Establishing a Routine

I believe pre-competition routines help you in a number of ways:

• Readies your mind and body for competition
• Improves your comfort with competing
• Optimises your mood and level of arousal to improve your performance
• Reminds you of the important technical components of your event.

As you develop as an athlete, you should become aware of what works for you and what doesn’t work. Reflect on your competitions to work out what suits you. Test various things out with the interclub meets so when you get to the more important competitions (like States and Nationals) you will be ready.

1. Establish appropriate eating habits
You may feel really energetic if you have a meal high in carbohydrates (eg pasta, rice or bread) on the day you compete. Or you may like to consume an energy drink or bar 1-2 hours before you compete. Or you may find a smaller or larger meal the night before you compete helps you to feel light or energised. You may find it useful to consult a nutritionist to optimise your pre-competition eating.

2. Refine your warm-up
Every individual will prefer to warm-up differently. Some people will prefer a long warm-up to make sure their heart rate is elevated and using their aerobic energy system (important for long distance runners). Other athletes may find a shorter, more explosive warm-up better and less fatiguing so they feel powerful at the time of their event. You may like to do some long, sustained stretches or you may find some faster, dynamic stretches help you to get your body moving prior to competition.

3. Stay warm in the call room
The period of time you spend in the call room often differs. Sometimes it is a matter of minutes and other times, you may need to go to 2 different call rooms which total 30 minutes. Find out prior to the competition how long you are likely to be in the call room so you know how much warming up you need to do prior to first call. Establish a few drills that you can do in close confines to ensure you can stay warm whilst in the call room.

4. Personal Mantra
You can use your personal mantra prior to starting your event or once you have started. A personal manta is just like when Thomas the Tank Engine continues to repeat “I think I can…� Having a few sayings or technical phases can often help to keep your mind on your task and to remain positive. Repeating one of your positive attributes to yourself will help your mind to believe you will be successful. It is also useful if you concentrate on a technical component, rather than the outcome of your performance. For example you may find that as you get nervous with racing, your stride shortens and tightens so you may just remind yourself to keep an open stride and keep your hips tall.

5. Physical Routine
This may be a routine as you approach the blocks or stand on the runway or step into the circle. You may wish to use your personal mantra while going through the phases of your routine. Your routine may be part of a drill or something that makes you feel strong or it may just be a consistent way to approach your start. One of the physical routines I marvel over is the way Marcos Baghdatis (Cypress tennis player) bounces the tennis ball between his legs then back again before he serves.

6. Between rounds
You also need to establish something consistent for between rounds (ie between heat and final or between events in a multi-event or between attempts in a field event). Some examples for events when you leave the competition arena include warming-down then back up, a massage, a small snack or using hot/cold for recovery. If you are waiting for your next attempt you may talk to your coach, take your shoes off after each round (to empty out the sand) or visualise your ideal performance.

This is just a start. I think these types of routines help you to settle into your competition thus improve performance once established. It’s up to you to determine what suits you best. Your coach or other athletes you train with may help you to find your ideal routine. Have fun!