How to use pre performance routines to improve your performance
Sport demands both physical and mental preparation. Athletes need to remain mentally calm, focused, and confident for optimal performances - one powerful tool that can assist athletes in this regard is the Pre-Performance Routine. In this post, we will break down the importance of routines for athletes, and then discuss a few strategies for creating effective pre-performance routines in our athletic endeavors.
First, let’s focus on the value of pre-performance routines (also referred to as pre-competition rituals or cues). Pre-performance routines consist of planned actions and behaviors exercised before an event to help prepare athletes mentally for optimal performance on that specific occasion.
Pre-Performance routines serve multiple important roles in our sporting experience:
Mental Prep:
Pre-Performance Routines Help Athletes Prepare Mentally: These routines enable athletes to focus, concentrate, and get in the appropriate state of mind before performing. By creating a sense of familiarity and stability for athletes before their performances, pre-performance routines allow athletes to feel more in control while remaining focused and concentrated during practice and competitions.
Emotional Regulation:
Pre-performance routines can help athletes regulate their emotions such as anxiety and nervousness by providing a structured way to relax before a competition, helping them remain composed under intense pressure and perform at their best as consistently as possible.
Performance Consistency:
Pre-Performance routines help athletes establish consistent performance patterns by providing a repetitive series of actions that primes them for optimal performance, in an effort to reduce variation between their results and actual ones. This leads to increased consistency, repeatability, and reduced variability when it comes to performance outcomes.
What steps can we take to create a routine that allows us to consistently perform at optimal levels?
Establishing effective pre-performance routines takes thoughtful planning to meet athletes' individual differences and preferences. Here are a few steps and tips that will assist in creating your own pre-performance regimen:
Define Key Elements of Routine:
Athletes should identify key elements essential to their mental and physical preparation, such as warm-up exercises, visualization techniques, breathing techniques, or mental focus cues that help put them into an ideal mental state for optimal performance. These elements should be chosen based on how effective they are at helping achieve peak performance in themselves and others.
Plan a Sequence:
Once key elements have been identified, athletes should develop an organized sequence of activities designed to help achieve their optimal performance in a consistent and structured fashion. It should be straightforward, practical, easy to remember, and tailored specifically to their preferences and needs.
Practice and Refine:
REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT! Repetition is key to success; athletes should dedicate ample training time to practicing their pre-performance routines and making adjustments based on feedback and personal experience. Consistent practice will allow this routine to become automatic and integrated into everyday activities.
Flexibility and Adaptability:
Pre-performance routines must be flexible enough to adjust for varied situations, such as different venues, schedules, or weather conditions. Future Hall-of-Fame Pitcher, Adam Wainwright, spoke during his warmup routine saying "If I am told I have 8 pitches to loosen up I can do that... you are what your brain tells you - you are." Athletes should be ready to adapt their routines according to changing conditions.
Mental Rehearsal:
Athletes can use visualization or imagery techniques as part of their mental rehearsal to practice their pre-performance routine before an athletic event, reinforcing and improving its efficacy in their minds. This technique can also help build muscle memory for their pre-performance routine and enhance its success.
Pre-Performance Routines Are an Essential Part Of Training And Competition Routines.
Let’s wrap this up! As athletes, we rely heavily on pre-performance routines as a tool to mentally prepare and optimize performance. By customizing and structuring a pre-performance routine with key elements such as planned and adjustable sequences that develop an ideal mindset to perform at our best consistently, athletes can create an effective pre-performance routine that aids and improves performance overall. Incorporating Pre-Performance routines into training and competition can significantly contribute towards improved mental readiness, emotional regulation, and consistency of performance in our effort to perform at our best.
Interested in exploring ways you can improve your ability to train and perform at your best on a consistent basis?
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Blog written by: Tanner Biwer