Your Strokes: Danielle Dotzenrod Two-Handed Backhand

She could hit some rockets, but what was really going on?

As our new Tennis Channel spokesperson, Danielle Dotzenrod is making her game a test case for the benefits of the Tennisplayer experience, and that includes this series of articles in Your Strokes! Two months ago we looked at Danielle’s forehand for the first time (Click Here), and I will have a further update on that stroke soon.

Now in this second article, let’s take a look at her two-handed backhand. It was Danielle’s favorite shot and she could really rip it at times, but when we looked at the stroke on video, it was amazing to see what was really happening and how much room she had for technical improvement.

What we saw accounted for her inconsistency and occasional wildness on that side. After looking at the video, I also felt she could produce as much or even more power with a lot less effort.

In the video, we identified 3 issues. The first was her backswing. The second was the configuration and position of her hitting arms. The third issue was her extension point in the forward swing. As is often the case, all three issues were interrelated…