Why Be Routine?





Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.


--Jim Ryun


One of the nice things about being a sport psychologist is that you have access to things others may not. For example, the United States Olympic Committee publishes a quarterly e-magazine called The Olympic Coach.


The most recent issue features an article by Sean McCann, Ph.D. who is one of the USOC Performance Services Sport Psychologists. In it, he answers the question, "why be routine?"


To be clear, by routine I'm referring to those things athletes do before they compete. Pre-competitive routines include everything from what an athlete does when he or she wakes up the morning of a competition, to the procedure an athlete does once he or she arrives at a competition site, to an athlete's warm-up routine, to an athlete's final preparation seconds before he or she competes.


Considerable research has shown that pre-competitive routines effectively control arousal and enhance the consistency and quality of athletic performance.


If this were any other post on the Sportsminded blog, here is where I would begin describing the research in greater detail. But this post is different -- it's more practice than theory. Instead, I'm going to give you a Reader's Digest version of McCann's list of 7 things routines do for athletes.


  1. A routine increases a sense of familiar in a new environment. McCann states, "a routine can make even the strangest sports environment seem normal, familiar, and most importantly, comfortable." That's why you'll see so many athletes at the Beijing Olympics listening to their iPods prior to competition. There is nothing like your favorite playlist to make you feel like you're back home.



  2. A routine helps an athlete stay active and focused on useful behaviors. The worst thing we can do before a competition is start thinking -- especially about things that are not helpful to our performance.



  3. A routine enhances feelings of control and confidence. Here McCann refers to the old saying, "practice like it is a competition, compete like it is a practice." Simple routines done in practice and in competition keep us consistent, thus allowing us to feel in control.



  4. A routine helps make useful behaviors automatic. There are two implications to this: (a) it's important to make sure we learn to do something right the first time before it becomes a pattern, and (b) automatic behaviors means less thinking and before a race, the less thinking we do the better. This lead us to...


  5. A routine increases the opportunity for the brain to focus on important things. McCann writes that, "routines that take care of the little things an athlete has to do to get ready, free up brain space to focus on things that really matter. If you want to have an excellent warm-up, you must be fully focused on the warm-up, and not wondering about something left undone." In my experience, a lot of pre-race stress can be eliminated if athletes get into the habit of packing their gear the night before. It's far easier and less stressful to realize you forgot to something you'll need to compete while there is still time to get it as opposed to running around the house in the morning just as you are supposed to be leaving for a race, or worse yet, realizing it's missing when you get to the race site.


  6. A routine helps reduce thinking and decision making. When we are stressed we have a difficult time making decisions, and the ones we make are often not the best. McCann writes that, "decisions about simple things become overemphasized, and athletes will often freeze up, wasting valuable time as they agonize over what pair of shoes to put in their backpack. Athletes weighted down with worry or unable to make a decision are wasting energy. At big events, energy is a precious commodity." If you always do the same thing you don't have to make decisions.


  7. A routine helps prevent dumb mistakes. I'm sure you've been told to never try something new at a competition. A race is not the time to try out a new race clothes you've never worn before or try a technique you've never done before (just ask someone who has and he or she will tell you why). Sticking to a routine prevents last minute changes that could result in coming in last. McCann writes, "I have seen Olympic medals lost by athletes who decide to try something new, or do something new, based on a decision made under pressure."


A word of caution. A performance routine is not the same as a ritual. Making sure you lay out your gear the night before a competition is a routine. Only having Lucky Charms for breakfast before a race is a ritual -- especially if you think you won't perform well if you run out of Lucky Charms and have to eat Coco Puffs instead.


Rituals are superstitious. They are pre-competitive actions that athletes feel they must adhere to. Athletes imbue them with great importance to their performance even when they serve no practical function in preparation for competing. Rituals are inflexible. An athlete believes that the ritual must be done or the athlete won't perform well.


In contrast, routines are flexible. They can be adapted to unique aspects of the competitive situation. If your warm-up routine is to swim for 15 minutes prior to the start of a triathlon and the race directors aren't letting anyone in the water, then you adapt your routine, perhaps running to warm-up instead.


So develop a pre-performance routine (or two). Practice it prior to competition. And then stick to it. Be flexible enough to modify it when circumstances require, but strong enough to not let anything detour you from it when circumstances allow.

Now it's your turn. I'd love to hear about your experiences with performance routines. And for you brave ones out there, how about sharing a ritual or two (I promise not to make fun of you for being superstitious!).


Reference: McCann, S. (2008, March). Routines, rituals and performing under pressure. The Olympic Coach.


0 comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)