Is Your Softball Pre-Game Routine a Superstition or Ritual
Is Your Softball Pre-Game Routine a Superstition or Ritual?
Whether it’s wearing the same socks every game or tapping home plate twice before each pitch, many softball athletes have a particular routine they always follow. Is the behavior based on superstition or reason? Read on to learn the difference and find tips on how to give yourself a routine for optimal performance.
Superstition is the belief that something has significant power or “luck” with no logical reasoning behind it. For example, wearing the same hair band before a game or chewing the same flavored gum and believing that these
things, not you, are what make you a winner.
Whether it’s wearing the same socks every game or tapping home plate twice before each pitch, many softball athletes have a particular routine they always follow. Is the behavior based on superstition or reason? Read on to learn the difference and find tips on how to give yourself a routine for optimal performance.
Superstition is the belief that something has significant power or “luck” with no logical reasoning behind it. For example, wearing the same hair band before a game or chewing the same flavored gum and believing that these
things, not you, are what make you a winner. A routine or ritual is when an athlete intentionally prepares for a certain event or task using meaningful actions. Having a pre-game routine helps many athletes visualize, prepare, and focus on what is necessary to be successful because they can control the steps of the routine and feel confident in their preparation.
According to sport psychology consultant Matt Krug, President of Midwest Institute of Performance, Inc., pre-game routines are important because they help transfer comfortable feelings or “confidence” to less familiar, more anxious situations. “Everybody has rituals or routines that they go through in their daily life from what they eat for breakfast to what television show they come home to everyday. If there’s a change in this routine, it makes you feel out of sync and a little uneasy.
When you have a home game, maybe you have the same locker, drink from the same water fountain, or eat the same pre-game meal. Having a set routine is helpful especially if you can create that same situation when you’re on the road and may be feeling less comfortable.
Krug suggests you find your own pre-game routine that will help you prepare for each game. You’ll feel confident and comfortable no matter who or where you are competing. When you think about what routine is best for you, Krug suggests three requirements that every pre-game routine should meet:
1. The routine should be something you can do in any imaginable place-at home, on the road, at a tournament, in the playoffs. Also, it should be something you can do at any time, morning, noon, or night. This way, you always know you can do it no matter what the circumstances.
2. The routine should be considered extremely important and you should give yourself enough time to complete it at your own pace. If you’re traveling to a game, make sure you get there in plenty of time to do your routine.
3. Make the routine personal to YOU. It should be something you can do no matter what happens. For example, if it’s a prayer, a quick run, or a stretch, it should be something no one can take from you no matter where you are or who you are competing against.
So, find your own pre-game routine that will help you begin each game with the focus, energy, and confidence to compete at your best! Here are some examples of pre-game routines and rituals for athletes of different sports. What works for them may, or may not, work for you. . .it’s all individual!
Picture: Marvin Terry
