How to beat a pusher – 5 practical tennis tips for dealing with moonballers, junkballers and other annoying opponents

For Players
Written By Jack Edward

One of the most frustrating things in tennis is losing to someone you feel is actually worse than you. Top of the list is the pusher – a player who never tries to hit a winner but just keeps getting the ball back into the middle of the court and waits for you to make an unforced error. Here’s how to deal with it…

You turn up for your singles tennis match pumped and raring to go. You’re gritting your teeth, ready for a fierce competition. You warm up with your opponent, ripping both of your groundstrokes with grace, but on the other side of the net…

Oh my god, what the hell is that?! How long has this person been playing for? The’re chipping every ball back without anything remotely resembling proper technique.

You draw a sigh of relief - this is gonna be easy.

The first rally lasts forty shots. Those bullets you were hitting during the practice aren’t winning you points for some reason. The rally ends with an unforced error from your racket.

And then another unforced error.

And another.

Suddenly, you’re walking towards the net with your head hanging low, ready to shake the hand of someone that’s been probably been playing for six months that’s just beaten you 6-0 6-0.

Junkballers, moonballers, hackers - I call them pushers. The sort of player that gets EVERY ball back without any pace on it and will make you beat yourself.

Sound familiar? Never fear! Here are five keys to defeating the dreaded pusher in tennis.

 

1. Stay humble and respect the pusher

The number one rule to defeating the pusher?

Don’t beat yourself.

To avoid beating yourself, the mental side of your game has got to be up to scratch. This means resisting the urge to berate yourself, taking things point by point, staying calm under pressure - all of which cannot be achieved if you forget to do one thing.

RESPECT THE PUSHER.

There are an infinite number of ways a tennis match can unfold. From technique, style, patterns of play, primary and secondary tactics, strategies, physicality, mentality, flair, pressure play, height, spin, nerves, environment - getting the ball back into play by any means necessary is a perfectly valid way of playing the game.

Put your ego to the side for a second. If you face a pusher and you get beaten 6-0 6-0, on that day, you were not better than that player regardless of the quality of your shots. Instead of feeling the shame of losing to a hacker, respect the pusher’s ability to grind point after point.

Say ‘too good’…

… and next time you play them, come into the match better equipped.

 

2. Play with shape from behind the baseline

Playing a pusher is often likened to playing against a wall.

If you hit slow, the ball will come back slow. If you hit hard, the ball will come back hard.

Listen to me clearly: It is very difficult to hit your way through a pusher using pace alone. Anything in their range will find its way back onto your side of the court. The pusher wants you to commit a ton of unforced errors trying to knock the stuffing out of the ball.

We’re not going to try to out-grind the pusher so aggression is key. But there are more ways to be aggressive in tennis than using pace. You have to be willing to construct a point.

The first step in constructing a point against a pusher is when you are situated behind the baseline. You have to recognise that when you are this far back in the court, you are in a neutral rally position. Crushing the ball from back here is risky and wouldn’t be likely to end the rally anyway as you have less angles to work with and the ball has to go further, meaning the pusher has more time to recover.

High risk, low reward.

Instead, play with a decent amount of topspin and height over the net, adding shape to your ball. Height means the ball travels in the air for longer which means more depth. More depth should earn eventually earn you shorter ball by pushing the pusher off of their own baseline.

Pace is overrated. Practice hitting with height and spin from behind the baseline to achieve depth for the next time you play a pusher.

(See also: Aggressive Patience - the essential strategy for winning more tennis matches)

3. Take the ball early

So you’re starting to play with more shape and patience. You’re earning yourself short balls - but how do you put them away?

Pace is definitely more of a friend to you further up the court, but many players will struggle to successfully put away short balls time and time again. The goal here is to take time away from your opponent -  which can be achieved without blootering the ball.

You can take time away from your opponent by taking the ball early.

It’s so important to eliminate the amount of time your opponent has to recover and/or prepare for their next shot. Taking the ball on the rise off a short ball is a perfect to way to rush the opponent or to find the open space.

Don’t expect to come out hitting like Roger Federer though, if you haven’t done this before. Hitting the ball on the rise is rarely executed by recreational players so you must must must practice this before giving it a go in a match.

Here’s a drill.

  • Grab your favourite pusher friend, start behind the baseline and have them feed you slow high balls landing near your service line.

  • Practice using your footwork to get behind the ball early and take the ball on the rise. You are aiming to set up an easy putaway shot.

  • Play the point out from there.

Another way to be aggressive? Take time away from your opponent by taking the ball on the rise in the forecourt.

 

4. Hit short balls low over the net

Taking the ball early takes a lot of practice and timing.

Let’s face it, you’ve probably Googled “how to beat a pusher” at the change of ends down a set and a break and are wondering what you can do right now to win your match.

Well, in the same vein as taking the ball early, it’s still incredibly important you find some means of taking time away from your opponent when you have a shorter ball. Another way to do this is by taking the ball low over the net.

But shouldn’t we be playing with height and shape, I hear you cry? Think about the court as a spectrum.

The further back you are, the more risk you incur by taking the ball low over the net as you are further away from your target. A low ball from behind the baseline would also have to be hit very hard to take any time away your opponent as the ball has to travel farther.

The closer to the net you are, the more likely you are to be able to get the ball low over the net given the proximity to your target - a high ball is less likely to find the court given you have less court to hit into. A ball hit low over the net would also reward you more than a loopy ball from this position as it goes up and over the net quickly, taking time away from the opponent.

Accept that it is much harder to take time away from your opponent the further back you are. You need to earn yourself the right to hit the ball harder first by playing with weight from behind the baseline.

The holy trinity on a short ball? (1) Pace, (2) less margin over the net height and (3) taking the ball on the rise.

One step at a time though, hot shot. The further up the court you are, the less you should try to clear the net to take more time away from your opponent.

 

5. Improve your overheads

The pusher / moonballer / junkballer loves a lob.

You’re playing great short balls but somehow the opponent is keeping the point alive by sending the ball to the moon and back.

You need an adequate overhead. Not a great one, just an adequate one. Cause if you don’t have one, the pusher will clock this and lob until the cows come home.

Here are a few tips to improve the overhead:

  1. Use depth on the overhead. We’ve been talking a lot about taking time away from the opponent - an overhead is the perfect opportunity to rush your opponent with a deep, effective ball.

  2. Position yourself behind where the ball is dropping to move forward through the shot. This takes decent footwork so be prepared to move.

  3. Keep your non-dominant arm up to track the ball, to balance and to leverage some power into the shot.

  4. Hit the overhead on the full, don’t wait for the bounce. We are still trying to take time away from our opponent so we want to take on the smash closer to the net before they have time to recover.

Pushers love lobs so overheads are my primary tip for coming forward. If you need some practice on this shot, go away and actually practice it*!

*hopefully the short ball tips will give you some easy finishing volleys but if you’re completely low in confidence at the net, you should probably be practicing your net play for a match against a pusher too!

Summary

Hopefully you’re better equipped to deal with the pusher having absorbed these five keys…

  1. Respect the pusher’s style of play.

  2. Use depth and spin to earn yourself shorter balls.

  3. Take the ball on the rise to take time away from your opponent on shorter balls.

  4. Hit lower over the net on shorter balls.

  5. Improve your overheads.

I hope these keys help. As always, any questions or thoughts, tweet me @ontheline_jack. Happy hitting!

Jack Edward

Jack is a tennis analyst and host of the On The Line podcast, which takes regular deep dives into ATP and WTA tour matches. He’s also a qualified LTA coach and brings his unique analytical insights to help club and recreational players to be more effective on the court.

https://www.onthelinetennis.uk/
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