The 2-1-2 situation: how to gain confidence in your best shots
Play better, win more - even in a 2-1-2 situation! Our tennis insider explains how it works!
by Marco Kühn
last edit: Apr 24, 2022, 09:02 am
Have you ever jumped on a bike again after 13 years? Pretty shaky for the first few meters, isn't it? As a child, we fearlessly descended the steep slopes in the forest on mountain bikes. When we're in our mid-30s, we're lucky if we can survive the first few meters on a straight stretch without falling. In almost every tournament match, the first aggressively played forehands and backhands are the first meters on the bike - after years.
The timing isn't right yet. The feeling on the racket seems strange. The bullet doesn't go exactly where you want it to go. Worse still, you think way too much. The more you think in a match, the worse you usually play. You certainly know the returns that you play directly on the back tape at 200 km/h in a Zen-like state of absolute thoughtlessness on an opponent's serve that is too long. This is the ideal mental state. Unfortunately, this is not always available on demand. Ah, what am I writing? It is almost never available.
In this article, I introduce the 2-1-2 situation. I'm warning you now. Dealing with it is incredibly simple. Tennis is already complex and complicated enough. So of course we want to keep your mental exercises simple and effective. I could throw you a lot of psychological blah and blub over the edge of the net. But that doesn't get you anywhere on the court. That's why I suggest that we use a game situation to discuss the 2-1-2 problem. Then you go onto the pitch, deal with the situation and see how you can improve your game.
The forehand longline: Three centimeters next to the sideline
You have chosen setback. Your opponent serves with a slice to the outside, you return halfway up your forehand into the opponent's backhand. Your opponent is too short and you want to end the point with a 170 km/h winner with a juicy forehand from the half field. But the forehand, which you wanted to place in the opponent's free forehand corner, lands three centimeters next to the sideline - just out of bounds.
The next forehand from a similar position does not land in the opponent's corner either, but just behind the baseline. After these two mistakes, has the day already ended on the court? Did you just catch a bad day? Or can you use these two mistakes to score important points with your strong forehand for the rest of the match?
The 2-1-2 situation
Since you've been reading along carefully so far, you already know that dealing with the 2-1-2 situation is awfully easy. Here she is:
- 2 mistakes
- 1 winner
- 2 mistakes
This is, roughly of course, your start into the match with your best shots. You'll have mistakes, but also some full and center hits. Shots where you can say to yourself afterwards: "Yep, I really felt the ball very well". It's always up and down. As is usual in a tennis match and in life.
Since you're a bit shaky at the beginning of a match, your error rate will be a bit higher. Therefore, the digits are usually slightly higher on the error page as well.
There's relatively little you can do about a few ball balls and mistakes in the beginning. But what you can do is that you mentally deal with your balls and mistakes - but also with the individual winners - as much as possible. And this is exactly where dealing with the 2-1-2 situation comes into play. In the mental realm you have two tools:
1) Your self-talk, the communication with yourself
2) Your thoughts, from which your emotions arise
You can use both tools to gain confidence in your best shots from the start of the match.
analysis and confirmation
A lot of players have a rather negative habit of getting too carried away by the negative emotions after a few minor mistakes. They then start talking negatively to themselves ("...another damn day where nothing works out..."). It is then only with great difficulty that they find their way back on track. If they find this trace at all in the course of the match.
So that this doesn't happen to you in the future, you can mentally analyze your mistakes and "celebrate" your good shots. We'll take an example we touched on a little above: You put a few forehands wide. Instead of badmouthing yourself, you can go straight into analysis mode. I recommend using questions so that you can also do it in the match. This is the easiest:
1) "Did I hit the ball too late?"
2) "Did I drop the ball too low?"
3) "Did I pay too much attention to the opponent?"
4) "Did I go through the ball or was I lying on my back?"
Those are a few options. Of course, you don't have to go through all the questions about a smashed forehand. It is enough if you briefly but precisely analyze your mistake.
What levers do you set in motion with this question analysis? You use your psychological processes to think solution-oriented - and not self-destructive. You go through this question analysis with your mistakes. With your winners, you also have an opportunity to push yourself mentally and gain maximum confidence in your best shots.
Don't check Winner as "normal".
With your terrific forehand winners down the line, it's important that you don't just tick them off as "normal." A lot of club players do that to look a little cooler, but that's bullshit. You gain security and trust on the court through repeating mini experiences of success. The more of these mini triumphs you can accumulate, the more confidence you will have in your best shots. I would therefore heartily recommend that you a) show your opponent through your body language after a terrific winner that you have just hit a terrific winner and b) confirm to yourself that you just hit something damn strong court.
We're talking about the positive affirmation that can further increase your confidence in your best tennis. When we observe champions like Novak Djokovic or Rafa Nadal, we often notice that after two to four strong shots they are in the game. The commentators then like to say: "...he has now arrived in the match...". And that is a perfectly correct statement. In the minds of the players, the path to this "node busting" will follow a process similar to that described in this article:
1) Analyze errors quickly, soberly and rationally
2) Strong punches and winners with a mental "Vamos, there he was. Let's go!" confirm to yourself
It's always better to be a friend and coach on the pitch than to tear yourself apart. Correct yourself after a mistake, cheer yourself up. If you fired a backhand longline into the corner, then push yourself. Show the opponent that the winner was no coincidence.
With the right handling in the 2-1-2 situation you now have an effective mental tool for your tennis.