Brenton's Backhand

Brenton has a very compact backhand. He is a great model for everyone willing to improve their double handed backhand. Brenton starts his preparation with a Unit Turn. As Brenton turns his shoulders the racket moves back and both hands stay at the same height throughout the backswing. These are two of the most important aspects for anybody who wish to master the double handed backhand, (Unit turn and hands moving back at the same height)and Brenton does it greatly. As soon as the ball bounces, Brenton has a full turn and he is ready to start the forward swing. His racket head is vertical and his right elbow is very close to the body. As soon as he starts his forward swing the racket head starts to drop. Brenton has a very small drop of the racket head when he establishes the hitting arm position, (just like Safin).
On contact Brenton seems to have a flex flex configuration of his arms. That is just one of the four different ways that players may have their arms at contact. Players like Juan Carlos Ferrero, Dementieva and Safin hit as well with a flex flex variation. After contact, Brenton's racket follows the line of the shot for a few frames before going outward and up.

Where to improve?

I believe no matter how good we are that we can always improve, no matter at what and tennis is no exception.
After looking with some detail at Brenton's backhand and after comparing it with lots of pros, the first thing that pops out is Brenton's extension and followthrough. I think Brenton can improve his extension that is, having the racket following the line of the shot for more time or more frames after contact. When I look at Nadal's footage and other pros I can see that on their followthrough the right shoulder finishes up at the chin and their extension seems to be longer. However it is hard to be sure about it and at the end my analysis just represent my interpretation of the videos. It would be great to know from Brenton what he thinks about his backhand, to know when it works well and when it doesn't, and sort of contact height he prefers.
There is one aspect of Brenton's backhand that almost escaped my analysis. Its a much more clear aspect than Brenton's extension. The answer remains in Brenton's feet. Brenton hits the ball normally with a neutral stance where his left foot steps in (45 degrees to the net). After making contact and just after they reach full extension, normally players pivot with the left foot until it points to the net or even to the line of the shot, bringing as well the right leg out, before recovering back to the center of the court. I've noticed that Brenton seems to hold the left foot down for too long after his full extension, and by doing so he doesn't allow his right leg (and hip) to come forward. For that reason on the high contact balls, Brenton seems to be a bit unbalanced with his weight going backwards. The pros on the high contact balls, just after contact they stretch the front knee, pivot the front foot and bring the back leg to the side and they are are ready to recover to the center.


Check the hands going back together as the shoulder turns!
On this backhand the front foot is pointing to the net, and the reason may be because Brenton was forcing a backhand for the video. I think in a real situation he would have moved differently.

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Great unit turn!
Brenton seems unbalanced on this high contact ball. Notice how the front foot didn't pivot after contact, and the back leg didn't came across.

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If you freeze the video after the split step when the feet land in the court you can see a big wide stance. Feet are much wider than shoulders. That's a great athletic foundation.
Another high contact ball. Brenton again is a bit unbalanced. The front foot doesn't pivot and the back leg comes across, but it seems a bit late.

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