Superstitions help athletes cope in stressful situations

February 10, 2009 • Jordan Caine  
Filed under Sports

Former NBA player Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the best basketball player of all time, religiously wore his blue University of North Carolina shorts under his Bulls uniform.  

NBA player Mike Bibby has a superstition to match Jordan’s. Formerly a Sacramento Kings player, now playing for the Atlanta Hawks, Bibby clips his fingernails while on the bench.  

Bibby believes this will help him play better reported the authors of Hooped Up Online, during their article titled “Bizarre NBA Athlete Superstitions.”  

Many basketball players believe the last person to shoot a basket in warm-up will have a good game and that wiping the soles of sneakers is good luck.  

“Bouncing the ball before taking a foul shot will give players a better chance at making the shot,” said Michael Morrison in his article, “Sports Superstitions” on Fact Monster.    

Superstitions rule the minds of many athletes, both on and off the field. 

“They (superstitions) are a coping mechanism to deal with the pressure to succeed,” said New York certified psychologist Dr. Richard Lustberg.  

“They (athletes) begin to believe – they, in fact, want to believe – that their routine of choice is enhancing their performance.  In reality it is just practice and confidence that make them perform better,” said Lustberg.    

“I think they (sports superstitions) are very common for high performance athletes who really want to succeed.  They may be as low key as just showing up before a game at a certain time or wearing a special pair of socks.  They are more like habits or routines,” said history teacher Mark Tichenor.  

Superstitions may well create confidence inside players and coaches.  Confidence makes athletes perform better, noted Lustberg on his website The Psychology of Sports.    

“I find that most athletes have superstitions,” said sports psychology teacher Dave Turnbull. 

“I, myself, had to get all my jerseys out before a game, because I thought it was bad luck if I didn’t.  Superstitions are about self-confidence and anything that can give you an edge,” said Turnbull.    

“I think that my white jersey is luckier. Face paint does wonders and the matching shirts brought us good luck,” said junior Bre Munsell about superstitions involving her JV soccer team.

A study conducted by CBC Sports found baseball players to be more prone to superstition.  

Baseball players think it is lucky to spit into their hands before picking up the bat as well as sticking gum on their hats.  

Good luck is also rumored to come if players step on one of the bases before running off the field at the end of an inning, stated James Lincoln Ray in his article “Famous Baseball Superstitions.” 

To prolong a round of good games or to get out of a slump, baseball players will even sleep with their bats said Ray.  

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Normar Garciaparra, gets dressed the same way every day, steps on each dugout step with both feet, tugs at his batting gloves and taps on his toes during each at-bat. He believes this routine will bring him good luck reported Stan Grossfeld in his article,”Quirk of Fortune”, for The Boston Globe Newspaper.  

Football players have few superstitions, and most of them fall into the category of taboos.  Taking a new number when switching teams can be very unlucky.   

Superstitions for good luck in football include having double numbers on a player’s uniform and having a mascot noted Michael Morrison on Fact Monster.  

Soccer superstitions have many differences from the superstitions of other sports said the website Soccer Training Info.  These superstitions seem more like routines that the players perform before every game.   

“All throughout state cup (Oregon State Cup soccer tournament) I didn’t wash my green and blue sports bra and wore it to all the games,” said varsity soccer player Taylor Collinsworth. 

Collinsworth’s team, the THUSC Neon, went on to win the Oregon State Cup and compete at the Regional tournament in Hawaii.  

Rio Ferdinand, defensive center back for the Manchester United team, pours water down his face while in the tunnel before every game.  He then proceeds to jump over every white line when he steps onto the field to bring good luck to both his team and himself, said the article “Soccer Superstitions” on Goaligans Soccer Blog.  

Multi-sport athlete and sophomore Amy Gieber follows a routine before each of her soccer games, as well.    

“Every time before a game, I have to do Pele’s (a soccer drill) with a partner,” said Gieber. 

Freshman soccer player Aaron Chriss eats spaghetti before every game. 

Chriss’s superstition is similar to the superstition of baseball player Wade Boggs. 

Boggs, who played as a third-baseman for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, was known as the “Chicken Man.”  He ate poultry the day before every game, along with his other superstitions, stated Carter Gaddis on Tampa Bay Online.  

No one knows if this was to put more protein in his system or just a compulsive action.    

Soccer superstitions don’t seem as crazy as the superstitions that come from other sports, but everything has exceptions.

Romanian striker Adrian Mutu wards off bad luck by wearing his underwear inside out reported Quazi Zulquarnain Islam on Lifestyle.

Mutu believes this act will keep him from playing bad.    

Although superstitions create confidence in a player, they simply act as coping devices that athletes create to help themselves improve.  

Athletes cannot become dependent on their superstition.  They become slaves to their particular routine or habit.  Gary Neville, an English soccer player, has a great take on superstitions and how they can control athletes.

“Someone pointed out to me last year that I’ve worked all my life to be a professional footballer (soccer player), and yet it comes down to what I’m wearing as to how well I play,” said Neville.  

Although sports superstitions do help athletes perform better, it is purely psychological. Many doctors, including Lustberg, think it is healthier for high performance athletes to be confident in themselves rather than in their routines or superstitions.