Topic: How do you defend against a push shot?

[Old Meister]

I can shoot a killer push shot, how do you go about defending against it? What is your stategy?
I'm asking just to understand different takes on defense. Just being honest,,,

[Rios]

race...

make you go long and if you can consistantly beat me... then make sure you can hit all of the holes...

[Old Meister]

I guess with that big goal that that's what has to happen,. So which two men? Close or far man on your 2 bar and standard or cross defense?

[Daniel]

Make sure you cover straight and long the hardest hole to hit is the middle.

[Old Meister]

But to cover those, Daniel, with that big goal, the middle hole is huge and the trick to hit the middle is to go softer, not that hard to do. You can't just camp out for the long so how much do you bait with?

[Daniel]

Well I did not mean sit on long just show them middle more than than long it is much easier to shoot the long spray then a squared off middle with the push shot.  If they try to shoot middle they might slow there shot down and you can just race it with the man covering the straight. 

[Old Meister]

Fair enough. So which men do you use on the 2 bar, your close or far man?

[Daniel]

I use the 2 bar to cover straight and the goalie to cover long.  If you do it the other way some players can split your defence.  If you use the close 2 man to cover straight make sure you are always on the wall because if you just a hair the straight is open.

[bbtuna]

the strength of the push is a spray long unless someone shoots it open handed...then the shot goes longer and is plenty hard and fast but is a little less precise and consistent as a stroke

equally good is the straight but push shooters aren't as inclined to go straight...it is hard to say "No" to the quick burst and powerful stroke of the long...

none of the good pushes I have seen (and the list is very small) can be raced so I respect the sharp beginning and overall speed and I expect it will be shocking

with these things in mind, I use mostly zone bait type defenses until I can understand what the person is really capable of...how this is mixed up will depend on if they are a open-handed shooter or closed hand and if closed hand try and learn just how long and squared off they can shoot

if they are an open-handed push-smacker then I am going to (mostly) work with the 2 man in the long hole from the long in baiting revolving the baits randomly between Straight, slice, and long focusing more on straight and long (but not exclusively)...I will switch to use a deadman for short periods of time then mix in some time in the standard with the goalie man covering long...I will cheat toward long and straight and be very careful about long and try and force them to shoot squared off 2 or 3 hole

[Old Meister]

Good stuff Bbtuna. I like your take on the open vs closed hand shot shapes. I find it interesting how people view defense differently.

[grandmaster]

Put a man in front of the ball. When they are shooting, of course!

[Billings Semi-pro]

I would use the cross defense with my men in the air and when you shot the ball I would bring the men down and do a stuff from the back.  All kidding aside, I would use the reverse defense and bait the holes.  You would have to prove you can make the dead man and the striaght.  I would not give up the middle. 

[Old Meister]

Billings, some day, on the way to visit family in Wisconsin traveling from Oregon, I'll have to stop by and test your defense. 

[Billings Semi-pro]

Yes, please do.  Call me when your here.
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