How to beat a pusher 

And if you topspin into the net make sure to first look reproachfully at your racket because it's certainly its fault

Does anyone here just love watching the beautiful arcing of the ball in topsin rallies?

I was that pusher for years. Could beat players that played much stronger me but hit a plateau. As soon as someone knew how to really exploit me, I was easily beaten. After becoming a much stronger offensive player, now I can incorporate much of that defensive play into my games but not be exploited. That said, if someone simply has stronger power and better legwork than I do, I am easily beaten. The grind continues!

Everybody is saying: now I know how to beat a pusher but the reality probably is you can't topspin that well, otherwise you would have come to that conclusion already.

This is perfect, I am losing consistently because I am getting frustrated this pushing style. The person I play with even admits to just knocking the ball back to me and waiting for me to make a mistake. Thank you so much for this.

Another technique I find useful is make a push return with extra backspin on it. A weak pusher will dump the ball into the net. A good pusher will adjust to that, then I change to a push with very little backspin. Often, expecting another heavy backspin push, they will lift the ball up in the air, and then you can attack it more easily.

I'm a pusher cause I got no skill. Hopefully my opponents won't watch this video !

when two pushers play against each other ZZzzz

I can’t wait for the day when my topspin loops are on point. I’m surrounded by pushers and the worst part is they’re cocky as if they’re good. 😩

This is exactly what I needed to see and the timing was perfect. Just joined a table tennis club in a senior citizen community after being away from any serious play for almost 40 years. 80% of the intermediate players are pushers who have great consistency, but are very frustrating as I am still recovering my skills. Definitely need to work on my topspin shots. Going to get some practice with the robot today!

This was so helpful, don't know how I missed it. I play TT in office & I'm sick of these pushers who play thrash but you are the one who mess it up out of frustration hitting on net.

I like the way you put the advice into practical with demonstrations. Thank you!

Love your videos, especially because you explain the reasons behind doing things. Tried these techniques out and it has been working really well, thank you!

I Giorno Giovanna have no idea why I’m watching this video

I loosing everytime with a pusher but now i know to play with them Thanks for video

This is the best tip bro it really works against this type of players

Very good advice. This discovery for me was many years ago but it was the single biggest improvement to my competitive ability. My favorite way to convert the game into a topspin attack is the backhand flick... A very effective shot once perfected.

Thank You once again for your pep talk !! I have two pushers in my club group. One of them I have been able to "manage" consistenty with your advise. The other is proving more difficult. But I'll definitely get there.... I just need consistent confidence in my own game. cheers !

Great tips as always Tom! I really needed this lesson after yesterday’s push battles. You are absolutely correct and I have to not give up after a couple of unsuccessful topspin shots. I’m so trying this today!

I have just discovered your channel Tom and am really enjoying the videos. I agree with your comment about pushers as I became one after a coach advised me I would win more games. During 20 years of playing the local league, my results were very good but I didn’t enjoy myself and I don’t feel I won any games, it was just that the other player lost! After a 15 year break, I have now joined a small group of fun players where winning doesn’t matter and thanks to your tips am beginning to bring topspin back into my game. Keep up the good work.

Exactly when I needed this! Thank you :)

Thanks for making this video, I have been looking for a solution for the same situation.

Thank you, very interresting, I will practice the flicks more and do more top spin serve against them.

Wow so useful, amazing advice. A coach of 15 years was telling me to just keeping push back, terrible advice, especially since I am very attacking and my forehand game is strong and defence game is weaker.

Brilliant teacher...

It's amazing how you explain this stuff. thanks.

Many thanks coach! I just have a match with a pusher next week. Enough time to get ready

I learned the big key is don’t rush the return on pushers let the ball float closer a bit further off the table before u return with top spin other wise u will over shoot or won’t have enough space and the ball will go into the net

Fully informative and practical! Thank u

Very nice video! It takes practices to topspin a backspin ball. Thanks for sharing! I need to play with my machine now :)

Nice explanation...simple and logic

Almost lost to a pusher recently in a tournament at work. Frustrating since I feel I'm way better than that. Thanks for the tips!

Very good explanation.

I find it out by myself but thank's for accurate explanation

Thank you as always.

Great tips against the pusher. NB: I myself a pusher and I am gonna change my strategy against pushers :)

I destroyed an apponent the other day doing exactly this. 11/1 all three games. Can't wait to get totally confident with this approach.

WOW, even though this video is 5 years old, I just learned so much!! Thanks!!!

This was very helpful. Thanks!!

Another advice from my coach for my fellow topspinners who struggle against pushers: try to make a 'soft' push, taking out much of the backspin of the ball, and after his push its easier to topspin it and start the offensive play. Great video as always, I hope I'll be able to apply this strategy against my next pusher opponent!

Thank you so much just lost to a stupid slow pusher and had an early exit from the tournament but your video has guides and positively motivated me. Will play in this style and revert, I am feeling awesome right now!

Started playing league last week. Sooooo many pushers....this should be helpful thanks!

Thanks Tom, pretty useful video. Greetings from Colombia.

Thanks Tom, good one

Hi Tom, very very very thanks!!! This video is 100% for me, because i'm constantly frustrated with these type of players... :) Time 0:48 - this is me!!! :)

Funnily enough I'm playing a serial pusher tomorrow. Cheers

I lost couple of matches to pushers and recent one was today in semifinals… 😔 I am an attacking player who need to work on his top spin… I wish I would have seen this video earlier… Will keep improving my game… thanks much!

Thank you :) Your videos are very helpful

This video helped me a lot Thanks

I like your videos. This one is amazing 👍. It’s really annoying to play against pushers 😅. Now I found the way to stop boring 😁

Thanks Tom, very helpful! I'll apply these techniques when I play one of my usual partners who play "normal when we train and start pushing when there is a game 🙃

Very useful, thank you man

Awesome video sir...keep it up...it helped me.

I generally don’t comment on much. But your videos are a gem for a amateur like me who WAS struggling against a couple of pushers. You’re right, the pushers have hit a ceiling. After a lot of losses, I was able to convert the game from a backspin to top spin, and they still push or chop leaving me with a very juicy ball that I smash with all the joy in the world. However, it’s exhausting playing against pushers but it’s worthwhile after a win.

Great video tom! I'm just wondering could you do a video about how to do a forehand loop from a very heavy back spin shot (or a dig as it is known) Thanks!

Pushers and blockers are easy to beat. All my friends do one or both of these styles and none of them can beat me. I'm undefeated when playing at my friends house on Wednesday nights when we all play. I play with topspin and can dictate every point unless I make a mistake. They appear to be decent players if I push and block with them and we can have some amazing rallies, but as soon as I attack, they fall apart quickly. You are also right about topspin serves against them. I use a topspin serve 90% of the time because it gets me so many free points.

thank you very much for the suggestions because I get usually frustrated while I miss topspin shots, personally I like and enjoy playing the attacking style of the game.

Thanks a lot, great tips. I am a beginner and I loose severals games again puscher last year

Best work 🥇

Very nice for players who start thinking seriously about the game and wanting move above amateur level. Thanks for motivating towards the end. Can you make videos on how to tackle flat hitter who hit flat on your pushes and when you are yet to develop consistent topspin game? Tips or strategies for intermediate players against consistent blockers or passive attackers like Vladimir Samsonov? btw I meant no disrespect for samsonov.

Last year I play with this pusher in the final game... It's very annoying and almost make me get angry with it... The pusher player just wait for me to make mistake... So thanks for this video I like how you explain it very simple to understand...

Lol! My league is full of these sorts!

Nice and helpful videos on your channel. Especially love the serves and how to handle them. I'd love to get a basic practical idea of how to effectively adjust your play against different types of rackets (anti-spin/long pips). Are you planning to cover this as well someday? :)

Informative 👍🏼

Ran into this at tournament 10 days ago. Since only my 2nd tournament in 2021 (having shut down due to Covid in March 2020) I was hesitant to attack but should have just gone ahead and attacked more. Today was a good time to look at this video (again).

wow revolutionary. to beat pushers simply hit em with a sick topspin smash into the back corner. who woulda thought

Wish I had watched this before my last match!

Excelente. Thanks 👍🏼

thank you for every you learn me

58 pushers disliked this

You make my Stark with your tip in tabletenis thanks he lot 🙂

Usual high standard video, excellent explanation of how to beat these (pushers) type players. However it is difficult to maintain discipline and consistency when top spinning against really seasoned pushers, as they are very adept at disrupting your attacks. Constantly searching for the perfect rubber to overcome these type players.

You always keep things simple and practical! And you've added the moral/funny note in it too. Great stuff. Allow me then to make it a little more complicated - would you agree with the following? 1) When you get back a high push, be aware there's still backspin on it. There are two ways to cope with it: go on and topspin it to give it speed and still make it go down; this is what pros do. Or hit it flat but give yourself a margin above the net, by aiming more towards the end of the table. The latter is what I do nowadays because topspinning high, slow, backspin balls made me make many errors. 2) At the lower level, you have the pusher-pusher. At the mid level you encounter the pusher-blocker. These are often waiting for your not-so-violent topspin, to block you out. So after opening up against the backspin, you should expect the ball coming back. The pusher-blocker is deceptively slow and passive while pushing, then when you turn it into an attacking game, they transform in counterattackers. 3) Since the pusher doesn't have speed or (top)spin at their disposal, their only attacking device is placement. Pusher-pushers and pusher-blockers are very good at placing the ball. This means you not only have to be ready for the next ball, but also for it to come back into an uncomfortable position. This means: footwork and remain in motion. Again, this is hard against a pusher-blocker who lures you into their deceptively slow and motionless rhythm. 4) and since the pusher-blocker is waiting for your not so great attack, ready to counter its spin and speed, your own attacking device is placement as well. The not so mobile pusher-blocker is best caught by opening up into the elbow, followed by a placement into the open side, a general tactic which works particularly well against this type of player. 5) The greatest point in your video and the one I struggle most with, is to have a consistent strategy and not fall back to play the pushing game. The problem with attacking consistently against pushers or pimple players, is that I tend to become predictable in my strokes and tactics. It's really their passive appearance, wolves in sheep skin, that often tricks me into being too passive myself. Cheers!

Very nice video. Don't become a Pusher yourself. The Top Players are always Attacking Players . They don't care about missing few of those Smashes. They stick to Attacking most of the time.

nice tips

The 125 dislikes are pushers...

It will be better to get some one to just push the balls at you at different angles and different speeds and you try to get your confidence back on your top spin shot. What I find is that there is a skill to this shot which is difficult to master but can be done. The bat angle must be open based on the height at which the ball is being contacted and at the point of contact the blade must be moving fast up reversing the back spin ( it cannot be tentative which is the main mistake that players do) and the arc of the blade swing should be slightly forward perhaps between 70 to 80 degrees not flat forward. The extra top spin will arc the ball down, the forward motion with an open bat will impart speed and restrict the tendency of the ball to go down. The trick is to get the ball to dip after having cancelling its downward trajectory.

thanks. its helped

Thanks Coach! I'm a natural attacker but when I play with my cousin I always have these infinite backspin marathons... I'm able to win, anyway, but I hate the fact that I need 2-3 minutes to get a point that I will, eventually, lose because of a bad serve (out of frustration). Cheers!

It's very useful video sir. Can you please tell me, what is the length and breadth of your table tennis room?

I try to deal with pushers by sending them "the soup" back with a precise, thin touch, if I am not sure about attacking with topspin, but once I feel confident, I try to backhand flick the ball or I go deep with my posture and countertopsin it with a nearly vertical movement. Serving with mainly sidespin worked for me in the most cases as well, because if I put a good amount of sidespin on the ball, it is difficult to either countertopspin it or pushing it back - and I can also vary the amount of co-inflicted backspin or topspin component as well.

Gracias Tom!!, excelente, me sirvió muchísimo, lo puse en práctica hoy y pude ganarle a un jugador de ese tipo. Ahora, necesito tu ayuda, no he podido comprender como jugar contra jugadores que juegan con gomas con picos hacia afuera (pimples out) me complican el juego, parece que invierten el efecto (spin). Espero puedas ayudarme, saludos, eres genial!

The next level to overcome is the "blocker". I find penholders are commonly pusher and blocker types... So fustrating!

thank you

Nice

I like it,your vidio

Thans instructive video :) My question is : how to win a blocker in table tennis ?

hey its a good strategy

Thanks Tom. Very useful video. I have a question about those topspin serves that your practice partner is doing. How is the topspin being produced? I've been analysing them intensely, on a big screen, frame by frame and backwards and forwards when the ball contacts the bat and I still can't see how the topspin is being produced. It really does look like backspin with maybe a bit of side but I can see from the reaction on your bat that there really is plenty of topspin. How is this magic happening?

i remember I lost everytime against a half-pusher (sometimes attack). well, time to 1v1 him with my 2 months skill

Hello Tom, A question. If you get an under spin ball and you want to answer it with a top spin ball, where do you hit the ball best? In the middle or more at the top? Thanks Ivan

thank you , NICE , i like you

Must admit I've got the hang of the Topspin and have definitely upped my game,But played a guy the other day (pusher) and he brought me down to his level for the first couple of games due to me getting frustrated with this type of game.....................wont happen again.

This video is sensational! I'm now at 0:35 but I already laugh big. :D

do you have a detailed video on the topspin serve that the blue shirt guy was using? it looked great...could be backspin...but was top spin.

Hey that's me!

Oooo mate, I destroy everyone in school except my own one particular sports teacher who always makes me push the ball when he is pushing it, but his push shots are more like a little bit without the backspin that you mentioned here, they are so flat and short, forcing me to reach the ball and then attacks himself because I usually stand almost half a metre behind the table at times when I am attacking. I guess I just need to find my rhythm in my shots thats all, cause I still find myself hanging on to him during matches, btw I will play with him on Tuesday i'll try this example and I'll tell you how I've done. :)

Can you please recommend a decent price robot that can help practice smashes against quality spin?

pushing is fun to see opponent getting frustrated

bro plz make a video ft a pimple player... i am a pimple player so i wanna learn about it :)