October 15, 2009
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The Art of Winning/The Pain of Losing The Pusher – Part 2 Jim McLennan We received quite a few responses from our previous article on the pusher, so permit me yet a few more thoughts. The pusher’s mind-set predisposes him or her to a game devoid of offense, but equally, a game devoid of errors. And, if as so often said, the game is 95% mental, the key here may be in our interpretation of winners, errors, process, and outcome. Losses to pushers are crushing. Wins over pushers are a relief. But somehow the term “good win” has had more to do with our estimation of the opponent’s offensive skills, than with his competitive ability. When competing against pushers, the options are “bad loss” or simply a win without any preceding adjective. Sizing Up an Opponent Consider the opening points in a match. The opponent approaches the net; your options include an outright winner, a lob, or making the opponent volley. Sounds boring – stay with me. Too often, players at this juncture go for a winner on the passing shot, without any reference to the opponent’s volleying skills. And whatever the outcome of the winner attempt, it provides no real information, in that a passing shot error tells us nothing about the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and a winner provides no insight as well. However, making the opponent volley does provide information – you might notice a confident crosscourt volley winner (now you know to either avoid that shot or anticipate crosscourt if the same situation occurs again) or, you might notice a particularly awkward forehand volley error (flashing lights on this one – you might have found a weakness, if not a glaring weakness). As errors accumulate, on the other side of the net, this strategy of making the opponent play (and miss) tends to wear on the mind. Somehow after the 10th missed forehand volley, that opponent will, as likely as not, conclude he is playing poorly, and that thought alone often leads to an unavoidable conclusion – playing poorly sooner or later leads to a loss. We have all seen this occur on the other side of the net. And we have all felt this at one time or another – stunned at how poorly we are playing – and to my mind, that feeling arises because we were forced to “play.” Why do you suppose players prefer playing up? Quite simple, they have nothing to lose. It's a strategy (whether acknowledged or not) designed to avoid bad losses. Better players tend to hit the ball more firmly. We are not expected to beat such players. Lesser players are often more inclined to push the ball. And lesser players don’t offer “good wins” but certainly do enable “bad losses.” If the game is 95% mental, your first hurdle is to get beyond the “bad loss good win” rubric. There is no such thing. An opponent is simply an opponent. They provide us an opportunity to test our competitive skills: one ball at a time, one point at a time. Rhythm To my eye, pushers, moonballers, and slow ballhitters disrupt the rhythm of the opponent. Why? (I will go out on a limb here). Too many coaches introduce “racquet back” in the initial series of lessons. Prepare early, get the racquet back, and get ready. Then the coach sets up a friendly tempo that reinforces early preparation. Further, most players then assume hitting late causes errors, when in fact, against pushers, nearly all errors occur from hitting early. Controversial, I know. But against pushers one must turn to the side early, and delay the backswing until the ball is into the contact zone. Consider similarities between the throwing motion and the forehand. Throwers turn to the side, and generate the back and forth of the throwing motion all in one piece. Racquet back and wait for the ball, creates a two piece motion. Racquet back may, in fact, be an unfortunate bit of advice, well meaning, but devoid of elements of flow and rhythm. When playing the pusher, your operative prompts must be, turn early, move your feet, take additional small adjustment steps when waiting (interminably) for the ball to arrive, waiting some more, then step and swing. The step is the trigger for the entire groundstroke motion. Seduced by Form We have all seen graceful players with long smooth strokes and excellent posture and balance – pictures of perfection. And as often as not, those same gifted players will beat us. But that doesn’t mean those who play without grace or balance are pushovers. Sometimes it's just the opposite; these players can be gritty competitors – what they lack in grace they make up in spades by a steely determination not to miss. The moral here is to avoid judging the book by its cover. The game is 95% mental. In this instance, evaluate your opponent only on the outcome of their shots. As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email.
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