On the 13th, ahead of the national soccer team’s friendly match against Saudi Arabia, players gathered in a circle near the center line with their arms around each other’s shoulders. However, captain Son Heung-min (31, Tottenham) was not there. Son Heung-min jumped nearby, stamping his left and right feet twice and then joining in the zigzag movement. It is his own ‘routine’. Son Heung-min played an active role between midfield and the front line on this day, leading the team to a 1-0 victory. Son Heung-min also has a routine where he starts with his right foot when entering the stadium.
In the world of sports, there are many athletes who fall into a routine of repeating certain actions and movements before and after a game. I believe that only by doing so can I find psychological stability and maximize my performance. Japanese professional baseball hero Ichiro Suzuki (50, retired) is a player who has reached the peak in that field. Like a monk, he filled his 24 hours a day with routine. I wake up at 10 a.m. every morning, eat curry made by my wife at 1:40 p.m., and always arrive at the baseball stadium 5 hours before the game starts. Every time he goes to bat, he extends his right arm holding the bat towards the pitcher and grabs his right shoulder with his left hand. His teammate, pitcher R.A. Dickey (49, retired), said, “During training, Ichiro kept every minute precise, from the number of batting swings to the time to use the bathroom. “He didn’t change at all throughout the 162 games of the season.” Ichiro explains, “It’s about keeping the promise you made to yourself. If you think about the sense of responsibility and obligation to show your best self, it will happen automatically.” Tiger Woods (48, USA) hits all the clubs in order at the practice range right before the game, then as the last step of practice, he grabs the club he will use for the first hole tee shot and takes the shot while imagining the wind and pin location. If he doesn’t get it right, he wipes his hands on a towel, then takes out the club again and plays the shot.
A routine that you can control gives you a sense of stability
According to a study by Professor Damien Brevers of University College London (UCL), more than 74% of athletes believe that routines unrelated to training affect actual performance. Experts explain that a routine that players can control provides psychological stability.
The boundaries between routines, training habits, habits, superstitions, and jinxes are actually blurry. Like Ichiro, there are routines that are related to the training schedule, while there are also many routines that people are obsessed with that have nothing to do with their skills. Athletes relieve tension by performing their individual routines like magic. U.S. professional baseball player Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays) eats the food he ate right before a winning game as a starting pitcher for every meal until he becomes a losing pitcher. One of them was staying in hot water exceeding 50 degrees for over 30 minutes before throwing the ball. The reason is that it makes you feel at ease rather than because there is any dynamic relationship.
Pitcher Stephen Kline (51, retired), who played in the U.S. professional baseball major league in the 1990s and 2000s, wore the same hat throughout the season. Others shook their heads, saying it stinks, but he said he felt proud (that he played the game with dedication) as much as his hat got dirty. Kim Woo-jin (31), who will be the Korean archery star at the Hangzhou Asian Games, does not eat food associated with ominous expressions such as ‘bang’ (ppangjeom) and ‘juk’ (juksunda) on match days. This is actually closer to superstition. Kim Yong-se, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Sports Policy and Science, said, “Sports have many external factors that cannot be controlled, such as the stadium environment and spectators. “The fact that they can control their actions wherever they are puts the players’ minds at ease,” he said. However, he added, “If you start to associate certain actions that cannot be performed consistently every time with the results of the game, it can create superstitious beliefs that are like a jinx.” Men’s Tennis Coach Lee Hyeong-taek (47) When he was a player, Orion coach had the jinx of losing if he saw his mother in the stands. He could not tell his mother not to come, and tried not to look at the stands as much as possible, but he could not escape this jinx until he retired.카지노
Get a mental coach to prevent jinx deterioration.
The team also takes measures to minimize players being swayed by non-competitive factors such as these. Cheongju KB Stars, a women’s professional basketball team, has had a separate mental coach since 2015. There is coach Choi Ok-sook, a former sports psychologist. He said, “I look for players who suffer from an obsession with routine by watching them train and talking to them. It is said that routines are good for psychological stability, but it can become difficult if there are more than 3 or 4 of them. “So, we inform them through ongoing counseling that a specific routine has nothing to do with performance.” Among the players on the team, there was a player who said he had to eat raw food (e.g. raw meat or raw fish) right before the game, but he was anxious during overseas away games where it was difficult to find raw food. So Coach Choi said, “After several months of consistent interviews, she was able to cure that jinx.”
Men’s tennis Rafael Nadal (37, Spain) has 12 routines that he must follow. Place drinking water bottles with the label facing the court. Take a cold shower 45 minutes before the game. The only way to wipe sweat with a towel is when the points change. Outsiders debate whether this is a jinx or a routine, but Nadal actually says, “I’ve never worried about it. “I just do it because I want to,” he said.
☞Routine:
The act of a sports player repeating a specific movement on or off the field. It has the effect of finding body rhythm and providing psychological stability. If it approaches obsession, it can turn into a jinx.
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