The Even More Dreaded Disguised Pusher

I remember a match I had when I was in college, which humbled me to the core. My defeat came at the hands of a 60 year old man named Cliff Feldon during spring break at the Berkley tennis club. Here I was a sophomore in college, thinking I was hot stuff, and ready to take on the world. Man did I have a lot to learn. Cliff was the quintessential disguise pusher. He is fit for a 60 year old guy, but I'm thinking to myself while walking on the court, "I'm gonna wear this guy down in five minutes." Not the case. First, I decided that I was going to try to run him back and forth, side to side. Surprisingly, Cliff was making it to almost every ball and chiping it back deep. Of course, I was not consistent enough to play this game as he quickly took a 3-0 lead. So I tried a new tactic: I tried to over power the old man. Trying to go for bigger shots than I'm comfortable hitting, I made tons of mistakes. All of the sudden, the set was over and I didn't even get a game.

Sitting down for a few minutes I beat up on myself mentally for letting this 60 year old man take me to school. My ego was taking a serious beating. Thinking again to myself, "this guy's a pusher, he has no weapons... make him make some decisions." I started hitting the ball to the middle of the court and dropshoting him in the middle. I want him have to run me around and come to net to try to put away some shots. Turns out Cliff isn't so bad and approaching off my mediocre drop shots and putting balls away at the net, as i'm now down 3-0 in the second set. He is the disguised pusher. He is certainly capable of hitting winners given the easy opportunities I was sending his way. Time for anger/panic/giveup mode. At 3-0, I start swinging for the fences in pure, unadulturated frutstration. The match is over and both of us know it. 6-0, 6-0 loss to a 60 year old man! I wanted to crawl into a hole a die.

Luckily, there was a light at the end of the tunnel: a good lesson. Cliff was not a pusher, he was a disguised pusher. Behind all of those easy deep chip shots, he had a full arsenal of midcourt aggressive shots and volleys at his disposal. I was wrong to think that I could run him down. I was wrong thinking that I could overpower him. And I was wrong thinking that all he could do was get the ball back. He was mentally match tough, and new just what to do to me and when. I tried to change my game too much to counteract his game. That was my biggest mistake.

It is easy to panic when you get down quickly in a match. So easy that you might choose entirely different game plans one point after the next. In this way, not playing your game will prevent you from getting into a rhythm and put a death sentence on the match. Bottom line, when you're playing the disguised pusher, the Cliff Feldons' of the world, you need to play each point to you're strengths, play aggressive, and let the cards fall where they may.

The Dreaded Pusher

The pusher is the kind of player that makes you want to throw your racquet in the trash after the match and take up golf. They get everything back and seem very content to sit on the baseline all day waiting patiently for your inevitable mistake. There is nothing worse than self destructing against a player that has no real weapons other than getting the ball back in play.

That said, it should be noted that there is the true pusher, and there is the disguised pusher. The true pusher is somebody that is able to get the ball back regardless of spin, pace, and court position. They don't seem to ever hit winners, but they get that extra ball back in play so that you have the opportunity to make a mistake. The disguised pusher is the player that intentionally pushes or puts everything in play, but they actually have the capability of putting shots away, and do so. To beat a pusher and a disguised pusher, you have to play using very different strategies.

To beat the true pusher

A.) Be a better pusher than they are.
B.) Force them to make decisions
C.) Be willing to be aggressive and put shots away.

Being the better pusher requires an unbelievable amount of patience and focus. It is very easy to get lulled to sleep against a pusher. All of the sudden you will be 30 shots into a rally and start wondering what you're going to make for dinner. There goes that point. To be honest, if you're game isn't pushing, then trying to push a pusher is going to be a great struggle. They have been doing it for years, and have likely developed that strategy because they've been successful with it. Know what your game is, know what your opponents' game is.

There are a couple of ways that you can force your opponent to make decisions. One way is to hit every ball back to the center of the court. Because it is easier to create angles from angles, it will be difficult for the pusher to do anything but set you up in the middle of the court. Not only that, you will be forcing them to decide on where they should be placing the ball. Another great way is to run them back and forth along the baseline so that they keep getting deeper and deeper in the court. Just when they are hitting back next to the fence, drop shot them (again in the middle of the court so they have to create angle) and force them to come in. Most pushers are very uncomfortable moving forward and back, and even more uncomfortable putting the ball on their strings for the the point at the net. If they are a true pusher, coming to net and trying to finish a point would feel as awkward and uncomfortable as their first date when they were 14. Their discomfort will lead to an easy pass if you can keep your composer through the shot.

Lastly, taking control of points by being aggressive is a no brainer. If you can do it, and win more points that way than you lose, then you will be successful. This strategy takes lots of guts and confidence in your shot making abilities. It also requires your ability to set yourself up. Going into every point, it's a good idea to remind yourself that regardless of how hard or how well you hit it, the pusher will get it back. Having this mentality will keep you ready and excited for the next ball rather than dreading it.

Decision Making

I have recently noticed on our trip to California that each player can be very predictable. Whenever we go out to eat and a decision needs to be made on what they should eat, the same two girls are always the last to order. They can't seem to make up their mind on what they would like to eat. Turkey or Roast beef? Oddly, it seems that the same is true on the tennis court. Indecision, second guessing, and doubt plague their games.

This is a serious fundamental problem with many players' games. When you walk into a subway restaurant and cannot seem to pick turkey or roast beef, you are operating on a relatively pressure-less environment. To most, ordering food at a restaurant is easier than say- playing a tennis match. So, to ask these athletes to make smart, quick decisions during the fast paced high pressure environment of a tennis match, is completely paralyzing. Not gonna happen.

The bottom line is that how you conduct yourself in life is going to translate into how you conduct yourself on a tennis court. When you are ordering a drink at starbucks, choosing a car to buy, or picking between chunky and creamy peanut butter, you are actually practicing tennis! Make a decision. The wrong decision is better than no decision. You have no chance if you're mind is filled with self-doubt. Make a decision.

Closing it Out

When you find yourself on the brink of winning the set, and the score is 5 - 2 or something of that nature, a lot ofplayers find themselves tensing up and a lot of times get extremely nervous. This usually results in the loss of their competitive edge and makes it very difficult to finish out the set properly. You don't hit out on your shots. All you keep saying to yourself is, "One more point, don't miss it, don't miss it." When this happens, you begin to develop the mentality of trying NOT to lose instead of trying to win. You never want this to happen, because this kind of thinking and match play can open the door for your opponent and could help ignite a comeback on their behalf. And I know this is true, because it's happened to me.

Is Tennis a Team Sport?

This has long been a debated question in the world of sports. No one would deny that basketball, football, or even underwater hockey is a team sport. In these "team sports", teammates come together with a common goal, and they have to physically work together to achieve that goal. According to wikipedia, "teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize his or her strengths and minimize his or her weaknesses." Obviously in doubles, tennis meets the requirement of two teammates working together. However, in singles, it is often ambiguous as to whether tennis should be considered a team sport. My contention is that tennis is a team sport for a number of reasons.

Vicarious Learning

Ask yourself a question... In what way have I learned my strokes? Has it been that an instructor or coach has told me the correct way to hit a forehand, and ba-da-bing, I have a perfect looking forehand? No. In fact, I would say that this is rarely the case. Taking verbal cues and translating them to action is a very difficult task for most. A teammate can be one of the best ways to improve your game so you're ready for a match.

Energy

Ask yourself another question... Where does your motivation and drive come from during a match? Would a match feel differently if you did not have the energy of a team behind you, rooting for you? Why is it that the home team is more likely to win? It is because the energy of the fans, and of the teammates are all combining to empower you and the team. That energy is there for your use in a match, and it is the job of the individual playing the match to harness that energy in a positive way. Some might say that individuals can harness their own internal energy in order to succeed. True, but ultimately this results in the distructive path of living and dying by the accomplishments of the ego. I would wager that this kind of victory is far more hollow than the alternative. It is not Federer himself that gets the job done; there are millions of people on team Federer willing him to succeed. So he does succeed, and so do us fans.

The best teams in the world are exceptional at both vicarious learning and creating postive group energy. So really, tennis is only a team sport if you allow it to be. If little to no vicarious learning and energy exchanges are taking place, then I guess it would be true that that there is no team in tennis. It would just be a bunch of lonely individuals out on the court, feeding their ego, and trying to take on the complicated game of tennis the hard way. How depressing!

If you find ways to maximize each others' strengths and reduce each others' weakness, all the while energizing each other, then I would bet you would not only be better tennis players, but you would have a much better experience overall!

The 3 Selves

In tennis, there is the external game, internal game, and the third party game. External is the physical game of which your body is using its physical capacities to achieve specific goals (typically set by your inner/ conscious self). The inner game is usually dominated by your conscious mind- “I hit my damn serve in the net again because I dropped my head!” Then there is the 3^rd party game. It is the game in which external conditions, situations, and expectations take control. In a way there are 3 players on the court, when there should only be one.

That one should not be controlled by nagging critical corrections, nor should that one be controlled by the thoughts and expectations of those on the outside. The one should embrace competition as an opportunity to develop oneself, not to beat someone else down. That one should have such a strong transcendent internal belief in oneself, so much so, that she does not require validation from others or negative criticism from oneself to be better.

Understand that a human’s natural direction is to become better, wiser, and more capable than it was previous. Tennis is continually a work in progress. External and internal conditions and events can impede this natural process if the self’s belief is not strong enough in the body’s remarkable capacities. What does it take to facilitate such a strong belief in oneself? Discover your raw humanity on the tennis court…