Players, coaches, and fans are creatures of habit. Those on screen will so often tell you how crucial the mental side of the game is. For that reason, stars have their routines that they follow to get them in the right state of mind that have served them in the past. Fans pay attention to players’ streaks, either using the information watching cricket for IPL betting live or emulating it playing their favorite sports themselves. Today, we’ll be talking specifically about the types of rituals athletes commonly engage in.
History
Even beyond sports, in early civilizations, warriors often sought divine favor before battle or competition, offering sacrifices, performing rituals, or invoking gods for strength, success, and protection. This same belief that actions or objects influence the outcome of contests has long since found its way into organized forms of entertainment and competition.
- Religious ornaments
Many people wear religious ornaments on them in their daily lives. This includes Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. When you are playing a big game with a lot on the line, this is of course the last situation when a religious person would want to abandon paying homage to their God. If they did so, they may feel like they are forfeiting his grace for the match. Even hockey and American football players underneath all that padding are sure to wear the cross.
- Clean presentation
American football wide receiver Jerry Rice is known as best of all time at his football-catching position. He earned himself quite the reputation for his obsession for preparation. He practiced all offseason when everyone rested. One of his biggest emphases was having a pristine presentation. This is something he saw as a symbol of his preparation. If you couldn’t even do that, then you clearly weren’t prepared, according to him.
- Fidgeting rituals
In baseball and cricket, there is an important element of pitch speed at play. As the batsman is being thrown a ball at a high speed, he has to stay limber and ready to react fast. So one of the last things a batsman wants to do is stay frozen in hesitation. For that reason, they are known for trying to keep themselves in a state of motion, moving their legs and hands around while holding the bat. This in baseball normally involves repeating a series of odd gestures with the bat and feet before every pitch.
- Pre-game rituals
It goes without saying that before games athletes need to warm up their muscles by performing stretches and prime their precision abilities by practicing some shots, swings, or throws. However, nowadays players go far beyond that. In line with the similar types of military traditions that have survived the millennia, players like to keep their energy, synergy, and enthusiasm at a high level.
This means pumping each other up with musical chants before a game and physically coordinated gestures like slapping hands and chest bumping. As an added bonus, they hope to scare or intimidate their opponents. The Seattle Seahawks American football team was known for slapping hands and saying, “We’re all we got. We’re all we need.”
- Powder
NBA superstar LeBron James has a chalk superstition. Before every game, he tosses a handful of chalk powder into the air. He does this to psych himself up and create a sense of focus. This has become a trademark of his career. A legend in another sport was fond of powder – baby powder. Wayne Gretzky used to put it on his stick before every game. The hockey player also did a range of other things before games, including drinking a Coca-Cola, a Diet Coke, and a water in a specific order.
- Not changing clothing
Serena Williams, considered by many as the best-ever female tennis player, with her perennial winning of championships, has the superstition of wearing the same pair of socks at her Grand Slam Matches. This is extremely common in the sports world. Many footballers are known for wearing the same “lucky” pair of cleats. Others refuse to change their clothes while they’re on a winning streak.
In cricket, some players follow the superstition of wearing the same set of pads or gloves for consecutive matches in this case. This often spreads to the whole team, further reinforcing their belief in the ritual’s power. Michael Jordan is known for wearing his college basketball shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls uniform during every game.
Golf legend Tiger Woods is known for wearing a red shirt during the final round of every tournament. This started early in his career and Woods continues to don it whenever he’s in contention on Sunday, believing that it brings him good fortune.
- Calling their shots
Babe Ruth, one of the most famous home-run hitters in baseball history, was famous for calling the landing places of his homerun balls. He would point his bat toward somewhere in the outfield, declaring that he was about to hit the pitch over the fence and that it would land in that spot. This started in the 1932 World Series Game 3. Since then, many other baseball players have copied this habit when they felt confident.
- Curses
Following up on the previous entry on the list, the curse of the bambino, that the Boston Red Sox team suffered for nearly a century is one of the most famous curses in sports. The team traded the famous homerun hitter Babe Ruth in 1919, and ever since then they never won another World Series. They seriously regretted the decision since the player went to a rival team, the New York Yankees. The curse lasted a whopping 85 years and only ended when the Sox finally won it in 2004.
A similar story happened to the Chicago Cubs in 1945 called the “Curse of the Billy Goat”, when a spectator was ejected from the stadium because he brought in a pet goal which the other fans said stunk too bad. Afterwards, he placed a curse on the team that they wouldn’t win another championship. They indeed didn’t win another World Series until 2016.
- Singing
This is a habit that many football fans enjoy engaging in, as it can unite an entire stadium and isn’t limited to the players. This is designed to also give support to their favorite team on the field and intimidate the other team. Though this isn’t a practice in American football among fans, Peyton Manning, an American football quarterback legend, also engaged in singing out loud on the sidelines. Manning did so to keep himself relaxed and focused before taking the field. This is a practice that countless athletes engage in as well, though normally before games.
- Not shaving
Roger Federer, the tennis great, is famous for not shaving before a big match. A lot of players think facial hair gives them good look, so Federer is seen sporting some stubble on his match days. This is a big superstition in many other sports as well, such as cricket and baseball.
