How to survive training regimes

Marcin Bieniek explains how to stay motivated while performing those boring tennis drills.

All tennis players want to play in the final of a major tournament - US Open, French Open, Wimbledon. We want to achieve our tennis goals, so we train every day to be better than yesterday. We work on our technique, speed up footwork, narrow our focus, build up stamina, or groove decision-making, and we are happy to do so if the training is engaging. But what about those repetitive drills we have to do? Do you have an inborn eagerness, possess intrinsic creativeness to kill the boredom, and can you motivate yourself to complete these "boring drills"?

We are all keen on carrying out impressive drills, but the most straightforward exercises must be done daily, so how can you manage these boring drills? Firstly, I should explain what I mean by "boring drills". For me, they are indoor cycling, forehand or backhand crosscourt rallying, basket drills with many repetitions, etc. In this article, I want to give you some ideas about how you can manage and motivate yourself to perform these drills.

Motivating words

Using a word or phrase to help you focus is well known, but it only works well for a short-term focus. For example, if you have three repetitions of a drill to complete and your motivation is dropping, you can quickly refocus your motivation with words like Come on, let us go, vamos, etc. Motivating words can achieve excellent results in seconds but must be saved for special occasions. If a term is used too often, it will not be seen as unique and will not have that desired motivating effect.

Creativeness

Creativeness is vital as it kills boredom, creates something new, and is personal. On the court, you may think you have limited possibilities—that's not right; it depends on your creativity. When practicing your forehand or backhand shot, you can place marks, cones, racquets, and balls around the opponent's court for you to aim your shot at.

Imagination

It is similar to creativeness, but you use it in your head. Imagination works well for me when I do indoor cycling. Cycling indoors is boring, and time never seems to go as fast as outdoors. When we are bored, we keep looking at the clock, and what feels like 5 minutes of work, in reality, has only lasted two minutes. So, what can we do? It would help if you gave the brain something else to focus on so I could imagine I am in the Tour de France in the leading pack and aiming to make a break. On the court, when you could suppose you are:

The top player.
Keeping the racquet's head up.
Tall posture.
Moving smoothly around the court.

Counting

Counting is the best way I find to motivate myself. It provides a point of focus and makes you work. Example: You have to complete eight repetitions of a specific drill. Set a target of four repetitions. Apply your best effort for the four repetitions. When you complete them, set another target of two repetitions and work a little harder on these two repetitions. When finished, set another target of two repetitions, and work even harder on these two repetitions (eight repetitions completed). When cycling set time windows, you can apply the same approach to your gym exercises (sit-ups, press-ups, etc.). For example, for 15 minutes of cycling, set targets for 5-minute windows and see if you can cycle a little further in each of the 5-minute windows.

Another option is spotting. Execute ten repetitions at one location (spot) on the court, perform the next ten from another site, and finally, the last ten repetitions from a different location. Example: You have to complete 30 repetitions of a drill.

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

BIENIEK, M. (2012) How to survive training regimes [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article098.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Marcin Bieniek is a tennis coach from Poland and a former professional player (Polish National Juniors Team). He is a certificated tennis coach by the Polish Tennis Coaching Association and the Professional Tennis Registry. Marcin has worked with many of the top 20 Polish Juniors and the top 150 players globally.


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All tennis players want to play in the final of a major tournament - US Open, French Open, Wimbledon. We want to achieve our tennis goals, so we train every day to be better than yesterday. We work on our technique, speed up footwork, narrow our focus, build up stamina, or groove decision-making, and we are happy to do so if the training is engaging. But what about those repetitive drills we have to do? Do you have an inborn eagerness, possess intrinsic creativeness to kill the boredom, and can you motivate yourself to complete these "boring drills"? We are all keen on carrying out impressive drills, but the most straightforward exercises must be done daily, so how can you manage these boring drills? Firstly, I should explain what I mean by "boring drills". For me, they are indoor cycling, forehand or backhand crosscourt rallying, basket drills with many repetitions, etc. In this article, I want to give you some ideas about how you can manage and motivate yourself to perform these drills. Motivating words Using a word or phrase to help you focus is well known, but it only works well for a short-term focus. For example, if you have three repetitions of a drill to complete and your motivation is dropping, you can quickly refocus your motivation with words like Come on, let us go, vamos, etc. Motivating words can achieve excellent results in seconds but must be saved for special occasions. If a term is used too often, it will not be seen as unique and will not have that desired motivating effect. Creativeness Creativeness is vital as it kills boredom, creates something new, and is personal. On the court, you may think you have limited possibilities—that's not right; it depends on your creativity. When practicing your forehand or backhand shot, you can place marks, cones, racquets, and balls around the opponent's court for you to aim your shot at. Imagination It is similar to creativeness, but you use it in your head. Imagination works well for me when I do indoor cycling. Cycling indoors is boring, and time never seems to go as fast as outdoors. When we are bored, we keep looking at the clock, and what feels like 5 minutes of work, in reality, has only lasted two minutes. So, what can we do? It would help if you gave the brain something else to focus on so I could imagine I am in the Tour de France in the leading pack and aiming to make a break. On the court, when you could suppose you are: The top player. Keeping the racquet's head up. Tall posture. Moving smoothly around the court. Counting Counting is the best way I find to motivate myself. It provides a point of focus and makes you work. Example: You have to complete eight repetitions of a specific drill. Set a target of four repetitions. Apply your best effort for the four repetitions. When you complete them, set another target of two repetitions and work a little harder on these two repetitions. When finished, set another target of two repetitions, and work even harder on these two repetitions (eight repetitions completed). When cycling set time windows, you can apply the same approach to your gym exercises (sit-ups, press-ups, etc.). For example, for 15 minutes of cycling, set targets for 5-minute windows and see if you can cycle a little further in each of the 5-minute windows. Another option is spotting. Execute ten repetitions at one location (spot) on the court, perform the next ten from another site, and finally, the last ten repetitions from a different location. Example: You have to complete 30 repetitions of a drill. Page Reference If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is: BIENIEK, M. (2012) How to survive training regimes [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article098.htm [Accessed About the Author Marcin Bieniek is a tennis coach from Poland and a former professional player (Polish National Juniors Team). He is a certificated tennis coach by the Polish Tennis Coaching Association and the Professional Tennis Registry. Marcin has worked with many of the top 20 Polish Juniors and the top 150 players globally.