Most people are creatures of habit. Athletes are especially noted for their pre-event manners. Whether you call the mannerisms a habit, ritual or superstition, athletes are some of the most recognizable people who follow a specific routine. Most fans probably don’t notice many of the routines athletes do while playing sports. If you observe closely the routine is very consistent, for example, a basketball player bounces a ball a few times before a free throw attempt. Do you ever count the bounces? With very few exceptions the number of bounces will be the same. The same goes for an athlete bouncing a tennis ball before the serve. Watching a golfer wiggle and set their feet is almost always the same as they get ready to drive a ball or putt. The number of wiggles is almost always the same number every time. A baseball or softball player swings a bat before stepping up to the plate, and the batting gloves are tightened after every pitch. What kind of glove loosens so much after every pitch that it needs to be tightened? Most gloves have a good Velcro system to tighten the glove and remain snug. Even if the batter does not swing they will retighten the glove.
Some of these mannerisms involve a certain hand movement. Watch Rafael Nadal before he serves a tennis ball, and there are different touches on the face before the serve. I imagine most athletes do not really count the number of bounces of the ball or the hand mannerisms before a serve or shot. They have done the routine so many times it is natural. If for some reason the routine is interrupted and stopped the athlete will start the entire routine over again.
I started to wonder if runners had any of these mannerisms or routines. Runners do not have a bat, racquet, or golf club to use for a mannerism. Runners do not have any balls to bounce or toss in the air, so I tried to think of any mannerisms or routines runners do before going for a run. One routine for runners is the pre-race stretching ritual. Stretching calf muscles, hamstrings and the shoulders are always done in the same sequence. Maybe the mannerism is always putting either the left or right shoe on first. It might be the way the knot is tied on the shoe so it doesn’t come loose during the run. There is always the pre-race meal that is eaten before a marathon. The carbo-loading with spaghetti is a ritual many marathon runners participate in the day prior to the race.
Some of these routine mannerisms came about out of necessity. A good example is the routine use of petroleum jelly on the body to stop a rubbing irritation of the skin. This is mostly true for long runs or before a marathon. My routine started with the inner thighs to stop rubbing on the skin. Then it moved to the inside of the upper arms that became raw after a long run. Shortly after that, it was putting the jelly on my nipples that were sore from the rubbing of my t-shirt or tank top. The last area was the eyebrows. On hot days the sweat would roll into my eyes and cause them to burn. A little petroleum jelly on the eyebrows caused the sweat to roll off the side of my face and not get in my eyes. Before a long run or a marathon, the ritual of putting petroleum jelly on all the different parts of my body meant my pre-race ritual started about 15 minutes before the stretching and warming up.
One other noticeable habit for runners is their obsession with the stopwatch on their wrist. Looking at runners before a race, you’ll notice how many of them are in the set position with one hand on that watch. Looking at photos of runners crossing the finish lines, they often are holding their watch to stop it as they cross the finish. I have known runners that stop their watch if for some reason they are forced to stop. I know one runner that saw a car start to roll into the street from a gas station — he stopped the watch, jumped in the car to stop it, got out of the car and restarted the watch as he continued his run. The best example I saw was on a run when my running partner twisted his ankle on a rock. His watch was stopped before he yelled out in pain and stopped. Now that is a fast reaction to stopping a watch.
The one thing that will be a routine for sports fans is that now that the different mannerisms of athletes are mentioned, they will start counting the number of bounces or wiggles the athlete does.
