Rituals focus, calm athletes
Mark Hensch
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Sports
Hillsdale College head football coach Keith Otterbein walks the brick path toward Saga every home game. Along the way, the ATO fraternity alum looks for a donor brick with the familiar symbol. As soon as Otterbein finds one, he does not look again.
Otterbein's actions illustrate the popularity of superstition and ritual amongst Hillsdale's athletics program. Be it players or coaches, many of Hillsdale's finest perform personal rites amidst competition for peace of mind.
"All rituals or superstitions are about one thing - the coach or player getting into their comfort zone prior to competition," Otterbein said. "The more one feels in control of their life, the more one feels in a pivotal state of mind for competition."
Otterbein said this desire for constant routine runs strong. He said he needs Big Red gum in his office on game day or his routine feels off. Also necessary is a tentative victory cigar should Hillsdale win its game.
Encountering pouring rain the day of the Sept. 13 home game, Otterbein said he happily walked with an umbrella rather than miss his scheduled hike.
"I do the same thing every week of the season as I love routine, I love the expected," Otterbein said. "I can measure the way things are going if everything is the same."
Senior Dave Hebert performs his weekly rituals for much the same reason. A runner in the 400-meter dash and 400m hurdle track races, Hebert said he becomes nervous if he cannot complete any of his meet-day preparations. Such duties include wearing the same pair of basketball shorts during a race and shaving his beard the night before a meet.
"I feel more comfortable doing the things I do before a race as it helps me run better," Hebert said. "It feels like good preparation as you cannot control a game or competition's outcome, but you can control a ritual."
Freshman intramural soccer left-winger Max Nichols said it is this level of power which attracts athletes to rituals. By possessing dominance over an aspect of competition, he said, players become calmer when they enter the uncertainty of a sporting event.
Otterbein's actions illustrate the popularity of superstition and ritual amongst Hillsdale's athletics program. Be it players or coaches, many of Hillsdale's finest perform personal rites amidst competition for peace of mind.
"All rituals or superstitions are about one thing - the coach or player getting into their comfort zone prior to competition," Otterbein said. "The more one feels in control of their life, the more one feels in a pivotal state of mind for competition."
Otterbein said this desire for constant routine runs strong. He said he needs Big Red gum in his office on game day or his routine feels off. Also necessary is a tentative victory cigar should Hillsdale win its game.
Encountering pouring rain the day of the Sept. 13 home game, Otterbein said he happily walked with an umbrella rather than miss his scheduled hike.
"I do the same thing every week of the season as I love routine, I love the expected," Otterbein said. "I can measure the way things are going if everything is the same."
Senior Dave Hebert performs his weekly rituals for much the same reason. A runner in the 400-meter dash and 400m hurdle track races, Hebert said he becomes nervous if he cannot complete any of his meet-day preparations. Such duties include wearing the same pair of basketball shorts during a race and shaving his beard the night before a meet.
"I feel more comfortable doing the things I do before a race as it helps me run better," Hebert said. "It feels like good preparation as you cannot control a game or competition's outcome, but you can control a ritual."
Freshman intramural soccer left-winger Max Nichols said it is this level of power which attracts athletes to rituals. By possessing dominance over an aspect of competition, he said, players become calmer when they enter the uncertainty of a sporting event.
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