Do you have a mental preparation routine you use prior to each competition? The pregame warm up is much more than a physical warm up. You have to use this time to be mentally ready to compete. Most top athletes use pregame mental preparation routines to feel ready to perform their best and consistently perform up to their physical talent!
Hall of fame player Hank Aaron attributed much of his success in baseball to his mental preparation–both before and during the game. Aaron was one of the best hitters in the history of baseball and is a huge advocate of the mental game. When Aaron struggled to get a hit against a pitcher, he would go back to the dugout to study that pitcher.
Aaron believed that mental preparation and doing his “homework” was the key to becoming a top, consistent hitter year after year. He was a master at studying the pitcher before games. “I think about how a guy mentally prepares himself to do battle, to go out and face the pitcher. I think so many hitters do not know how to get themselves prepared to play or hit against a pitcher. You have to mentally be prepared to hit against all pitchers.” (Hanson, 1991)
Aaron treated each game differently because he had to face a different pitcher, and this required concentration on and visualization of the pitcher’s stuff. “You visualize [pitches]. You see it in your head; you think about it… I used to play every pitcher in my mind before I went to the ballpark. I started getting ready for every game the moment I woke up.” (Aaron & Wheeler, 1991)
Today, the world’s top athletes use pregame rituals or routines to help create the proper mindset for competition and practice. Your mental preparation should start a long time before the competition and involves more than just visualizing a successful performance. Pregame routines instill confidence, focus, and a success-oriented mindset at the start of competition.
Abby Wombach, the 3rd highest all-time goal scorer of the US Women’s National Soccer Team, understands the importance of mental preparation during her pregame routine to help her play at peak levels. How does she mentally prepare for big games?
“Coming into every game, I’m just trying to mentally prepare myself to leave it all on the field. Four hours before the game I eat a good meal — nothing too heavy. I hydrate all day long and I do a lot of mental imagery, I picture myself playing the game, I see myself doing all those things that my team is counting on me to do,” said Wombach.
She likes to keep her team and herself loose before a game with music and dance. “Before the games, I’m kinda a goofball. I’m always dancing, singing, anything to calm people down. I guess I’m really trying to keep myself calm too a little bit.”
Athletes ask me if they can take mental preparation too far and over-analyze their game or focus too much on the opposition. My answer is…. Yes! I’ve worked with athletes who tire themselves out mentally and physically because they focus too much on an upcoming game and stress themselves out. You want to feel both fresh and ready before competition so you have to find a balance.