Athlete Rituals in Beijing
26 Sep 2008
An anxious young Aussie lines up for his first free throw in his first ever Olympic basketball game. He’s never been in this situation before. The butterflies in his stomach are doing loop de loops and colliding. But he has his free throw ritual to fall back on. He moves his right foot to the centre of the free throw line, receives the ball from the referee, spins it 3 times, dribbles twice, breathes in and out deeply. He focuses on the middle back of the ring and shoots with the same technique he’s used more than 20,000 times before.
It is rituals and routines like this one that are helping our athletes control their anxiety before the most important event of their sporting careers. There is no evidence that any of these superstitions or methodical procedures influence luck, but they might help athletes enter the right frame of mind to perform. They seem to give athletes a perceived feeling of control over the uncertainty inherent in most competitions.
So what are the top superstitions among our Aussie athletes in Beijing? There’s no shortage of favourite undies under the competition uniform, some worn for the entire competition. We hope the athlete village has plenty of washing machines. Many athletes have a specific order for putting on their shoes and socks or their gloves. Some wear a new pair of shoes for each race, or like Libby Trickett, a new swim cap and goggles are donned before each big competition.
Lauren Jackson gets in the zone before games by listening to Marylin Manson and it seems to be working for her. Some athletes don’t like to shave before the big game and others avoid haircuts altogether until after the final race. Whatever worked before a breakthrough performance in the past, gets repeated for as long as it coincides with success.
The most patriotic of superstitions come from football player Kristian Sarkies and softballer Natalie Titcume. Sarkies remembers his roots, writing the postcode from where he grew up on his soccer boots before each competition so that he represents where he came from. Titcume always looks at the Aussie Flag when she gets to the field. She says it’s ‘…a reminder of why I'm here and who I'm playing for.’
Whether it’s the placebo effect in action or not, let’s hope the rituals and routines our athletes follow help to control their nerves as they strive to achieve sporting glory for themselves and for Australia.
An anxious young Aussie lines up for his first free throw in his first ever Olympic basketball game. He’s never been in this situation before. The butterflies in his stomach are doing loop de loops and colliding. But he has his free throw ritual to fall back on. He moves his right foot to the centre of the free throw line, receives the ball from the referee, spins it 3 times, dribbles twice, breathes in and out deeply. He focuses on the middle back of the ring and shoots with the same technique he’s used more than 20,000 times before.It is rituals and routines like this one that are helping our athletes control their anxiety before the most important event of their sporting careers. There is no evidence that any of these superstitions or methodical procedures influence luck, but they might help athletes enter the right frame of mind to perform. They seem to give athletes a perceived feeling of control over the uncertainty inherent in most competitions.
So what are the top superstitions among our Aussie athletes in Beijing? There’s no shortage of favourite undies under the competition uniform, some worn for the entire competition. We hope the athlete village has plenty of washing machines. Many athletes have a specific order for putting on their shoes and socks or their gloves. Some wear a new pair of shoes for each race, or like Libby Trickett, a new swim cap and goggles are donned before each big competition.
Lauren Jackson gets in the zone before games by listening to Marylin Manson and it seems to be working for her. Some athletes don’t like to shave before the big game and others avoid haircuts altogether until after the final race. Whatever worked before a breakthrough performance in the past, gets repeated for as long as it coincides with success.
The most patriotic of superstitions come from football player Kristian Sarkies and softballer Natalie Titcume. Sarkies remembers his roots, writing the postcode from where he grew up on his soccer boots before each competition so that he represents where he came from. Titcume always looks at the Aussie Flag when she gets to the field. She says it’s ‘…a reminder of why I'm here and who I'm playing for.’
Whether it’s the placebo effect in action or not, let’s hope the rituals and routines our athletes follow help to control their nerves as they strive to achieve sporting glory for themselves and for Australia.
Heath Francis