The rites and rituals of sport
July 27, 2016 9:22 AM Subscribe
One of my favorite aspects of playing a sport or engaging in an activity are the rituals participants do to prepare. I want to know what people do to prepare for their activity of choice.
I love hearing about and watching people who are really into their sport or chosen activity. To me, each activity is like a secret society with its own unique way of preparing people and these are just so fascinating. Ballerinas pounding their pointe shoes a specific way, baseball players softening their gloves, knitters winding their yarn-- I want to know more! What steps are taken and what tools are prepared before battle?
I love hearing about and watching people who are really into their sport or chosen activity. To me, each activity is like a secret society with its own unique way of preparing people and these are just so fascinating. Ballerinas pounding their pointe shoes a specific way, baseball players softening their gloves, knitters winding their yarn-- I want to know more! What steps are taken and what tools are prepared before battle?
Best answer: Many tennis players will align the strings on their racquets between points. This isn't something that happens before a whole match battle but before an individual point battle. You will also probably see it more from the returning players rather than the server.
When you strike the ball, the interlaced strings can lose their position in the grid of the racquet face, so players will move them back into position to set the grid right again.
This practice may help with even striking of the ball. More than that, though, I think it helps keep players focused. When you stare at your strings, it gives your mind a focal point, a place to remain steady before the coming serve.
posted by mr_bovis at 9:35 AM on July 27, 2016
When you strike the ball, the interlaced strings can lose their position in the grid of the racquet face, so players will move them back into position to set the grid right again.
This practice may help with even striking of the ball. More than that, though, I think it helps keep players focused. When you stare at your strings, it gives your mind a focal point, a place to remain steady before the coming serve.
posted by mr_bovis at 9:35 AM on July 27, 2016
does licking your hrm strap count?
posted by andrewcooke at 9:52 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by andrewcooke at 9:52 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Most hockey players also have a specified order of putting on equipment that's unique to each player.
It's traditional to be led out onto the ice from the locker room by your starting goaltender.
There are a handful of things I do during warmups - specific stretches, taking a practice shot from a certain spot, saying an Our Father and a Hail Mary - that has become my routine.
ESPN had an article maybe a year ago about some athletes' superstitions that was really enjoyable. I can't find it now, but in general, searching "athlete superstitions" should find you some interesting results.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:55 AM on July 27, 2016
It's traditional to be led out onto the ice from the locker room by your starting goaltender.
There are a handful of things I do during warmups - specific stretches, taking a practice shot from a certain spot, saying an Our Father and a Hail Mary - that has become my routine.
ESPN had an article maybe a year ago about some athletes' superstitions that was really enjoyable. I can't find it now, but in general, searching "athlete superstitions" should find you some interesting results.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:55 AM on July 27, 2016
Have you ever watched musicians tune before playing? It's fascinating. Of course tuning is necessary, because not all As are the same and your instrument gets out of tune because of weather or enthusiastic passages, etc, but the way it's done (especially in orchestras) has a whole level of ritual that is beyond the necessary. There is a specific order of who is in charge and which sections go in which order, which is standardized between groups but incomprehensible to anyone who is just casually watching and doesn't also play.
posted by epanalepsis at 10:32 AM on July 27, 2016
posted by epanalepsis at 10:32 AM on July 27, 2016
Best answer: Preparing for a ballroom dance competition, I'll jump past the hours of getting ready (makeup, clothes, numbers, etc) and go to behind scenes in the ballroom: Competitors are dressed beyond the nines (many would stand out as over-dressed if at a black-tie event, immaculate tailsuits etc) but they are athletes getting limber (and the suits/dresses are engineered for that athleticism). Among the kinds of quick jumps and movements and stretches you would see at a ball game or gymnastics, there are fragments of dancing and graceful ballroom movements rapidly appearing and vanishing. Checks that jewelry (sometimes super-glued to the body) is staying secure during head flicks etc. It's a surreal (yet completely sensible and obvious) mix of disparate things that don't normally mix.
At some point they will have found an excuse (or been invited) to walk across the dancefloor (even if just the edge) so they can learn what they'll be working with, and they might adjust the friction on their shoes accordingly. Eg if a latin event perhaps using a wire-brush on the suede soles to roughen the surface, or going to the drinking water and pour some onto the carpet, then stepping into it to dampen the soles. (Dancers generally like more traction for latin events and more slide for standard events). If the floor is very slippery, some dancers will put castor oil in the suede; the traction boost is greater and it lasts longer than water. Normally they put the castor oil into a towel and not into the carpet. Normally...
The prep takes hours so this is tip of iceberg, just some observations.
posted by anonymisc at 10:59 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
At some point they will have found an excuse (or been invited) to walk across the dancefloor (even if just the edge) so they can learn what they'll be working with, and they might adjust the friction on their shoes accordingly. Eg if a latin event perhaps using a wire-brush on the suede soles to roughen the surface, or going to the drinking water and pour some onto the carpet, then stepping into it to dampen the soles. (Dancers generally like more traction for latin events and more slide for standard events). If the floor is very slippery, some dancers will put castor oil in the suede; the traction boost is greater and it lasts longer than water. Normally they put the castor oil into a towel and not into the carpet. Normally...
The prep takes hours so this is tip of iceberg, just some observations.
posted by anonymisc at 10:59 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Following onto epanalepsis' comment, vocal warmups for singing. Solo singers have their favorites that they've selected as being best for their voice or what they're singing, and choirs have group warmups that they do together. All of them sound vaguely absurd or weirdly esoteric.
Also (and this is less about preparing for a performance and more a thing done in rehearsal), a lot of directors will have their choir members do odd physical things to produce a certain tone. Singers can't see their instrument or the apparatus that manipulates it, so directors will often have us make certain gestures to try to create and intenalize certain effects.
posted by darchildre at 12:04 PM on July 27, 2016
Also (and this is less about preparing for a performance and more a thing done in rehearsal), a lot of directors will have their choir members do odd physical things to produce a certain tone. Singers can't see their instrument or the apparatus that manipulates it, so directors will often have us make certain gestures to try to create and intenalize certain effects.
posted by darchildre at 12:04 PM on July 27, 2016
It's maybe more "culture" than "ritual" but pre-ride coffee is a favourite part of cycling for me. For many it's espresso, I tend to stick to something a little sweeter like a Piccolo or a Gibraltar.
I can't explain it, and don't think I really need the caffeine, but taking the time to chat with clubmates and sip a coffee before we head off is a big factor in why I love cycling in a group so much.
posted by A Robot Ninja at 8:44 AM on July 28, 2016
I can't explain it, and don't think I really need the caffeine, but taking the time to chat with clubmates and sip a coffee before we head off is a big factor in why I love cycling in a group so much.
posted by A Robot Ninja at 8:44 AM on July 28, 2016
Post-ride beer, of course, is an essential opportunity to joke around and get the excuses in about why I was so slow up the hills.
posted by A Robot Ninja at 8:45 AM on July 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by A Robot Ninja at 8:45 AM on July 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
Is the haka - the Maori war dance - that the New Zealand All Blacks perform before each rugby game what you are looking for? [previously]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 11:20 PM on July 28, 2016
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 11:20 PM on July 28, 2016
Response by poster: The haka is definitely something I am interested in, but anonymisc's (and sperose and a few others actually) answer is one that stood out to me since it's something every dancer does before they perform, is something that is personally important (because they need to know what it's like, they can't just get a report from someone), and would be completely lost on an outsider who is new to the sport.
As a former rugby player, my system of getting ready was breakfast at least an hour before warm ups, coffee, then a physical count of everything I needed for the day starting from the bottom: socks, cleats, spandex, shorts, sports bra, mouthguard, scrumcap. Then putting on these things in order from bottom to top, which wasn't just me-- everyone on the team spent their first half hour taping and screwing in studs to then go to warm ups, then jerseys, then game time. In my mind, the haka is part of game time for rugby players, as they have to be all kitted up to do it.
posted by thefang at 5:53 AM on August 1, 2016
As a former rugby player, my system of getting ready was breakfast at least an hour before warm ups, coffee, then a physical count of everything I needed for the day starting from the bottom: socks, cleats, spandex, shorts, sports bra, mouthguard, scrumcap. Then putting on these things in order from bottom to top, which wasn't just me-- everyone on the team spent their first half hour taping and screwing in studs to then go to warm ups, then jerseys, then game time. In my mind, the haka is part of game time for rugby players, as they have to be all kitted up to do it.
posted by thefang at 5:53 AM on August 1, 2016
How about non-humans? There's a series of articles called Beyond the Stall Door which is about how equine athletes live and prep. Some are Olympics-style athletes and some are just famous performers (e.g. the Budwiser Clydesdales) but they're all super quirky--no reasoning with 1400 pounds that just wants things done his way!! (As a bonus, here's an article about how the Olympic equines are flying to Rio this year.)
posted by anaelith at 4:57 AM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by anaelith at 4:57 AM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by Cosine at 9:27 AM on July 27, 2016