From smelly socks to game day playlists, routines are ever prevalent in sports.
Traditions, superstitions, routines — whatever you want to call them — they exist in sports, and they have for a while.
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For lots of athletes, those same routines aren’t superstitions; they just happen to put their shoes on in the exact same order before every game. The same unwashed game day socks are totally not the reason the locker rooms smell the way they do.
For Ellie Watts, a member of the Colorado State women’s club soccer team, superstitions aren’t common in her pregame routine. While she does have a ritual that she goes through before every game, her play isn’t reliant on what happens before the game.
“I wouldn’t say I’m really superstitious,” Watts said. “I do follow some same stuff before every game, but, you know, I go out onto the field and play my best no matter what.”
Even though unwashed socks and the order of which shoe is put on first may not matter in the grand scheme of things, research shows repetition and routine are extremely important for athletes.
“The foul line is a big one — we avoid that thing at all costs.” -Bennett Gregory, baseball club team vice president
According to an article written by Sean McCann, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee sport psychologist, routines help athletes do the right things and avoid missteps.
McCann said there are five reasons routines are helpful: A routine increases the sense of familiarity in a new environment, helps an athlete stay active and focused on useful behaviors, fosters feelings of control and confidence, makes useful behaviors automatic and increases the opportunity for the brain to focus on the proper things.
For nordic ski team member Sage Breck, her routine does just that.
“Honestly, I don’t know if it’s superstition or just a ritual, but I’ve been following the same sort of thing since I was little,” Breck said. “I’ve noticed that I eat the same thing before every competition day, and I have a designated playlist for racing that I listen to as well. So not really sure if it’s superstitious, but I definitely have a routine that helps me out.”
Superstitions are present in all sports, though. In baseball, players avoid the foul line like the plague; watch enough baseball and the superstition becomes unavoidably apparent.
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CSU’s baseball team follows that same belief, especially vice president Bennett Gregory.
“The foul line is a big one — we avoid that thing at all costs,” Gregory said. “I also have some classic superstitious behaviors. During our big games, I won’t change my socks, which the guys say is gross, but I can’t not do it.”
Even though changing his socks might not improve Gregory’s play, it sets his mind right before a game.
“I mean, yeah, I don’t really have to not wash my socks,” Gregory said. “But it gets me locked in, you know? It’s kind of the perfect time to tell myself that it’s game time.”
Reach Emma Askren at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @emma_askren.
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