“To succeed…You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you”
Tony Dorsett

Many athletes hold pregame superstitions and rituals as a key to success, and football players are no exception. The idea that any repeated routine can actually produce better performance is accurate when the pregame practices develop mental focus and confidence on the football field.

The successful athlete with a strong football mind realizes the mental preparation needed to sustain mental toughness throughout the four quarters of a game. Effectively understanding the power a pregame routine holds over the mindset and confidence a player takes into the opening kickoff is critical to success and dominating your opponent.

When analyzing a pregame routine, it is important to that it meets the following criteria so that it is truly mental preparation for success, and not merely a physical exercise.

• It must proactively strengthen your confidence to face the harsh conditions in football. There will be hits, whether it is you giving the hits or receiving. A player must maintain a strong football confidence and focus to withstand the physical play of the game. Whether it is listening to pumped up music, chest bumping a teammate, or the group yell before bursting through the team banner for an entrance, the ritual must effectively instill the belief that “I’m better than my opponent”.

• It must prepare you to focus on the mental process of becoming game ready. Some players put their pads and jerseys on in a certain order, or lace their cleats a specific way. These are examples of the process of preparation that instills confidence in your equipment and your body because you maintain consistency. There is a calmness that occurs when athletes associate with a routine. If a player owns “Lucky” socks, then most assuredly they are lucky because they were previously worn and found success. Anything, no matter how mundane, can relieve anxiety of the unknown, and therefore allow for a stronger mental focus. The knowledge in your process allows you to say, “I’m ready!”

• It must allow you to trust your training and practice. This can be as simple as the order of stretching exercises, agility drills, or even the way an athletic trainer tapes an ankle. Your nutrition choices before a game and the methods you decide to maintain hydration are all critical to football confidence and believing, “I’m prepared!”

• It must remind you of what your goals are for the game. Effective pregame routines keep a player’s focus on their role of the team, and their methods of execution, not concern over an opponent, fans, the media, or any other negative distracters. Mental preparation for football includes analyzing thoughts hours before the game, and consciously choosing to maintain a positive mindset. It allows you to say, “Bring it!”

The pressures and excitement of game day provide many distractions to mental focus and football confidence prior to the game. Effectively utilizing pre game routines allows for players to diminish nervous anxiety while boosting mental toughness and positive energy toward achieving their goals for the game.