Truly appreciate you calling out all the "professional" club players who think their level is way higher than it is. Im always amazed at how slow tennis at my club appears when I am simply watching others play. Getting on the court quickly changes the perspective and suddenly the shots seem faster and the court seems larger on my side and smaller on the opponent's side lol.
Tennistroll has great technique. He would be a great hitting partner, his footwork is an indication he is a higher level player. When you meet a pusher, you judge their technique and then are upset when you couldn’t beat them. They take you apart mentally. You start to lose confidence in all your swings because you feel like you need to keep hitting winners. You lose by your own errors.
Ha ha ha! **Loved** your comment (but alas could only hit 'like'). Kinda makes you wonder how often the same is true of Life's other little instances. Good thing we don't wear body cams. Your humility and ego strength is much appreciated. Good on ya!
FYI, I really love the direction of your channel as of late. I think you've found a nice niche with this kind of analysis. I can find 100 people on RUclips showing me how to hit my groundstrokes, but almost none that do what you're doing now. And you do it well. Thank you.
Former 6.5 player here. Pushers like this can make you look like a rock star. You have to play within yourself and take over the point. My play is always approach strong and shorten the point. The key is to put them on defense with your approach. You'll get an easy volley or a defensive lob that you can finish the point with. Assuming you can volley and smash. Cheers..... Nice forehand volley tennistroll. Edberg would be proud.
Only 7k away from the goal! Getting closer! Loved at 10:39 telling people to record themself. I think everyone should see themself play at least once. Gives a very good reality check.
Another thing I noticed that Troll did well with later on to make his shots better was that he only changed the direction of the ball when it did not cross his body. When he was bullying the pusher with cross courts he kept the ball going in the same direction that is came from because it did cross his body. I think if he would have gone down the line, even though it was open, he would have been more susceptible to a mistake. He waited until he got the mid ball that didn't cross his body and then he changed the direction and hit the winner that was about 7 feet inside the court. That helps with keeping your shots high percentage. Loved the video series, hope to see more strategy breakdowns like this, it really gets us playing smarter tennis when we know how to use the weapons that we have.
I watched this video. The pusher won the match in 2 sets. Something like 6 - 1 , 6 - 4 if I remember correctly. I felt his frustration. He was repeatedly lured to the net with drop shots then lobbed to death. The pusher was uncannily accurate. Agree with Ian, definitely one of the best pushers I've ever seen.
Ian I got to thank you man! I was down 1-3 15-40 tonight against a pusher and I remembered this video and try bringing him in. Within two points he was saying 'I don't know why I try to volley' and I ended up clinching it 6-4. Thanks mate!
As a Pusher myself, I gotta agree Ian, the deep, heavy ball always causes me problems. It’s hard to do much with those. I can’t chop it, angle it or lob it...and those 3 returns are The Holy Trinity of a Pusher’s Arsenal. I feel completely comfortable at the net and relish chasing drop shots and angling them sharply back as a drop shot return, but I am a weird kind of Pusher. I just try to always win my serve and focus on getting just 1 break. If everyone here just listens and follows your advice, guys like me will be in trouble. Great stuff Ian...I think this may be your best 3 video series ever and your stuff always is helpful. Tim
62 y/o ladies player here -- Thanks for this series! I remember seeing Chris Evert play Martina Navratilova live for the first time (don't ask when!). I couldn't believe the difference between watching on tv and watching live. I had no idea they hit the ball so hard until I saw them in person!
I'm a counterpuncher and have problems with this type of player too. We both end up playing push tennis. It's exhausting ...! I would like to add that I LOVE playing this player- I have a few regular players that are pushers and I thrive on playing matches with them because they certainly keep me honest and make me earn every point. This is great- I beat some of them sometimes, but it is a challenge, and always when I come back to other regular players I go against I am sharper after competing against the PUSHER.
You’re dead right about people who are ragging on these players have never watched themselves on video. I was staggered when I realised just how slow I was playing tennis. My whole demeanour, approach and technique were nothing like my mental perception.
Recording myself was really informative and very humbling. I would never publish it online because I look ridiculous compared to how I feel on the court.
You are right that ppl don't watch themselves. However, they watch ppl they play against. "Pusher" player has atrocious movement on the court and tennis troll managed to get past him only a couple of time for 2 sets. If that's not enough indication for you that tennis troll shots are slow and totally lack any penetration strength, then I don't know what else is.
Haha. I still remember how much i got shocked when I recorded my playing for the first time. I thought i was sprinting, but the man in the video was walking. My laser-straight winning shot was a slow floating knuckle ball.
Players at my level often struggle with my serve, they think it's quite fast. I thought I was at 110mph+. Played a tournament where they offered recording your game with automatic statistics... My hardest serve all game was 100mph, my regular "hard" serve is 90mph... Also it really looks ungainly. :-D
Agree with John Forde, just lost a game this week to a pusher. This video would be helpful kkkkk But one thing with all these items is : patience... if you rush to finish a point you might miss (my case most of the time 😪) Nice video BTW
4. Teach him beautiful shots. My pusher teammate started his new technique about a year ago and instantly stopped winning. But he became a decent partner in doubles.
A pusher once told me the secret of beating players like him, and it's compatible with what you've got here. He said: mix it up. Yes, you've got to do some solid rally work to get the point going and get the short ball. But then, if you attack every short ball the same way, the pusher will be ready to neutralise it. Yet if sometimes you hit deep topspin, sometimes you do a biting slice, sometimes you drop shot, sometimes you even do a chipped angle ... then the pusher doesn't know what way they're going to have to run, so their timing gets messed up. And then they get scared of hitting short, so they start going for lower percentage shots and making mistakes. For those who say a player with good technique would just smash a pusher off the court, one of the most useful pieces of online tennis advice I've ever found is that if you or I (or a pusher) played a set against Federer, he wouldn't be cracking 100mph forehands onto the lines. Because even he might have his timing go slightly off and start missing a run. He would play well within himself, keeping a high margin of error while applying just enough pressure to open up lots of gaps and force errors.
marco76uk1 Yup. For professionals, they won’t make each other uncomfortable unless they attack because they’re all so good offensively and defensively. But if someone like Nadal was against me and played his regular game, he might lose 2-3 points off of errors or double faults. So if he was trying to beat me while minimizing the points he loses, he’d just play heavy spin and move me around and force me to attack him. Chances are, I won’t come up with big enough shots to really hurt him, and he won’t make errors. As for me, my strategy against him would be serve as big as possible and attack whenever possible to just try and extract a couple of errors or even a winner and win a few points.
Ian - I didn't realise it, but a player I have been beaten by for the last five years is totally a "pusher". I am pleased to advise in the last week or two, I have massively improved against him. This is *completely* down to your advice her and the other tactical advice on your channel that I have been watching for the last month or so. PLEASE keep up the great work. It's a fantastic resource and I have learned so much.
Troll did several things very well at least in the points that were shown: #1 did a great job of hitting low balls consistently. #2 great job of isolating his strengths (backhands and mid court shots) to opponents weaknesses (backhand). The one thing Troll should have done is to take advantage of his damaging shots. In many points, he hits a deep shot into a corner from a position inside the baseline and then retreats. Opponent floats a deep return, recovers his position and gets back to neutral. In those points, he's missing the opportunity to take 1 step in and take the ball early and stay ahead in the point.
I started playing tennis when i was 13 and i am now 62. I reached a 5.0 level for a short time. When i was in my early 30`s and playing around a 4.5 level i played someone like MEP and he cleaned my clock 6-1, 6-1. It was a humbling experience the continuous dinks, drop shots and lobs completely baffled me; i was so used to playing other players like myself.Would love to one day play the real MEP and now that i no longer have the stamina i bet it would be another drubbing.
I feel more confident playing matches after watching your videos. I hear the same thing from teammates on my baseball team when they fail against junk ball pitchers. Now I realize its them, not the junk-baller, who should take responsibility by being more patient. Patience is one point you may wish to emphasize more. Losing patience leads to playing outside of ones abilities which usually leads to less success. The Troll in these clips kept his cool and didnt try to over hit. Keep these strategy sessions coming.Thank you!
Great analysis. Your technical tools are perfect for being able to accurately communicate these concepts. Good work. Also, your comment about ball speed on videos is spot on. I would estimate that video slows down the ball by at least 30% or more. This probably has something to do with the eye's lack of proper 3d depth perception on a video.
Thanks for the video. At the 4.0 level so so many matches look like this. But if your strokes are technically more sound than opponent's, another way to beat the retriever, if you have a ton of patience, is to simply outlast them. As SV Lagonda wrote in comments, better stokes > weaker strokes. The retriever's nightmare is a better retriever. I was once down 1-5 to a master pusher/retriever, but I knew his backhand was technically weaker. So I dug in for the long haul. An HOUR later I won the set 7-5. But still I prefer Essential Tennis' approach. It's more fun. And best long-term solution for a guy like the one in red/better player is to practice about 10,000 overheads in off-season, then you'll never again get trapped into a match like this.
When watching this match I observed that TT has good footwork and speed in covering the court and setting up . TT did not rush to end the point but was consistent and waited for the right ball to attack. He was confident that MEP could not hurt him with his ground strokes and TT believed he could run any shot down. TT was a Lean Mean Ground Stroke Machine that was ready to run al day and wait for the right play.I tell my players that you go to be fit and read to hit and set up every point. Every shot that you hit should have a purpose, placement and a pace to set up the point.
Ian, thank you for this incredibly informative series. It really hit home for me that for many of us that love the game and watch our ATP heroes, trying to emulate their strokes and practicing repeatedly to groove our style, tennis does NOT award style points! My biggest frustration with playing the pusher type player is that they look so awkward and yet still keep getting the ball back to places that make me feel awkward. As a player who has pretty good mobility still and uses that to get to balls that others my age ( 62 ) might not get to and hit winners, watching an opponent make ungainly shots and lob me perfectly offends my own sense of what should be happening. We all need to look at the "pusher" player in this series with respect for his shot making ability and movement - not how he looks while doing it. Nor should we assume that just because his strokes and grip are not traditionally stylish, or "correct technique", he doesn't work hard in practicing to improve his game. Nobody gets to be as consistent and effective at winning matches like him without a lot of practice. Many of us came to tennis later in life and did not have the benefit of good coaching as junior players to ground solid technique. We all have bad habits, and stylish shots that hit the net or are outside the court more than half the time are not going to win matches, no matter how smooth and stylish they look. If more of us took Ian's advice and videotaped ourselves in matches we'd likely be shocked that we aren't as stylish and our shots are not as hard or as pretty as we think they are. It's not hard to do and is a real eye opener.
I used to follow your channel when I first started tennis again a few years ago. Being straight but not disrespectful, I believe your skill level may not be the best but you do have very good COACHING SKILL. I cannot agree more with your opinion on annoying pushers, yes we need to respect them. After all, if we lose, they are better players, objectively. I just started playing for USTA 3.5 league. As a self-rated 4.0 player just playing with my tennis buddies, I thought I would do great on that league. I though I had good enough form, foot work, and athleticism. But I didn't count on good strategy and knowing the game. I think most of successful pushers really know their game better than anybody does because their attention is more on reading their opponents other than hitting better shots. After all, I realized that it is just one more aspect of game that I have to know my opponents, select the right shots, and winning the game more smartly. After all, I believe that pushers are just one of the type of players that we have to deal with to step up. Thank you for your good video instructions and good luck on your career.
This is GOLD Ian! Thank you! Pushers are my nightmare. Ja JA Can't wait for Covid Quarantine to finish and try this. By the way, exellent idea to analize tennis matches like the ones that most of us the mortals play. Keep it up
Thanks for the advice I played a guy that until tonight I had not beaten, at first he bunted back my good serves for drop shot winners and pushed shots around the court and I got angry. This time I followed your advice and stuck with it and I didn’t lose.
"if you think these balls are slow you have never seen yourself play" so true!!! it is an eye opener to record yourself play. In fact that guy saying that rushing into the net on every shot will beat the defensive player has never played a good defensive player before.They are masters of passing shots, they usually bring out clean accurate shots that float low on the net or accurate lobs that land on the baseline..
Robert Ornelas They literally always hit a perfect lob unless you crush the approach shot. Coming to net against pushers isn’t easy. Takes a lot of point construction and bravery on the approach
Everyone who says that there are no pros who play like a pusher. The biggest example is Gilles Simon. He almost never goes for a winner and had years of succes with keeping his unforced errors very low
Awesome. I like how you gave troll a game plan based on his specific skill set. I wouldnt even know how to approach holding the grip troll uses lol. Probably would use a forehand slice and hold back for a lob.👍🏽
Great vid. I usually lose to these guys, and never knew why. The rare times I win, I don’t even know why or what worked, and then lose in a rematch. Thanks for giving us a tangible strategy.
So many of us spent years developing our shots. We had injuries, practiced for hours and days on end. When I see a pusher hitting absolute trash backhands, it's infuriating that he can get away with his lack of commitment to work. Not to say you can't win with craftiness and upsetting your opponent. I'm sure he does. But if you can find his weakness and pound away at that lack of hard work, it's the most satisfying thing in the game....
I can appreciate the comment when people are talking about "patty cake tennis". People don't realize what the camera takes off the ball. If you get the chance to watch a professional tennis match - you better not blink or you'll miss a serve that you would normally see very well on TV. Those guys HIT THE BALL.
Ian! The pusher I played yesterday did a good job of responding to my drop or short shot with one of his own. Which left me with a volley battle that I didn’t take. Wish I had. It took me losing the the first set to stop making so many errors trying to hit perfect shots in order to set up the solid, more aggressive shots you talked about in the video. I’d love to see a pusher video that includes strategy for identifying the lob early, cuz my opponent didn’t try to pass me. I got dropped or lobbed in 98 degree Georgia heat which made took a lot of my problem solving ability away.
I like a LOT your OTHER SIDE of teaching tennis, I like when you said is NOT him is me and how to correct that and teach how to deal with this every days ball pushers. Learning about HIGH percentage shots and the new way for me to redimenltion the court and positioning will make 4 sure a BIG DIFFERENCE. Thanks!!!!! I will let you know the results..
When I played pushers, first thing I did was increase the pace of my service games. No time between serves, went big on both serves. Second, when I noticed the guy had a serve like this dude, I varied where I'd return. Learned in college that between the time the guy starts his ervice motion, and when the serve lands, it's several seconds. He doesn't know wher you are. Maybe you're inside the baseline. Maybe you're shading one side or other. But if he's trying to go where you're not, don't let him know where are. I couldn't do that against consistently great serves, where they didn't care where you were. But against dinners, who hit stuff spefically designed to counter your reaction, it was successful...
Great planning advice. I face a lot of guys like this, and lose because I get impatient and try to punish those weak balls with risky winners. I think tennis troll could have won some of those points with a sharper overhead, as well. Also, players who love to hit on the run sometimes get flummoxed by balls hit straight at them. "Don't let the runner run!"
I was about to say the same thing. Tennis troll was only playing 2 dimensions of tennis, height and width. The pusher wasn’t uncomfortable. If he changed the depth and time given to his opponent, there would be more success. Easier said then done, and I still don’t like playing pushers.
What was that lyric from that Steppenwolf song in the 60's? "G-damn the pusher man!" ;-) Who'da thunk it would apply in tennis as well in 2020! Keep the analysis coming!
Thank you Ian. Great series. Yes, I've been beaten by just such a player and it still draws my bile even after more than a decade. My worst thoughts come back to not knowing what to do differently the next time it happens. This is some great ideas. Developing that very heavy topspin groundstroke I believe is key. Anyone who has ever played against players that have this know just how much trouble that can be if you don't have the powerful shot to respond (which most pushers don't have, otherwise they wouldn't be pushing to begin with).
Great series, I've learn so much in your three video series. I'm a one hand backhander so when in front of the service line I backhand slice low and sharp ( close to the net ). I also observe during warm-up if they use my power to fuel their returns which almost looks like I'm beating myself. So I vary the speed of my deep shots to see what makes them more uncomfortable. Timing a slower ball for opponents who only slice back forehands is easiest at the baseline . I always lob a slicers backhand side to get my finishing overhead or swing volley passing shot. I mostly play doubles at my age (71) but I think I might try singles again in the my next local tournament.
Played a pusher yesterday, and for the 2 games of the pusher serve I struggle a lot, than just remember the other 2 videos and focus on hitting safe and heavy balls, that just not came back. Thanks a lot Ian. Can you make a series on going to the net ? Just fill that I take a lot of passing shots when I go to the net.
I played a pusher this morning before watching this video, and I ended up using the drop shot a lot as he has pretty good lateral movement. It was very effective as he wasn't very good at the net and I won most of the points. I'm going to have to re-watch all your videos on strategy lol.
Hi! What about if you are the defensive player / pusher? Can you run a series on how to beat Tennis Troll, basically flip the script? Loving you're videos and I've already been implementing some high % tactics. 😀
Beating Tennis Troll would be a challenge. He has all the tools to beat a pusher except for an aggressive overhead. Troll moves well and seems to have good stamina, gets the ball back in play frequently, can hit topspin and hit angled shots. His backhand is not a weakness and can volley well. Most pushers can not hit aggressive passing shots as this defensive player does. Troll consistently gets his overhead back in play, so it is not a real weakness, he just doesn't punish the defensive player on short lobs. To beat troll you would have to use the same strategy you use now, keep getting the ball back, and move Troll around until he gets impatient and tries to force a winner.
Cash Mason Yeah it’s tough. His angled backhand is actually incredible. But his forehand isn’t anything special and can break down, so it might even be good to keep it on the forehand side. Sure it has a bit more pace but the backhand angle pulls you off court so that’s even worse for a pusher. Be ready to run and just try to keep every ball deep. Also if you can, mix up the spins a little. Throw slices and lobs to make sure he has to hit low and high and don’t let him get any rhythm. You’re gonna have to get a guy like him into a bad mental state where they start making a ton of mistakes and playing really passive. You can also do the combo where you draw him to net then lob. He doesn’t seem super comfortable up there.
Excellent breakdown! Time to put this into practice 👍. Btw, the more I watch these strategy breakdowns, the more tennis is starting to look like chess.... Except that you're playing chess while running at full tilt all around the court.
Thanks, Ian. With this pusher would it be a good idea to keep your shots more down the middle to take away his angle passing shots? Also, when approaching the net hit down the middle slices to again make the passing shots more difficult?
Played two pushers recently. First one i thought im going to play my own game which is fast and furious🙄 but forgot to play that with percentage tennis i.e. made alot of unforced errors and lost 6-2 6-0... Second one i thought ok im going to take it easy and be patient but ended up trying to beat the pusher at his own game...lost again. I cost me a head prestige mp racket out of sheer frustration😤. So now with new wilson clash rackets im going to give it a new try at an upcomming tournament with good heavy and deep percentage tennis, analysing my opponents reaction on drop shots, slicing etc😇. Hopefully i do better then, thanks for the analysis!
Ian a question about something you hinted at in this video, and spoke about in different issues related to heavy topspin....you talked about LATERAL players, those who love to go side-to-side. I had a coach tell me years ago if players love to go side-to-side, they tend not to like to come forward (you mentioned that), nor do they tend to like to handle high, heavy balls inside of them (down the middle). They tend to move left to right (or vice versa) but not do a traditional 'backstep' when jammed....would you recommend hitting in their bodies regularly during the neutral positions to set up the shorter balls?
I think I played a type PUSHER some time ago in amateur tennis.. level would be something like 4 ish I think. My Opponent was less good than this pusher in these videos but it's interesting that at the time I didn't think of this concept of the pusher, and just found myself now realizing that during points I had exactly that feeling that I understand now as concept , playing and keep seeing balls coming back with backspin.. :) Can I share my video? I only have a set that I played with him and that is the set that I managed to play better and beat him, but in the end I lost in decisive set(2-1) with 6-4.
How about reversing the roles here. It might be useful to have a video showing how you can use pusher tactics to beat 'better' players. This might be for situations where your normal game just isn't cutting it and you need a plan B that might frustrate the opponent enough to knock him off his game. More tools in the tool chest to use when necessary... Just a thought. I particularly like the high looping shot to a corner tactic to get a short, weak ball to put away, by the way...
@maccajoe On top of that there is 1st also my pride. Sorry I cannot just push the ball back like this guy. I would feel ashamed beyond limits. And 2nd I want to have fun. And I don't have fun pushing balls back to the opponent. For that I might as well do anything else and not waste my time on court. Sure, I lose to all these pushers all the time, but if you told anybody your high rank, and then they see you playing like the pusher in this vid, they might die from laughter. There is more fun in losing while trying your best at actually winning than winning while just waiting for your opponent to make an error.
Play with a pusher friend with absolutely no technique but a will to return evey single ball and it worked for him for the longest time. I was completely frustrated. Then I watched a video with basically the same strategy proposal as this one and I tried it. I did two things: 1. Made him come to the net with drop shots, then send it back to him whilst he was in no man's land. 2. Patience, patience and patience.....
Thanks Ian, I kind of knew what to do against puscher but you explain it so well. Thanks a lot for this series. I've got now to work on my stamina :-p.
I feel like my pride is at stake if someone sees me get beaten by someone with awful technique. then i realized no one was watching and no one cares. my strategy: practice my serve so much that poor technique can't return it.
My challenge is a slicer that I play every Friday and he approaches net whenever he can. He has developed amazing volley accuracy at the net now. He is the Bane of my existence LOL. I feel like affective lobs are my only defense.
I say also be aggressive on your serve to these pushers. I hit a big serve and usually I can get a pusher to give me back a weak return on a hard hit serve. I think my serve is around 100mph currently. Also come into the net on serve and finish the point.
Great analysis, I also suffered in the hands of pushers many times :) I would just slightly dissagree about not going to the net. With the descent approach shot to his backhand, he only plays a lob from that side...so staying a little further from the net a play a good smash might done it.
Hey, I’m playing ITF junior ranked player and I’m 14 turning 15 right now, training and thanks so much for this video it showed a lot of flaws of mine. But the thing is would these strategies work with players who have good technique and good heavy neutral shots, not great aggressive shots and net play but great movement and heavy shots. Because I’m playing with good ITF players and I know from experience serve and volley works and drop shots do. Sometimes if I’m not too tight my forehand can create enough damage. But usually the high percentage and strong shots pattern never works for me. I’m not sure exactly how to play them when my forehand isn’t at its best stage
If you are 4.0 and up and trying to improve your technique winning against a pusher becomes most of the time just a "sigh of relief" at the end, losing OTOH is a "walk of shame" back home. Ideally you want to avoid pushers like is "bat soup". All in all court time is court time and finding "ideal opponents" can be tricky so if a pusher is your only option to play against go for it. With that said great videos, Ian.
Love your videos, Ian. Have you considered a video that would help avoiding injuries? Every time I play I end up with pain in my elbow that goes away the next day. I know I'm doing something wrong but I can't find out why. I'm sure you have plenty of experience for things that can be improved such as posture, holding the racket, swinging... Thanks!
Same here, I thought I can't injure myself but I just got some nasty wrist tendon pain after doing some more wrist rotation for serves after seeing some RUclips video about it. It is continuously pain since 2 months, so this was a big mistake.
I read the comments that blame pushers on focusing on winning rather than good technique. I guess I was a pusher. But I wasn't honestly trying to win. I focused on always getting the ball back. I felt that hitting long or hitting into the net was a horrible mistake. My usual partner (my husband) always rated the quality of our games or practice sessions by how many balls we could hit back and forth before missing. Our local pro always wanted us to be practice partners for her students because we could keep the ball in play. We had horrible technique, but didn't realize it.
Great video Ian! I like the top spin ground strokes and closing at the net strategies. Unfortunately most of us don't get enough reps on drop shot. For me it is certainly significantly worse than other shots because most of us don't walk in to a practice session to practice drop shots. And while you know it can work great against a pusher, it is not my go to shot because of lack of practice. I end up hitting it too deep and get worked out of the point. Will keep in mind to get more reps on a regular basis
I don't play junk ball tennis however, when my opponent gets in to a consistent grove against top spin shots I throw in a few junk balls to vary the pace.
Today is May the 19th, 2021 and now we know, as a fact, that those tactics actually work, as Ian was able to beat the "Green Shirt Guy" with certain ease :-)
Tennis troll is self taught I believe. Perhaps his lack of experience kept him from seeing what you see. Love that you have “pivoted” to provide two channels for both match play and instruction.
Great vid man, most of the people here in the comments are below or same level of these players making excellent for our improvement. Haha now you threw the dice about drop shots, you’ll have to tell us how to counter players good at. In another troll’s video it shows that green shirt is pretty good at drops.
Really useful rules to play that kind of player. I would also say, make him play at the net, I mean not only come forward and backward but play at the net since usually they have some weaknesses in this part of the game. Also lobbing them and make them smash in uncomfortable situations will make them make mistakes.
Do you think handedness played a role in preventing the draw to the net? A short cc bh slice seems like a better option when it’s not going to the stronger/more variable wing.
These videos changed my attitude in how I approach these players. I used to be in the "disrespect them" crowd. Now I view them as just another challenge to solve and try to keep my ego out of it.
Just played a pusher and had this video in my mind for the whole match. Took 4 games to get into a groove, opponent was so similar to the videos, I'm not up to tennis troll's standard but needed to find a way to win. Used drop shots, deep heavy topspin and looking for high percentage winners. Always looking to get to mid court for winners.
One thing missing from the video series is how difficult it is to hit good techniques against the junk balls.
Comfortable win in the end but definitely thanks to this series
Woa nice display great job man that means you have good solid fundamentals
1. Use the drop shot
2. Hit safe patterns with strong swings
3. Approach the net effectively (down the line)
Truly appreciate you calling out all the "professional" club players who think their level is way higher than it is. Im always amazed at how slow tennis at my club appears when I am simply watching others play. Getting on the court quickly changes the perspective and suddenly the shots seem faster and the court seems larger on my side and smaller on the opponent's side lol.
Yes! Guys at my level seem from off court like they're moving under water, then they're The Flash when across the net.
Tennistroll has great technique. He would be a great hitting partner, his footwork is an indication he is a higher level player.
When you meet a pusher, you judge their technique and then are upset when you couldn’t beat them. They take you apart mentally. You start to lose confidence in all your swings because you feel like you need to keep hitting winners. You lose by your own errors.
@@00Pati agreed
I'm an amateur player and I recorded myself playing for the first time recently. I also recently realised that I'm full of crap.
What do you use to record yourself and do you attach it to the fence somehow?
The camera doesn't lie. Don't despair, now you know what to fix.
Ha ha ha! **Loved** your comment (but alas could only hit 'like'). Kinda makes you wonder how often the same is true of Life's other little instances. Good thing we don't wear body cams. Your humility and ego strength is much appreciated. Good on ya!
FYI, I really love the direction of your channel as of late. I think you've found a nice niche with this kind of analysis. I can find 100 people on RUclips showing me how to hit my groundstrokes, but almost none that do what you're doing now. And you do it well. Thank you.
Former 6.5 player here. Pushers like this can make you look like a rock star. You have to play within yourself and take over the point. My play is always approach strong and shorten the point. The key is to put them on defense with your approach. You'll get an easy volley or a defensive lob that you can finish the point with. Assuming you can volley and smash. Cheers..... Nice forehand volley tennistroll. Edberg would be proud.
Only 7k away from the goal! Getting closer! Loved at 10:39 telling people to record themself. I think everyone should see themself play at least once. Gives a very good reality check.
Sometimes a painful one but essential if you want to improve you tennis.
@@Ihasfinger911 most think they are Roger or Serena just out of shape😂
Another thing I noticed that Troll did well with later on to make his shots better was that he only changed the direction of the ball when it did not cross his body. When he was bullying the pusher with cross courts he kept the ball going in the same direction that is came from because it did cross his body. I think if he would have gone down the line, even though it was open, he would have been more susceptible to a mistake. He waited until he got the mid ball that didn't cross his body and then he changed the direction and hit the winner that was about 7 feet inside the court. That helps with keeping your shots high percentage.
Loved the video series, hope to see more strategy breakdowns like this, it really gets us playing smarter tennis when we know how to use the weapons that we have.
I play like the pusher. This guy is my idol, he’s great at it
He's one of the best I've seen on RUclips!
Most of us play in same way when we play a match
I watched this video. The pusher won the match in 2 sets. Something like 6 - 1 , 6 - 4 if I remember correctly. I felt his frustration. He was repeatedly lured to the net with drop shots then lobbed to death. The pusher was uncannily accurate. Agree with Ian, definitely one of the best pushers I've ever seen.
@@dropshot8840 that was a different match, he wasn't playing tennis troll.
@@prakashbaskar4382 lol not unless I'm losing
Ian I got to thank you man! I was down 1-3 15-40 tonight against a pusher and I remembered this video and try bringing him in. Within two points he was saying 'I don't know why I try to volley' and I ended up clinching it 6-4. Thanks mate!
I appreciate vulnerability.
Period.
Thanks for bearing your tennis soul.
As a Pusher myself, I gotta agree Ian, the deep, heavy ball always causes me problems. It’s hard to do much with those. I can’t chop it, angle it or lob it...and those 3 returns are The Holy Trinity of a Pusher’s Arsenal.
I feel completely comfortable at the net and relish chasing drop shots and angling them sharply back as a drop shot return, but I am a weird kind of Pusher.
I just try to always win my serve and focus on getting just 1 break.
If everyone here just listens and follows your advice, guys like me will be in trouble.
Great stuff Ian...I think this may be your best 3 video series ever and your stuff always is helpful.
Tim
Ian dropping truth bombs on all the comment section pros at 10:39 😂👏👏👏
Yeah, well this is after Ian referred to Troll as a “3.5+” in a previous vid. So, he’s as guilty as the rest of you are.
62 y/o ladies player here -- Thanks for this series! I remember seeing Chris Evert play Martina Navratilova live for the first time (don't ask when!). I couldn't believe the difference between watching on tv and watching live. I had no idea they hit the ball so hard until I saw them in person!
Gotta love those high percentage winners, so satisfying and stress free in matches
I'm a counterpuncher and have problems with this type of player too. We both end up playing push tennis. It's exhausting ...!
I would like to add that I LOVE playing this player- I have a few regular players that are pushers and I thrive on playing matches with them because they certainly keep me honest and make me earn every point. This is great- I beat some of them sometimes, but it is a challenge, and always when I come back to other regular players I go against I am sharper after competing against the PUSHER.
You’re dead right about people who are ragging on these players have never watched themselves on video. I was staggered when I realised just how slow I was playing tennis. My whole demeanour, approach and technique were nothing like my mental perception.
Recording myself was really informative and very humbling. I would never publish it online because I look ridiculous compared to how I feel on the court.
You are right that ppl don't watch themselves. However, they watch ppl they play against. "Pusher" player has atrocious movement on the court and tennis troll managed to get past him only a couple of time for 2 sets. If that's not enough indication for you that tennis troll shots are slow and totally lack any penetration strength, then I don't know what else is.
Haha. I still remember how much i got shocked when I recorded my playing for the first time. I thought i was sprinting, but the man in the video was walking. My laser-straight winning shot was a slow floating knuckle ball.
Players at my level often struggle with my serve, they think it's quite fast. I thought I was at 110mph+. Played a tournament where they offered recording your game with automatic statistics... My hardest serve all game was 100mph, my regular "hard" serve is 90mph... Also it really looks ungainly. :-D
@@Nabend1402 100mph? I'm jealous.
10:40 , "If you think this is slow, you've probably never recorded yourself." Totally guilty of this until I started recording myself
Rather not record myself because on court id like to feel like i am a young god at 55 years old😎
@@adlib8096 I can promise you that recording yourself doesn't change that feeling, I have first hand experience :)
Recording ourselves is the only way to really improve our game ... it helps our brain clicks on the true 'you' and not on the 'imaginary' ...
Agree with John Forde, just lost a game this week to a pusher. This video would be helpful kkkkk
But one thing with all these items is : patience... if you rush to finish a point you might miss (my case most of the time 😪)
Nice video BTW
4. Teach him beautiful shots. My pusher teammate started his new technique about a year ago and instantly stopped winning. But he became a decent partner in doubles.
A pusher once told me the secret of beating players like him, and it's compatible with what you've got here. He said: mix it up. Yes, you've got to do some solid rally work to get the point going and get the short ball. But then, if you attack every short ball the same way, the pusher will be ready to neutralise it. Yet if sometimes you hit deep topspin, sometimes you do a biting slice, sometimes you drop shot, sometimes you even do a chipped angle ... then the pusher doesn't know what way they're going to have to run, so their timing gets messed up. And then they get scared of hitting short, so they start going for lower percentage shots and making mistakes.
For those who say a player with good technique would just smash a pusher off the court, one of the most useful pieces of online tennis advice I've ever found is that if you or I (or a pusher) played a set against Federer, he wouldn't be cracking 100mph forehands onto the lines. Because even he might have his timing go slightly off and start missing a run. He would play well within himself, keeping a high margin of error while applying just enough pressure to open up lots of gaps and force errors.
marco76uk1 Yup. For professionals, they won’t make each other uncomfortable unless they attack because they’re all so good offensively and defensively. But if someone like Nadal was against me and played his regular game, he might lose 2-3 points off of errors or double faults. So if he was trying to beat me while minimizing the points he loses, he’d just play heavy spin and move me around and force me to attack him. Chances are, I won’t come up with big enough shots to really hurt him, and he won’t make errors. As for me, my strategy against him would be serve as big as possible and attack whenever possible to just try and extract a couple of errors or even a winner and win a few points.
Ian - I didn't realise it, but a player I have been beaten by for the last five years is totally a "pusher".
I am pleased to advise in the last week or two, I have massively improved against him. This is *completely* down to your advice her and the other tactical advice on your channel that I have been watching for the last month or so. PLEASE keep up the great work. It's a fantastic resource and I have learned so much.
YES! So happy to read that, Mitch! Thanks for the positive report!
Lost to a pusher during my highschool tryouts I’ll definitely try this during my rematch challenge match
did u win :)
@@albertzheng182 no though the video helped me out greatly I lost 6-8 opposed to 1-8
Troll did several things very well at least in the points that were shown: #1 did a great job of hitting low balls consistently. #2 great job of isolating his strengths (backhands and mid court shots) to opponents weaknesses (backhand). The one thing Troll should have done is to take advantage of his damaging shots. In many points, he hits a deep shot into a corner from a position inside the baseline and then retreats. Opponent floats a deep return, recovers his position and gets back to neutral. In those points, he's missing the opportunity to take 1 step in and take the ball early and stay ahead in the point.
Boris Becker...short, low slice down the middle...plays the net...pass me if you can. Great set of videos!
I started playing tennis when i was 13 and i am now 62. I reached a 5.0 level for a short time. When i was in my early 30`s and playing around a 4.5 level i played someone like MEP and he cleaned my clock 6-1, 6-1. It was a humbling experience the continuous dinks, drop shots and lobs completely baffled me; i was so used to playing other players like myself.Would love to one day play the real MEP and now that i no longer have the stamina i bet it would be another drubbing.
I feel more confident playing matches after watching your videos. I hear the same thing from teammates on my baseball team when they fail against junk ball pitchers. Now I realize its them, not the junk-baller, who should take responsibility by being more patient. Patience is one point you may wish to emphasize more. Losing patience leads to playing outside of ones abilities which usually leads to less success. The Troll in these clips kept his cool and didnt try to over hit. Keep these strategy sessions coming.Thank you!
Great analysis. Your technical tools are perfect for being able to accurately communicate these concepts. Good work. Also, your comment about ball speed on videos is spot on. I would estimate that video slows down the ball by at least 30% or more. This probably has something to do with the eye's lack of proper 3d depth perception on a video.
Thanks for the video. At the 4.0 level so so many matches look like this. But if your strokes are technically more sound than opponent's, another way to beat the retriever, if you have a ton of patience, is to simply outlast them. As SV Lagonda wrote in comments, better stokes > weaker strokes. The retriever's nightmare is a better retriever. I was once down 1-5 to a master pusher/retriever, but I knew his backhand was technically weaker. So I dug in for the long haul. An HOUR later I won the set 7-5. But still I prefer Essential Tennis' approach. It's more fun. And best long-term solution for a guy like the one in red/better player is to practice about 10,000 overheads in off-season, then you'll never again get trapped into a match like this.
When watching this match I observed that TT has good footwork and speed in covering the court and setting up . TT did not rush to end the point but was consistent and waited for the right ball to attack. He was confident that MEP could not hurt him with his ground strokes and TT believed he could run any shot down. TT was a Lean Mean Ground Stroke Machine that was ready to run al day and wait for the right play.I tell my players that you go to be fit and read to hit and set up every point. Every shot that you hit should have a purpose, placement and a pace to set up the point.
Ian, thank you for this incredibly informative series. It really hit home for me that for many of us that love the game and watch our ATP heroes, trying to emulate their strokes and practicing repeatedly to groove our style, tennis does NOT award style points! My biggest frustration with playing the pusher type player is that they look so awkward and yet still keep getting the ball back to places that make me feel awkward.
As a player who has pretty good mobility still and uses that to get to balls that others my age ( 62 ) might not get to and hit winners, watching an opponent make ungainly shots and lob me perfectly offends my own sense of what should be happening. We all need to look at the "pusher" player in this series with respect for his shot making ability and movement - not how he looks while doing it. Nor should we assume that just because his strokes and grip are not traditionally stylish, or "correct technique", he doesn't work hard in practicing to improve his game. Nobody gets to be as consistent and effective at winning matches like him without a lot of practice. Many of us came to tennis later in life and did not have the benefit of good coaching as junior players to ground solid technique. We all have bad habits, and stylish shots that hit the net or are outside the court more than half the time are not going to win matches, no matter how smooth and stylish they look.
If more of us took Ian's advice and videotaped ourselves in matches we'd likely be shocked that we aren't as stylish and our shots are not as hard or as pretty as we think they are. It's not hard to do and is a real eye opener.
I used to follow your channel when I first started tennis again a few years ago. Being straight but not disrespectful, I believe your skill level may not be the best but you do have very good COACHING SKILL. I cannot agree more with your opinion on annoying pushers, yes we need to respect them. After all, if we lose, they are better players, objectively. I just started playing for USTA 3.5 league. As a self-rated 4.0 player just playing with my tennis buddies, I thought I would do great on that league. I though I had good enough form, foot work, and athleticism. But I didn't count on good strategy and knowing the game. I think most of successful pushers really know their game better than anybody does because their attention is more on reading their opponents other than hitting better shots. After all, I realized that it is just one more aspect of game that I have to know my opponents, select the right shots, and winning the game more smartly. After all, I believe that pushers are just one of the type of players that we have to deal with to step up. Thank you for your good video instructions and good luck on your career.
This is GOLD Ian! Thank you! Pushers are my nightmare. Ja JA Can't wait for Covid Quarantine to finish and try this. By the way, exellent idea to analize tennis matches like the ones that most of us the mortals play. Keep it up
Thanks for the advice I played a guy that until tonight I had not beaten, at first he bunted back my good serves for drop shot winners and pushed shots around the court and I got angry. This time I followed your advice and stuck with it and I didn’t lose.
"if you think these balls are slow you have never seen yourself play" so true!!! it is an eye opener to record yourself play.
In fact that guy saying that rushing into the net on every shot will beat the defensive player has never played a good defensive player before.They are masters of passing shots, they usually bring out clean accurate shots that float low on the net or accurate lobs that land on the baseline..
Robert Ornelas They literally always hit a perfect lob unless you crush the approach shot. Coming to net against pushers isn’t easy. Takes a lot of point construction and bravery on the approach
Everyone who says that there are no pros who play like a pusher. The biggest example is Gilles Simon. He almost never goes for a winner and had years of succes with keeping his unforced errors very low
Awesome. I like how you gave troll a game plan based on his specific skill set. I wouldnt even know how to approach holding the grip troll uses lol. Probably would use a forehand slice and hold back for a lob.👍🏽
Excellent feedback Yan.
Nice game reading of how to counter a pusher.
Great vid. I usually lose to these guys, and never knew why. The rare times I win, I don’t even know why or what worked, and then lose in a rematch. Thanks for giving us a tangible strategy.
Mate, you really nailed it with that formula 1 explanatory telly.. great videos!
So many of us spent years developing our shots. We had injuries, practiced for hours and days on end. When I see a pusher hitting absolute trash backhands, it's infuriating that he can get away with his lack of commitment to work. Not to say you can't win with craftiness and upsetting your opponent. I'm sure he does. But if you can find his weakness and pound away at that lack of hard work, it's the most satisfying thing in the game....
Great mini-series here, Ian. Thank you!
I can appreciate the comment when people are talking about "patty cake tennis". People don't realize what the camera takes off the ball. If you get the chance to watch a professional tennis match - you better not blink or you'll miss a serve that you would normally see very well on TV. Those guys HIT THE BALL.
The most enjoyable & helpful tennis video (all 3), in several years. Ian does it again.
Ian! The pusher I played yesterday did a good job of responding to my drop or short shot with one of his own. Which left me with a volley battle that I didn’t take. Wish I had. It took me losing the the first set to stop making so many errors trying to hit perfect shots in order to set up the solid, more aggressive shots you talked about in the video. I’d love to see a pusher video that includes strategy for identifying the lob early, cuz my opponent didn’t try to pass me. I got dropped or lobbed in 98 degree Georgia heat which made took a lot of my problem solving ability away.
I like a LOT your OTHER SIDE of teaching tennis, I like when you said is NOT him is me and how to correct that and teach how to deal with this every days ball pushers. Learning about HIGH percentage shots and the new way for me to redimenltion the court and positioning will make 4 sure a BIG DIFFERENCE. Thanks!!!!! I will let you know the results..
Ian, you teach and explain so well. A big thank you and please keep it up from Canada
When I played pushers, first thing I did was increase the pace of my service games. No time between serves, went big on both serves. Second, when I noticed the guy had a serve like this dude, I varied where I'd return. Learned in college that between the time the guy starts his ervice motion, and when the serve lands, it's several seconds. He doesn't know wher you are. Maybe you're inside the baseline. Maybe you're shading one side or other. But if he's trying to go where you're not, don't let him know where are. I couldn't do that against consistently great serves, where they didn't care where you were. But against dinners, who hit stuff spefically designed to counter your reaction, it was successful...
Great strategy for a frustrating opponent! Great advice to strike solid and with high percentage.... patience for the weak return
Great stuff Ian!! 2 Side questions,
1) what is your preferred racquet?
2)Would you consider doing racquet review videos?
Great planning advice. I face a lot of guys like this, and lose because I get impatient and try to punish those weak balls with risky winners. I think tennis troll could have won some of those points with a sharper overhead, as well. Also, players who love to hit on the run sometimes get flummoxed by balls hit straight at them. "Don't let the runner run!"
when you watch essential tennis: *IQ GOING UP*
when you watch essential tennis but you're a complete beginner: *I like the content*
This is your best series by far, super useful
Just played a pusher tonight, really helped, yes, respect to my own problem
I was about to say the same thing. Tennis troll was only playing 2 dimensions of tennis, height and width. The pusher wasn’t uncomfortable. If he changed the depth and time given to his opponent, there would be more success. Easier said then done, and I still don’t like playing pushers.
What was that lyric from that Steppenwolf song in the 60's? "G-damn the pusher man!" ;-) Who'da thunk it would apply in tennis as well in 2020! Keep the analysis coming!
Thank you Ian. Great series. Yes, I've been beaten by just such a player and it still draws my bile even after more than a decade. My worst thoughts come back to not knowing what to do differently the next time it happens. This is some great ideas. Developing that very heavy topspin groundstroke I believe is key. Anyone who has ever played against players that have this know just how much trouble that can be if you don't have the powerful shot to respond (which most pushers don't have, otherwise they wouldn't be pushing to begin with).
Great series, I've learn so much in your three video series. I'm a one hand backhander so when in front of the service line I backhand slice low and sharp ( close to the net ). I also observe during warm-up if they use my power to fuel their returns which almost looks like I'm beating myself. So I vary the speed of my deep shots to see what makes them more uncomfortable. Timing a slower ball for opponents who only slice back forehands is easiest at the baseline . I always lob a slicers backhand side to get my finishing overhead or swing volley passing shot. I mostly play doubles at my age (71) but I think I might try singles again in the my next local tournament.
Played a pusher yesterday, and for the 2 games of the pusher serve I struggle a lot, than just remember the other 2 videos and focus on hitting safe and heavy balls, that just not came back.
Thanks a lot Ian.
Can you make a series on going to the net ? Just fill that I take a lot of passing shots when I go to the net.
Wonderful and spot on analysis. Thank you.
I played a pusher this morning before watching this video, and I ended up using the drop shot a lot as he has pretty good lateral movement. It was very effective as he wasn't very good at the net and I won most of the points. I'm going to have to re-watch all your videos on strategy lol.
YES!
Love your videos and the simplicity...you explain everything so well. Thank you!
Hi! What about if you are the defensive player / pusher? Can you run a series on how to beat Tennis Troll, basically flip the script? Loving you're videos and I've already been implementing some high % tactics. 😀
Beating Tennis Troll would be a challenge. He has all the tools to beat a pusher except for an aggressive overhead. Troll moves well and seems to have good stamina, gets the ball back in play frequently, can hit topspin and hit angled shots. His backhand is not a weakness and can volley well. Most pushers can not hit aggressive passing shots as this defensive player does. Troll consistently gets his overhead back in play, so it is not a real weakness, he just doesn't punish the defensive player on short lobs. To beat troll you would have to use the same strategy you use now, keep getting the ball back, and move Troll around until he gets impatient and tries to force a winner.
Cash Mason Yeah it’s tough. His angled backhand is actually incredible. But his forehand isn’t anything special and can break down, so it might even be good to keep it on the forehand side. Sure it has a bit more pace but the backhand angle pulls you off court so that’s even worse for a pusher. Be ready to run and just try to keep every ball deep. Also if you can, mix up the spins a little. Throw slices and lobs to make sure he has to hit low and high and don’t let him get any rhythm. You’re gonna have to get a guy like him into a bad mental state where they start making a ton of mistakes and playing really passive. You can also do the combo where you draw him to net then lob. He doesn’t seem super comfortable up there.
Excellent breakdown! Time to put this into practice 👍. Btw, the more I watch these strategy breakdowns, the more tennis is starting to look like chess.... Except that you're playing chess while running at full tilt all around the court.
Thanks, Ian. With this pusher would it be a good idea to keep your shots more down the middle to take away his angle passing shots? Also, when approaching the net hit down the middle slices to again make the passing shots more difficult?
Played two pushers recently. First one i thought im going to play my own game which is fast and furious🙄 but forgot to play that with percentage tennis i.e. made alot of unforced errors and lost 6-2 6-0... Second one i thought ok im going to take it easy and be patient but ended up trying to beat the pusher at his own game...lost again. I cost me a head prestige mp racket out of sheer frustration😤. So now with new wilson clash rackets im going to give it a new try at an upcomming tournament with good heavy and deep percentage tennis, analysing my opponents reaction on drop shots, slicing etc😇. Hopefully i do better then, thanks for the analysis!
I feel like this is going to help the pusher a lot more. We’re in trouble haha.
Ian a question about something you hinted at in this video, and spoke about in different issues related to heavy topspin....you talked about LATERAL players, those who love to go side-to-side. I had a coach tell me years ago if players love to go side-to-side, they tend not to like to come forward (you mentioned that), nor do they tend to like to handle high, heavy balls inside of them (down the middle). They tend to move left to right (or vice versa) but not do a traditional 'backstep' when jammed....would you recommend hitting in their bodies regularly during the neutral positions to set up the shorter balls?
Thank you, Ian. Can you please make a video how a defensive player can counter offensive tactics of the opponents?
I think I played a type PUSHER some time ago in amateur tennis.. level would be something like 4 ish I think.
My Opponent was less good than this pusher in these videos but it's interesting that at the time I didn't think of this concept of the pusher, and just found myself now realizing that during points I had exactly that feeling that I understand now as concept , playing and keep seeing balls coming back with backspin.. :)
Can I share my video? I only have a set that I played with him and that is the set that I managed to play better and beat him, but in the end I lost in decisive set(2-1) with 6-4.
Sure thing, upload it!
Outstanding analysis. Please do the same for doubles.
How about reversing the roles here. It might be useful to have a video showing how you can use pusher tactics to beat 'better' players. This might be for situations where your normal game just isn't cutting it and you need a plan B that might frustrate the opponent enough to knock him off his game. More tools in the tool chest to use when necessary...
Just a thought.
I particularly like the high looping shot to a corner tactic to get a short, weak ball to put away, by the way...
read the book winning ugly, great read by ex pro, Brad Gilbert.
If the “better player” have good drop shots, net game and solid drive shots; pushing wouldn’t do any good
@@atrem7942 just saw this at the bookstore and read through most of it. very good insights.
@@atrem7942 Actually, I have heard the audio book... It is a very good book..
@maccajoe On top of that there is 1st also my pride. Sorry I cannot just push the ball back like this guy. I would feel ashamed beyond limits. And 2nd I want to have fun. And I don't have fun pushing balls back to the opponent. For that I might as well do anything else and not waste my time on court. Sure, I lose to all these pushers all the time, but if you told anybody your high rank, and then they see you playing like the pusher in this vid, they might die from laughter. There is more fun in losing while trying your best at actually winning than winning while just waiting for your opponent to make an error.
Who messed up the length of the bars at 10:30?
the percentages at levels 3.0, 3.5, 4.5 doesn't fit.
Time to smash the editor on the tennis court :)
I noticed that too
Play with a pusher friend with absolutely no technique but a will to return evey single ball and it worked for him for the longest time. I was completely frustrated. Then I watched a video with basically the same strategy proposal as this one and I tried it. I did two things: 1. Made him come to the net with drop shots, then send it back to him whilst he was in no man's land. 2. Patience, patience and patience.....
thanks coach. best wishes from Nepal
Most welcome!
Thanks Ian, I kind of knew what to do against puscher but you explain it so well. Thanks a lot for this series. I've got now to work on my stamina :-p.
I feel like my pride is at stake if someone sees me get beaten by someone with awful technique. then i realized no one was watching and no one cares. my strategy: practice my serve so much that poor technique can't return it.
Great content!!! Thank you for continuing to put out videos that are relevant AND help me improve!
This is a really great video, thanks!
Good stuff! This is a tailor-made lesson for me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
My challenge is a slicer that I play every Friday and he approaches net whenever he can. He has developed amazing volley accuracy at the net now. He is the Bane of my existence LOL. I feel like affective lobs are my only defense.
I say also be aggressive on your serve to these pushers. I hit a big serve and usually I can get a pusher to give me back a weak return on a hard hit serve. I think my serve is around 100mph currently. Also come into the net on serve and finish the point.
Great analysis, I also suffered in the hands of pushers many times :) I would just slightly dissagree about not going to the net. With the descent approach shot to his backhand, he only plays a lob from that side...so staying a little further from the net a play a good smash might done it.
Hey, I’m playing ITF junior ranked player and I’m 14 turning 15 right now, training and thanks so much for this video it showed a lot of flaws of mine. But the thing is would these strategies work with players who have good technique and good heavy neutral shots, not great aggressive shots and net play but great movement and heavy shots. Because I’m playing with good ITF players and I know from experience serve and volley works and drop shots do. Sometimes if I’m not too tight my forehand can create enough damage. But usually the high percentage and strong shots pattern never works for me. I’m not sure exactly how to play them when my forehand isn’t at its best stage
If you are 4.0 and up and trying to improve your technique winning against a pusher becomes most of the time just a "sigh of relief" at the end, losing OTOH is a "walk of shame" back home. Ideally you want to avoid pushers like is "bat soup". All in all court time is court time and finding "ideal opponents" can be tricky so if a pusher is your only option to play against go for it. With that said great videos, Ian.
Love your videos, Ian. Have you considered a video that would help avoiding injuries? Every time I play I end up with pain in my elbow that goes away the next day. I know I'm doing something wrong but I can't find out why. I'm sure you have plenty of experience for things that can be improved such as posture, holding the racket, swinging... Thanks!
We've made a bunch, Luis! ruclips.net/user/results?search_query=essential+tennis+elbow
Same here, I thought I can't injure myself but I just got some nasty wrist tendon pain after doing some more wrist rotation for serves after seeing some RUclips video about it. It is continuously pain since 2 months, so this was a big mistake.
@@EssentialTennis oh, thanks! I am still watching your videos and I didn't get that far yet. I didn't know you had videos that were 7 years old! :)
@@bbogdanmircea I'm very sorry. Maybe there's some more serious damage. An MRI should tell you. I hope you can get back to tennis soon though.
Very useful video! Thanks
I read the comments that blame pushers on focusing on winning rather than good technique. I guess I was a pusher. But I wasn't honestly trying to win. I focused on always getting the ball back. I felt that hitting long or hitting into the net was a horrible mistake. My usual partner (my husband) always rated the quality of our games or practice sessions by how many balls we could hit back and forth before missing. Our local pro always wanted us to be practice partners for her students because we could keep the ball in play. We had horrible technique, but didn't realize it.
Nice job on the trilogy and good explanation!!
Great video Ian! I like the top spin ground strokes and closing at the net strategies. Unfortunately most of us don't get enough reps on drop shot. For me it is certainly significantly worse than other shots because most of us don't walk in to a practice session to practice drop shots. And while you know it can work great against a pusher, it is not my go to shot because of lack of practice. I end up hitting it too deep and get worked out of the point. Will keep in mind to get more reps on a regular basis
i really enjoyed this series, great stuff
I don't play junk ball tennis however, when my opponent gets in to a consistent grove against top spin shots I throw in a few junk balls to vary the pace.
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I dont even play tennis but I suscribed anyway. Amazingly well explained
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Today is May the 19th, 2021 and now we know, as a fact, that those tactics actually work, as Ian was able to beat the "Green Shirt Guy" with certain ease :-)
Tennis troll is self taught I believe. Perhaps his lack of experience kept him from seeing what you see. Love that you have “pivoted” to provide two channels for both match play and instruction.
Great vid man, most of the people here in the comments are below or same level of these players making excellent for our improvement.
Haha now you threw the dice about drop shots, you’ll have to tell us how to counter players good at. In another troll’s video it shows that green shirt is pretty good at drops.
Really useful rules to play that kind of player.
I would also say, make him play at the net, I mean not only come forward and backward but play at the net since usually they have some weaknesses in this part of the game.
Also lobbing them and make them smash in uncomfortable situations will make them make mistakes.
Do you think handedness played a role in preventing the draw to the net? A short cc bh slice seems like a better option when it’s not going to the stronger/more variable wing.
I like these videos a lot! Keep up the good work!