Since I started playing sports, I was always taught to have
a routine. Not a “ritual”. Rituals like superstitions, could only harm
performance. If I wasn’t wearing my favorite socks, it didn’t matter. If I
didn’t get ready exactly as I had during my last good performance, it didn’t
matter! What did matter was creating a personal routine that fit what I needed
and was not the only thing riding on if I was going to have a good performance
or not. As a shooting guard, a lot of my pre-game routine revolved around a
shooting warm-up series, some visualization, and saying a prayer during the
national anthem. Those were the three main components of my pre-game routine
and they served me well throughout my career. What was great about my pre-game
routine, was that it was adaptable to what I needed and how much time I had
before a game.
If I was at
an AAU game and we had very little time to warm-up or shoot around, my pre-game
shooting warm-up series became a form shooting series on a floor somewhere
quiet. If it was loud at a high school game, head phones went in to listen and
watch my visualization video. If there was no national anthem played (talking
about you England Basketball...), I said my prayer just before the game started on
the bench. If I missed an opportunity to do any of those routines, it wasn’t
the end of the world. I didn’t think my game would suffer, and I certainly
didn’t think my team would lose due to my lack of routine. If I thought those
things, it would be a superstition, a ritual, and that would be massively detrimental to my performance and everything I had worked for leading up to a
game day.
Now, some
athletes have superstitions and rituals and swear by them for good performance.
Putting socks on a certain way, or wearing specific accessories, putting on a uniform
a certain way, or doing the exact same warm-up before every game…they hold
tight to the belief that these things will somehow impact their performance
positively. I completely understand having a good feeling going into a game and
thinking that whatever you have done leading up to it will help you play well.
But I absolutely don’t buy that a sock, or a certain way of putting on my
uniform will have any impact at all on how well I play, shoot, or if my team
wins.
To me the
negative far outweighs the positive. You forget to pack your lucky socks, or
they are in the wash, or the game before yours runs over and you can’t do the
warm-up you have always done and all of a sudden this creeping, sinking feeling
starts to grow within you that says this game is doomed before it ever began.
There are too many variables leading up to a game, to be able to do the same
exact thing every single game day. Which means it is more likely that negative
feeling will creep in than that positive feeling growing.
As for my
routine, it was a combination of both physical and mental preparation that
allowed me to step onto the court with confidence, focus, and positivity. My
shooting warm-up series included starting close with form shots and working my
way back to the three-point line and the inclusion of different shots off the
dribble. My visualization video was used primarily during high school, included
some of my own clips and those of my favorite shooters set to some pump up
music. That video slowly made way to my own mindful visualization. My prayer
that was said before each and every game I ever played, thanked God for the
opportunity to be playing the game I loved, asked to protect both teams from
injury, and asked to help guide me to have a clear a focused mind in order to
play to the best of my ability. All three things were personal to me, worked
for me, and took some trial and error in the beginning to figure out.
Making your
own pre-game routine should not be something tedious, or annoying. It should be
helpful to you and prepare you both mentally and physically to perform to your
highest level. Good luck in creating and implementing your own routine – just
remember if it gets interrupted or you miss an aspect of it, it is not the end
of the world and the game is not lost before it ever began! Adjust, adapt,
conquer and win.
Do you have
any pre-game routines you can share? What has worked or hasn’t worked for you?
-Cat
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