Athletes of all levels have shared for generations the stages of preparing for battle. Whether it be music, movies, meditation or other strategies all athletes have their own pre-game rituals, their own formula for victory, starting hours before they even suit up for competition.
“I try to focus during the day and not think about my social life because it distracts me,” Brendan Seeger, senior soccer player, said. “I try to eat healthy for lunch like maybe an apple or some other fruit and not go out to fast food during my open and I kind of just think about the game throughout the day to get myself in the zone.”
While Seeger tries to focus about the nights’ upcoming trials, Zach Till, senior quarterback, tries to clear his mind of them.
“During school [on Friday], I usually try to stay calm and not think about the game so I do not stress myself out. That pretty much never happens,” Till said. “I listen to some music during the day and that gets me pretty excited.”
Shannon McPeek, volleyball player, finds that visualizing the game throughout the school day helps her in her competition.
“During school I think about who were playing and what types of hits I have to use, and I try to get it through my head so I only have positive thoughts when it comes to the game and so I don’t get a negative mentality,” McPeek said. “I have to build up my confidence during school and visualize what I need to do.”
On the volleyball team, strengthening a team bond in the moments before game time is taken to the next level.
“We are never alone; we aren’t allowed to separate at all. Like, if one person has to go the bathroom, everyone has to go to the bathroom,” McPeek said. “We try to get our team oriented before a game so you just don’t separate or do your own thing. The only individual things we do before a game would be visualizing what we can do well, so that you can be there for the rest of your team.
Ashley Balda, junior swimmer, focuses on keeping a competitive mentality the day of competition.
“During the day I try to get a mental image in my head of what I’m supposed to do before a race, and then before I leave, I might listen to some music,” Balda said.
While everyone’s pregame rituals seem to be unique, one theme seems to keep coming up: music.
“Actually, I usually listen to chill music before my games,” Till said. “Like some Dirty Heads or Foo Fighters. Then when I get home from school, I usually play one game of NCAA Football and then head out.”
For Mike Rantis, senior football player, both music and movies are part of his process for getting into the game zone.
“Every Friday, I go home and watch the movie 300 because it’s really intense and gets me all pumped up. When I’m finished with the movie I head to the field. On the car ride I always listen to the same two songs: ‘Superman High’ and ‘Put On’, and when I get to the locker room, we’re blasting the game time playlist and it helps us get in the zone.”
Seeger also finds similar peace in listening to music while preparing for his games.
“Before my games, I come in 30 minutes earlier than the rest of the team and I put on my headphones and heat my back and my thighs to prevent past injuries catching up on me,” Seeger said. “Hard rock helps me get into the zone the best.”
To those who do not compete in sports, ‘the zone’ may sound as if it is the result of some flawless philosophy of achieving spiritual perfection by the way it is described by athletes. In fact, the zone is a mental state where athletes are “able to suppress or ignore negative thoughts, and have higher self-esteem and confidence,” according to WebMD.
“The zone for me is getting myself to where I can focus on only my job tonight,” Rantis said, “and I really focus on how this is my last year to finish with a state title, which I think motivates me even more to leave everything on the field and push as hard as possible. For most of us, this is the end, so we want to finish on top and build memories with my teammates for the future.”
Once athletes are in the zone and ready for their games, the routines seem to get rather uniform to each team.
“Once we get to school, we all just do our own things, get our uniforms on, check-in, say a prayer and do our captain speeches,” Till said.
For the soccer team, once all uniforms are on and players are ready to take the field to warm up, the team sits down together to watch the end of the sophomore soccer game.
“Before the game, we sit in the stands to wait for the field, and the guys are just silent, whereas usually we are messing around and talking,” Seeger said. “We get ourselves in the right mindset and ready for the game. Then, Brian Smith will give us a little pre-game speech. He’s just got a lot of energy and gives good pump-up speeches. He’s definitely the team pumper.”
The girl’s volleyball team also takes part in pre-game cheers and speeches before their games.
“Before we play, we always do our secret cheer that not even our coach knows about to get us pumped up and get us ready,” McPeek said.
For Balda, competition remains the key focus of her thoughts in the final moments before her race.
“Before I race, I look at who I’m racing against to get a good feel for the competition and check their times. Then I go talk to my coach, and he tells me what times he’s looking for for my event. Then I will go warm up, stretch out, and I have these huge headphones that I put on over my cap and I listen to music up until my race.”
All of this happening before the actual game may lead one to believe that the whole ordeal is all superstition, madness.
“I am a really superstitious person,” admits McPeek, “like before a game, our team puts on fake tattoos because we are superstitious, or I can’t put my knee pads on different knees; they have to be on the right knees”
However, of all the athletes interviewed, each one expressed that if they did not practice their pregame rituals the day of the game, they would not feel right.
“If I didn’t do [my pregame rituals],” Till said, “I feel like I might be messed up.”