Superstition in Sports
Superstition by definition is a belief or practice that an action, object or situation not directly related to a course of events will influence its outcome. For people who believe in it, they try to control an outcome either because they want it to happen or prevent it’s occurrence. Certain superstitions are so ingrained in modern society, they have simply become second nature and one forgets their origins. For example, we knock on wood for good luck after expressing optimism. This superstition comes from the ancient pagan belief that fairies and spirits lived in trees and in wood. One unique example is saying “bless you” or “God bless you” after someone sneezes, which is now a reflex response in our society. Historically, sneezes were said to be an omen or warning from the gods. According to David Myers, a professor of history at Fordham University, when the first plague that weakened the now Christian Roman Empire occurred around 590, Pope Gregory the Great believed that a sneeze was an early warning sign of plague, so he commanded Christians to respond to a sneeze with a blessing. Despite people not being quite sure why “bless you” is said, it is an unconscious response to show politeness or simply not to appear rude to the individual who sneezed.
The form of superstition in sports is more intentional. Athletes and coaches want to win during their competitive activity, and their superstitions or mechanisms that improve focus as described by Rafael Nadal involves repetitive rituals and is a commonly practiced in sports.
In this blog post, I take a look at my top 10 interesting superstitions/rituals observed in different sports.
10. Les Miles - Eats grass during games
Les Miles is an American football coach who is notorious for eating some of the grass on the field before every game and during high pressure situations. He explained the origin of the habit where during his right field playing days, nobody hit the ball in that direction and he needed something to do. Sounds fair enough!
9. Lebron James - Chalk toss
The famous NBA superstar performs his trademark ritual of throwing chalk in the air and clapping his hands before tipoff of a game. Although he stopped doing this for some years, he hasn’t completely abandoned the ritual which he recently did on his return to Cleveland in a 115-108 Lakers win this year. Lebron doesn’t remember the first time he started the chalk toss, he realised fans embraced the famous ritual and it set his mind and focus on the game task. He also described loving the boos when he did it in games on the road and even better with the chanting in home games. Hopefully we see it more often.
8. Barthez & Blanc - Head kiss
France’s World Cup win in 1998 also involved a superstitious pre-match routine where Laurent Blanc kissed goalkeeper Fabian Barthez’s bald head as a lucky charm. As strange as it was, it did win them the most prestigious competition in football.
7. Kolo Toure - Last to walk onto the pitch
Kolo Toure who was a key part of Arsenal’s Invincibles team that went unbeaten in 2003/2004 premier league season, also had his pre-game superstition where he had to be the last player to walk onto the pitch. During the 2009 champions league game versus Roma, he was so keen to preserve this ritual that when his fellow teammate William Gallas was receiving injury treatment at halftime, Toure waited for him and failed to realise the game restarted without both players. To make things worse, he then received a yellow card because he rejoined without getting permission from the referee.
6. Serena Williams - Same socks
The 23 time Gran Slam champion has a few superstitions like bouncing the ball five times before the first serve and twice before the second, tying her shoe exactly the same and using the same shower before every match. In fact, in 2007 she believed it contributed to her French open defeat in the quarter finals. For me, her most interesting one is her ritual of wearing the same pair of unwashed socks until the end of a tournament. It seems to have worked for her so why not?
5. Richie Ashburn- Sleeping next to his baseball bats
Ashburn had a 15-year career in Major League Baseball, and for a baseball player it makes sense to preserve your bat as much as possible. Ashburn took no chances when he was on a hot streak. He always had a fear his bats could go missing if he left them in the dugout, or clubhouse attendants mixing them with the rest of the inferior ones. So what did he decide to do? He brought his bats home and didn’t leave them in random spots but in his bed instead. No wonder he had a dream career.
4. Gary Lineker - No shots during warm up
The former England international footballer and current Match of the Day presenter won the Golden Boot in the 1986 World Cup. His superstition is related to this as he never took shots during the warm up of a game to avoid wasting a goal. He did end up scoring 281 goals throughout his career, so his routine must have done something right?
3. Sanya Richards-Ross - Bullet necklace
Sanya Richards represented the U.S. in every Olympic Games from 2004-2012, finishing with 4 gold medals and 1 bronze combined in 400 metre races including relays. Her mum gave her a bullet necklace and told her she was faster than a speeding bullet, and she once recalled one time she didn’t wear it and finished in third place. When she was asked by a twitter user what her race day rituals involved, her response was “Sleep! Lots of it! Lol and my bullet!” before she then clarified in a subsequent tweet saying “My bullet necklace! It's my good luck charm”.
2. Emile Smith Rowe - Low socks
The 20 year old Arsenal player who recently broke into the first team with impressive performances, is always observed wearing his socks really low. You guessed it, the reason for this is also a superstition where he feels like it gives him more freedom.
1. Rafael Nadal
Nadal’s superstition hasn’t been named because he has a lot of them. As mentioned earlier, to him they are mechanisms to help him focus. They include him always taking a cold shower before the game, walking on the court with a single racket in his hand, placing of his bag down on a bench and always turning his tournament ID face up, taking off his jacket while jumping, eating his energy gel the same way, jumping during the coin toss, running to the baseline for warmups, always crossing lines with his right foot and always avoids stepping on the line, getting his face towel after every point, only sipping his recovery drink and water in the same order before meticulously placing them in the same positions. There are a few others like giving his trophies a "love bite" , a tradition that can be traced back to the ancient Olympic Games when the prospectors bit the medal to test its purity.
Dr Keith Kaufman specialises in sports psychology and he spoke about how these rituals may help athletes believe they are going to be more successful. The power of belief certainly has a role to play, and for athletes going through the same routine can have a positive effect. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and the power of superstition in sports and in our regular lives is most likely linked to this.