If you look at a mechanum wheel or an omni wheel, they have rollers. They achieve omni-directional movement through the manipulation of force vectors (which Ether will be able to explain far more eloquently than I will). The reason they are considered low traction is because the rollers on the wheels are not powered, and so the robot is resting, essentially, on tiny un-powered wheels, which are far more push-able that powered wheels.
The reason mecanum/omni robots can sometimes win in a pushing match is that if the pushing force is parallel with the axis of rotation, then the rollers aren't spinning (and so as the angle of the pushing force approaches parallel to the axis of rotation, the less the robot can be pushed).
I hope that helps
EDIT: It's already been answered, but I hope that adds.