It’s worth noting that the world’s best athletes have pre-game routines, and it’s been like that for as long as we can remember. But why is that the case? Do these routines play any significance in these athletes’ performance?
In this article, we will give you three compelling reasons which adequately explain why pre-game routines are essential for every athlete to have.
1. They Are the Best Preparation Method
First and foremost, pre-game routines are the best preparation method an athlete can use. Why? Mostly because habits develop your abilities and skills, they essentially get you ready for the match ahead. An excellent pre-game routine will enable you to ascertain everything you know you can do essentially.
Routines do this by making sure that everything you have learned in practice will now be effectively performed in the game. You can develop these routines during practice and repeat them before a match, and that should be enough to get you truly ready for the game.
2. They Build Confidence in Your Abilities
The only thing in a game that you can control is yourself. You can do nothing about the weather conditions or the knowledge of your opponents. You can barely even control how your team performs. The only thing that you can control is your playing and your ability.
Even when you’re a great player, you’ll still lose faith in yourself from time to time, which is where routines will come in handy. They enable a player to build their confidence and get them mentally ready for the game at hand.
3. They Calm You Down
We all, as human beings, love routines. We like having some consistency about a lot of things in our lives. It calms us down because it reassures us that everything is alright. That all works on a deep psychological level and in an effort not to get too technical – routines are familiar, we know how they unfold and what will happen, and this certainty inherently breeds safety.
The same can be said for sports and pre-game routines. By repeating particular moves, we’ll naturally feel safer and thus more calm in that period when most athletes are under stress. The game that’s about to start won’t be a scary thing anymore once all the frequent moves, i.e., your routine, have been performed.
Build Your Perfect Routine
There’s no routine out there that can help you achieve what you want to achieve, but you can certainly build one for yourself.
Every player needs to take a look at what works best for them and develop that into a sequence of moves that will work as a pre-game routine.
If you are a coach, you should explain this to your players and get them to start developing their routines if they don’t have ones. Explain to them that the habit will end up being more than merely helpful. They might even lead them to have the best game of their lives. If you’re interested in more articles like this one, feel free to take a look at our blog, or contact us if you want to get more information.