Nathan's backhands in October:
After watching the previous video from May I was really happy to see how much you've improved your backhand since then.
See how much more shoulder turn you have now in the next videos.
In fact an increased shoulder turn is indeed the major improvement of Nathan's backhands. See how much back can we see at the time of the ball bounce on the next video. Notice as well that Nathan's racket is reaching the usual "behind the pocket" technique that we see in all the pros backhands. This position happens when the racket head is just about to accelerate forward. The racket is normally parallel to the baseline and from the front view we can see the last third of the racket head on the other side of the body. If you freeze the next video at the second 20 you'll see the racket behind the right elbow at the other side of the body.
This is a extremely important position to achieve where the none playing hand has a vital task in positioning the racket ready before the forward swing.
Check Guga's pocket position:
At contact Nathan's left arm is not stretched although the arm extends a few frames after contact which makes it hard to see with the naked eye. I think Nathan should try to hit his backhands further in front, and changing to a stronger grip would help.
Have a look at the great master:
Nathan has improved his game remarkably since may.
ReplyDeleteComparing the october to may videos his unit turn is 100X better and its most definately what makes his shot look significantly better
"The step and the full turn coincide with the bottom of the backswing"
Nathans timing of reaching this critical position in the one hander is also significantly better.
Nathans reaching the straight hitting arm configuration significantly earlier which is a consequence of better preparation - this another extremely important aspect that he has improved.
Nathans game in general has improved the most out of any other club player ive seen definately a more aggressive player with shots that can do damage.