Why are superstitions so common in sport?

One thing which unites sporting figures across the world is that athletes are hounded by superstitions. Almost every professional sportsperson, even those who claim to deny it, has some sort of ‘lucky’ pregame routine formed over years of preparing for competition, sometimes even without realising it.

The reason behind this is usually associated with the athlete’s desire to control every aspect of their performance. So much of being a professional athlete is about control – you must control your diet, your training routine, and your media persona to perfection in order to be a success in the modern sporting world – so it’s not surprising that ‘uncontrollable’ elements like ‘luck’ and ‘chance’ weigh so heavily on the mind of professional athletes.

Even the greatest within the world of sports, those who probably don’t need the benefits of good luck, have been known to have superstitions

Sporting superstitions can vary in so many different ways from the fairly reasonable, such as former Premier League footballer Kolo Toure’s ‘last to leave the dressing room’ before a game, to the potentially dangerous, with former NFL star Marshawn Lynch’s ‘shot and a half of Hennessy’ before each game.

Even the greatest within the world of sports, those who probably don’t need the benefits of good luck, have been known to have superstitions. All-time sporting legends such as Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods had specific traditions related to their on-field attire, which they kept for the vast majority of their careers, allowing these traditions like Woods’ ‘red on Sundays’ to become iconic in their own right.

Some athletes have superstitions not because they think they’re actively lucky but because they’re scared of bad luck if they break a certain tradition. Former Chelsea captain John Terry confessed to using a specific urinal in the team changing rooms for fear that a change in this habit would disrupt his team’s good fortune in the late 2000s. This tradition eventually spread through his whole team to teammates Ashley Cole, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Cesc Fabregas, and remains a feature of Chelsea FC.

Despite how silly sporting superstitions may appear on the surface, they do serve a genuine purpose and have a genuine space within the sporting world

Some wider societal superstitions can also work their way into a sporting context. The longstanding Irish tradition surrounding wearing green on St Patrick’s Day symbolising good fortune has received acknowledgement from the NBA and MLB in America, with teams such as the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, and Boston Bruins commissioning limited edition green jerseys for use on this day alone in previous years.

As illogical as the belief in ‘good luck’ being associated with these superstitions may seem, there is something to be said for a legitimate calming effect on players who carry out these traditions before games. Managing nerves plays a huge part in an athlete’s preparation, and one of the ways in which athletes deal with these is by having these traditions, which bring them assurances that they’ve prepared in the best way possible, both physically and mentally.

So, despite how silly sporting superstitions may appear on the surface, they do serve a genuine purpose and have a genuine space within the sporting world. And maybe, as unlikely as it seems, there is some legitimacy to them as part of a psychological edge, given how many of sports’ greatest athletes partake in them. Just keep an eye on any team wearing green on March 17th.