How important is the push?

The push is a fundamental part of the short game and without it, you have a weakness that makes it easier for tactically better players, even of a lower level than yourself; to beat you.

Any player with a good short game, will usually beat you if you have a poor short game; because of the errors you make.

Without a good push, an opponent with a good push/chop can keep you pinned down by  keeping the ball short and using angles that prevent you from playing your natural  game. In that situation you'll need a plan B  to remain competitive and without a good push/chop; that limits your options..

That's why a good short game, which includes pushing and chopping, is so important. It can keep you competitive and provide chances for you to bring your natural game into play..

Pongology wrote: What's the best blade/rubber combination for a strong short game?

Rubbers: HARD or MEDIUM/HARd are best for pushing

melarimsa wrote: Pongology wrote: What's the best blade/rubber combination for a strong short game? Rubbers: HARD or MEDIUM/HARd are best for pushing

Yea, if you use a really soft rubber the ball will fly up with a no spin ball so you need the harder sponge to absorb and slow down the ball. Chinese rubbers are good for pushing ^^.

I can sometimes beat players way better than me because of my good short game and backhand loop(most players think that if they push to the backhand I can't loop it)I still need to work on my basics though.

One thing I came up with since my push is bad is to do fake wrist movement. I  start to make a push for forehand, wait for the last moment and suddenly change it to backhand side. This sometimes produces marvel.

I guess you'd have to try whats better for you. If that happened to me then I would try a small loop. Might not be very fast but for me its quite spinny. Hope it helps.

saif wrote: Cyrilix wrote: I hear a lot about pushes for controlling the short game, but what about against long serves that still have backspin? In these cases, I find it harder push accurately, since you have to be more careful in reading the spin (although I could just try to loop off of the serve, but that's not consistent either). I am always looking for it and loop attack it right away. Believe it, if you do this a couple of times, they won't dare serve long to you.

Interesting, I will try this tactic!

the reason why i lose matches cos of pushing ::) thats how important it is