How helpful is a pregame routine?

For many professional athletes, a good pregame routine can change one's mental fortitude ahead of a match but it all boils down to how well they follow that particular routine.

For years now, the world has witnessed superstars such as Rafael Nadal obsess about the direction his bottles face before he can play.

Some like Serena Williams are always listening to music, others read while some eat a particular food or say a prayer. Without a doubt, some of these look crazy to the naked eye but to the individual involved, it has a profound effect.

Although few Ugandans have joined the professional ranks, many have learned the effects of not relaxing the mind before embarking on a match so they vouch for pregame routines.

For some, the anxiety and the occasion can sometimes become too big and the athlete needs to drown out the noise and something like music in the only way to achieve that.

"When I had just turned pro, it was very hard for me. I hard a lot of anxiety before games but I realised that when I listened to music before the game, I would come down," said She Cranes and Loughborough Lightning goal shooter Mary Nuba.

Following certain pregame routine does not only help athletes focus on running through certain plays but it also wards off insecurity, anxiety, and overthinking.

"For an important match, I normally relax the body but keep my head up or brains running. I usually assess my opponent's strengths and weaknesses and I come up with a strategy to be used in that particular match," Two time National Pool Open champion Fahad Ssewankambo said.

Those moments before the match are good for doing a final run through the game plan which is essentially why most athletes choose calming music to allow them to focus their minds.

Failure to come up with certain routines affects some athletes and missing those routines could cause a domino effect according to sports psychologist Dr. Christian Stankovic.

"By simply being proactive with a pre-game routine, it minimizes "dead space" where athletes can sometimes worry themselves into anxiety, choking and even long-term slumps. Following a script or routine guards against mind wandering, irrational thinking, and even physiological consequences like vomiting from nerves," Stankovic explained.

This is why athletes that have routines can focus their minds on what needs to be done as opposed to their heads wondering.

On occasions where some don't follow routines to the perfect conclusion, the results are poor beyond a reasonable doubt.

"It's very hard for me to have good games without listening to that music(opera). My flow on the court is poor even reading the game becomes a bit more difficult," City Oilers player Tony Drileba said.

When doing sports at an elite level it's only right that athletes channel all their thoughts before the game to get the best out of themselves. This process cannot be rushed but can also be honed over time by the athletes trying different things until they find a worthy routine.

When a good routine is discovered then things like performance anxiety, fear of injury all fly out if the door.