What Should Athletes Do Before a Competition to Perform Their Best?
Summary
A pre-competition routine is one of the most powerful and underused tools in an athlete’s mental game. Dr. Patrick Cohn explains the difference between routines and superstitions, why a structured pregame process leads to more consistent performance, and three keys to building a routine that works for you.
Why Your Pre-Competition Routine Matters More Than You Think
What do you do in the hour before competition? Do you have a consistent process that prepares your mind and body, or do you leave your mental state to chance?
Most athletes spend significant time preparing their physical skills. Far fewer have a deliberate mental preparation routine that gets them focused, confident, and ready to compete at their best. That gap is one of the biggest opportunities in sports performance.
A well-designed pre-competition routine does not guarantee a win. But it does create the consistent mental and physical starting point from which peak performance is most likely to emerge.
Routines vs. Superstitions: An Important Distinction
Pre-competition routines are often misunderstood and too easily lumped in with superstitions. They are not the same thing, and the difference matters.
A superstition is a belief that a specific action will directly affect the outcome of a competition — even when there is no logical connection between the two. Wearing a lucky shirt, stepping over the baseline with the right foot, or tapping the door frame three times before taking the court are superstitions. The problem with superstitions is that athletes who rely on them often believe that skipping the ritual will cause bad luck or poor performance. That belief creates anxiety rather than relieving it.
A pre-competition routine is fundamentally different. It is a deliberate, pre-designed sequence of actions that helps you prepare mentally and physically for performance. It influences how you show up, not what happens on the scoreboard.
Dr. Cohn teaches this distinction in his Mental Edge system. A strong routine prepares you to perform. It builds confidence, sharpens focus, and calms nerves — all of which improve the probability of peak performance. A superstition just hopes for good luck.
What a Pre-Competition Routine Actually Does for Your Performance
It Reduces Competitive Anxiety
Familiar actions signal to your brain that you are prepared. When your routine is consistent, your nervous system begins to recognize it as the starting sequence for competition. That recognition calms pre-game nerves and helps you approach the start of competition feeling ready rather than fearful.
It Improves Focus and Mental Clarity
A structured routine keeps your attention on controllable tasks — your warm-up, your process goals, your game plan — rather than on distractions like your opponent’s reputation, the size of the crowd, or the significance of the event. This is what Dr. Cohn describes as entering competition with a task-focused mindset rather than an outcome-focused mindset.
According to the Mental Edge pregame preparation system, the warm-up period is specifically not the time to worry about results, compare yourself to the competition, or wonder who is watching. Your full attention belongs on the preparation in front of you.
It Builds Confidence and a Sense of Readiness
When you complete the same preparation process before every competition, you accumulate a track record of readiness. Over time, your routine becomes its own source of confidence. Completing it reinforces the belief that you have done everything necessary to perform well.
Dr. Cohn teaches that proactive confidence — fueling your belief before competition rather than waiting to earn it from a good performance — is one of the foundations of consistent mental performance. Your pre-competition routine is one of the most reliable ways to generate that proactive confidence every single time you compete.
How Elite Athletes Use Routines to Manage Pressure
UConn senior guard Azzi Fudd is a strong example of an athlete who uses a deliberate pre-game routine to prepare for high-stakes competition. Before every basketball game, Fudd follows the same four-step process: eating the same pre-game meal, reading or listening to a religious devotional, undergoing soft tissue bodywork, and completing a pre-game bathroom stop.
Prior to the 2026 NCAA basketball tournament, Fudd credited her routine for helping her stay grounded amid the excitement and pressure of March. Her goal was to remain present rather than getting caught up in anticipating what was coming weeks down the road.
Fudd’s approach reflects exactly what Dr. Cohn teaches about effective pregame preparation — that the routine is not just physical preparation. It is a mental tool for managing pressure, narrowing focus, and entering competition with composure rather than anxiety.
3 Keys to a Productive Pre-Competition Routine
1. Keep It Consistent
A pre-competition routine only works if you actually repeat it. Consistency is what gives the routine its power. When you follow the same process before every competition, your mind and body begin to associate that sequence with the shift from preparation to performance.
Do not save your routine for big events. Use it before every practice and every competition. The athletes who benefit most from their routines are those who have built them through hundreds of repetitions — so that when the stakes are highest, the routine feels automatic and natural.
Dr. Cohn’s Mental Edge system identifies seven key mental steps for pregame preparation: transitioning from life to sport, discarding outcome expectations, fueling proactive confidence, focusing on the process, rehearsing your performance, preparing to trust your skills, and embracing pregame jitters as helpful energy. A consistent routine works through these steps every time, whether the competition is a regular season practice or a championship match.
2. Focus on What Actually Prepares You
Your routine should include the actions that genuinely help you feel physically ready and mentally focused — not actions you do out of habit or social pressure. That might include a specific pre-game meal, a playlist that sharpens your intensity, stretching or movement that activates your body, visualization of your performance, quiet time to review your process goals, or conversation with a teammate you trust.
One of the most important mental steps athletes overlook is mental rehearsal. Dr. Cohn teaches that your warm-up is an excellent opportunity to rehearse your performance from a first-person perspective — seeing yourself executing your game plan with confidence and composure. This rehearsal primes your nervous system for the performance and builds the belief that you are ready.
Your routine should also include a deliberate transition from your everyday life into your role as an athlete. Parking distractions, worries, or stress from outside of sport before you begin your warm-up is a critical step that many athletes skip entirely. When you carry life’s noise into your pre-game preparation, it competes with your focus and drains your mental energy before competition even starts.
3. Make It Simple and Personal
The best routines are not the most elaborate ones. They are the ones that fit the athlete. A routine that feels forced or overly complicated will not hold up under pressure. A routine that feels natural and suits your preparation style will.
Start with two or three anchor actions that reliably help you feel focused and ready. Build from there based on your experience. Pay attention to which parts of your warm-up leave you feeling sharp and confident, and which parts leave you distracted or flat. Over time, you will develop a routine that is uniquely yours — and that reliability becomes one of your greatest competitive assets.
One important note from Dr. Cohn: do not judge the quality of your warm-up as a predictor of how you will compete. A rough warm-up does not mean a bad performance. Once competition begins, your focus improves, your adrenaline sharpens your attention, and your trained skills take over. Trust your preparation, not your warm-up results.
How to Start Building Your Routine Today
You likely already have a pre-competition routine — you just may not have made it deliberate yet. Think about what you consistently do in the hour before a competition. Which of those actions actually help you feel ready? Which ones are just habits you have never questioned?
Write down the physical and mental steps you want to include and put them in order. Practice running through the full routine before your next training session. Refine it based on what works. After several repetitions, it will begin to feel automatic — and that is exactly when it becomes most powerful.
The Bottom Line
Azzi Fudd’s pre-game ritual is a reminder that elite performance does not happen by accident. It is prepared for deliberately. Her routine is not about luck — it is about creating the mental and physical conditions that give her the best chance to perform at her highest level every time she steps on the court.
A consistent, well-designed pre-competition routine reduces anxiety, sharpens focus, and builds the confidence you need to compete freely. Build yours with intention, repeat it with discipline, and trust what it prepares you to do.
If you want personalized help developing a pregame routine and mental performance system, Peak Performance Sports offers coaching for athletes, coaches, and sports parents worldwide. Call 407-909-1700 or visit PeakSports.com to learn more about our programs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pre-Competition Routines
What is a pre-competition routine in sports?
A pre-competition routine is a deliberate, repeatable sequence of physical and mental actions that an athlete performs before competing. It is designed to reduce anxiety, sharpen focus, build confidence, and create a consistent mental and physical starting point for performance. Unlike superstitions, which are based on luck, a pre-competition routine works because it directly influences how prepared and focused you feel when competition begins.
How long should a pre-competition routine be?
The right length depends on your sport, your schedule, and what you personally need to feel prepared. Most effective routines run anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before competition. What matters more than length is that the routine is consistent and includes both physical preparation and intentional mental preparation — transitioning into your athlete role, fueling confidence, setting process goals, and mentally rehearsing your performance.
What mental skills should be part of a pregame routine?
Dr. Cohn’s Mental Edge system identifies seven mental preparation steps for an effective pregame routine: transitioning from everyday life into your athlete role, letting go of outcome expectations, fueling proactive confidence, focusing on process goals rather than results, mentally rehearsing your performance and game plan, preparing to trust your skills rather than overthink your mechanics, and embracing pregame nervousness as helpful energy rather than something to fear.
What is the difference between a sports routine and a superstition?
A sports routine is a deliberate preparation process grounded in logic — it influences your mental and physical readiness in concrete ways. A superstition is a belief that a specific action controls an outcome with no logical connection between the two. Routines build confidence and focus. Superstitions create anxiety when they are disrupted. Elite athletes rely on routines, not superstitions, to consistently reach peak performance.
Can a bad warm-up ruin your competition performance?
Not if you have the right mindset about it. A poor warm-up does not predict a poor performance. Once competition begins, the adrenaline and focus that come with the moment often sharpen an athlete’s performance significantly compared to how they felt in warm-up. Dr. Cohn’s advice is to never judge your readiness based on how your warm-up felt. Trust your training, trust your preparation routine, and let your skills take over when it counts.
About the Author
Dr. Patrick Cohn is a master mental performance coach and the founder of Peak Performance Sports. With more than 35 years of experience working with professional athletes, college competitors, and coaches across all sports, Dr. Cohn is one of the most respected sports psychologists in the world. He is the creator of the Mental Edge system and the founder of the Mental Game Coaching Professional (MGCP) certification program. Dr. Cohn works with athletes and coaches worldwide via video coaching sessions. To schedule a free 15-minute consultation, call 407-909-1700 or visit PeakSports.com.
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