BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - Superstitious and pre-game rituals are common among many athletes, as they believe these practices could lead to them having good luck and help in their overall performance.
We often see footballers touch to grass before they take the field, we see Usain Bolt doing his antics before each race regardless of the magnitude and even Tim Teebow of the New York Jets kneel and pray before every game which sparked the worldwide sensation ‘Teebowing’.
But do these rituals actually help or hinder the athletes.
A study by psychologists at the University of Cologne in Germany found in two experiments that superstition triumphed in both cases.
In one experiment, participants were given either a lucky golf ball or an ordinary one before being asked to sink a putt. Those with a so-called lucky ball were more successful.
Participants were also asked to bring along a lucky charm, but these were confiscated from half of them before making them take a memory test. Those who kept their lucky charm performed better, the scientists reported in 2010 in Psychological Science.
Some athletes have some very strange rituals of which many are just bizarre and unimaginable.
One local cricketer stated that he would not dare to change his socks following a victory, noting that the socks and feet have to correspond following the previous victory.
Here is a look at some real outrageous superstitions of some popular athletes.
West Indian cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards admitted that if he played cricket without chewing gum he would feel some form of emptiness inside him. ?
NBA star Jason Terry likes to get to know his opponents intimately before each and every game. On the night before the game, he sleeps in a pair of the opposing team’s shorts.
Oakland Raiders’ defensive tackle John Henderson’s pre-game ritual makes the assistant team trainer ‘bitchslap’ him as hard as he could before every game to settle him down.
Miami Heat's Ray Allen has a fairly strict pre-game routine. Nap from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., a meal of chicken and rice at 2:30 p.m., then he will shave his head and walk out onto the court at exactly 4:30 p.m. If any part of that gets messed up, Allen is not a happy camper.
Before each game, Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers sits on what he calls “the throne of grace" to release all of the bad stuff from his body, so that when he plays "only the good stuff comes out".
West Indian fast bowler Kemar Roach made it known that gold is his good luck charm. He stated that he had to be the last to walk on the field and his left foot had to first cross the field.
One would not imagine that the greatest professional basketball player of all time would rely on superstition, but Michael Jordan himself was known for a specific oddity. During his legendary career, the five-time MVP wore his University of North Carolina shorts under his uniform in every game.
Jordan led UNC to the NCAA Championships in 1982 and believed the mesh marvels brought him luck. In order to cover his lucky pair, Jordan began wearing longer shorts, which inspired a trend in the NBA.
Even while single handedly dominating the sport of golf, Tiger Woods would always wear a red shirt during the final rounds of any tournament.
Woods later explained the reasoning of this superstition, stating that he wears red because his mother told him as a child that his power is his highest when he wears red, as it is tied to his Capricorn sign.
Local sprint sensation Kim Collins, the 2003 World 100 meter Champion, said he travels with hot sauce wherever he goes to compete and it always goes on his food when he is away running.
“It’s a hot pepper sauce but more flavoury than the normal burn-your-mouth hot sauce. If you find the food tasteless abroad, it makes it more enjoyable,” Collins said.
“I can’t say for sure that it actually helps me run faster – but it’s never done me any harm. My first Olympics was in 1996 and I’ll have done five of them after this one,” he added.
The strangest superstition that was discovered while doing research for this article was the practice done by boxer Juan Manuel Marquez, who used to drink his own urine before fights because it is healthy and helps him win.
In an episode of HBO's 24/7 Mayweather vs. Marquez, the boxer was seen drinking his own urine and said he does so because it has proteins and vitamins.
These superstations, in some cases, seem to have the potential to hurt athletes instead of helping them, because the individuals may become too consumed with fulfilling these practices instead of focusing on the field of play.
Do you feel these practices help or hinder athletes, and do have superstitious or pre-game rituals? If yes, would you like to share them?
