Ive seen vids where the shaver smashes a tiny btush on his face to work up lather. It just didnt look like a good idea to me. Id say when lathering i use enough pressure in a circular motion that the brissles are compressed about a third of the knot length. Thats a good splay but not extreme. I think its not extreme. I got 6 brushes and rotate thru them. Diffrent lofts, thinknesses, material, and these all work just fine.
I too had two brushes i had to replace the knot because they were shedding. One was a cheepie and the other a whippeddog. I was told at whippeddog it was my fault but i dont think so. He was good about it and i got a refund but i still think it was the brush as the rest of my brushes have no problems.
Circles most the time for me then painting to smooth it out. And yes, on the third pass its just painting.