first i want to say i cannot stand the expert tug of wars

i do agree with kel, it is speed and luck. i have expert on the
first 2 and it did take awhile to get those. i try and get it down
to the point where i have 1 row and try as fast as i can to make
them 1 color without the addt'l column being added. that's how
i got expert on my first 2. i like the game, but i hope if there is
a fitness dash 2, that this is not included. just my opinion.  :)

Mizzmm, I think the problem I'm having is that I don't have a whole column left and then I get down to maybe only 3 tiles left which isn't enough for a match so they just fall off the board and the game is over. Has that happened to you?  I still can't get expert on even the very first one.

That is exactly what I had happen to me. Whenever I could get it down to a manageable amount there would be 3 left and no choice but to let the column add to it. Very frustrating. I could do without this mini game too if it's going to be this difficult. I suggest if they sequel this game, and keep the tug of wars, that they base it on score not the knockout factor. LOL Wishful thinking. :)

i just went back and played the first one again.
i had 3 rows left but a total of 8 blocks on the
board and they were at the bottom of the
board. i changed them all to one color and got
expert. i feel like i'm not making any sense,
but that's how i just did it.

yikes, getting expert on the tug of wars gives me
heart palpitations.lol

Ok, I'll try that. Thanks for the tips, Mizzmm!!!! :-)

good luck pinky, i give up on this game for the night.
but please let me know if this helped you.

kel and DB have me stuck in the 80's and i love it.  ;)

It is not speed and luck. There is a trick to it.
 
Think about the exact sequence the colors of each brick change. They change in a very specific way. You only need two colors to win.

I finally made it after many tries and a sore hand.  Got the expert medal.  Level 5-11 tug of war game is a killer. 
 
Following up on Ojennifer's hint,  I cleared the board as fast as I could until there are few tiles left.  Then I clicked all the Red tiles to tun them Blue and the Purple tiles to turn them Yellow. 
This gives you only two colors (Blue and Yellow) to try and clear the board. 
 
Make sure that your flag is not too close to your team's side when you are working with the remaining tiles, otherwise you win the game and don't get the knockout victory.   Also, make sure that you have at least four tiles of the same color(s), when you are close to clearing the board, otherwise you have to work on the column that is added and change those colors.   Try to slow down the competition by clearing a lot of same color tiles, although they are not slowed for long, it helps.
 
The tiles change color as follows:
Yellow
Red
Blue
Purple
 
It takes a while to get used to changing the tile color, but keep trying.  Good luck.

ojennifer and mrspockfan... thank you!! After reading your tips, I just beat 4-11 and 5-11 in a snap. Yay!

I'm playing through the game for a second time and I was able to get expert in the tug of war on gyms 1-4. I haven't played the fifth one yet.

This is what I discovered. You don't have to clear the board all at one time with one single color. Clear as much as you can, and then try and get it down to like one single row (I've been doing it verticle) and then turn that all one color. As long as those are the only pieces on the board when you clear it, you'll get expert. That's how I did it for the first 4 gyms. I hope I'm explaining this right.

How I usually start the tug of war, I change the yellows to red, and the blues to purple. 1 click turns yellow to red, and 1 click turns blue to purple. Then I try to get at least 1 row remaining on the screen and then try and quickly change them all to the same color and you'll get expert.