From wet towels to upside-down race numbers, cycling is riddled with ritual and routine. Do these quirks help us perform at our best or imprison us in a wacky world of luck?
aura Kenny shouldn’t need an extra sprinkle of luck at the Tokyo Olympics in July. She is already the most successful female British Olympian in history, having won four Olympic golds, as well as seven world titles and 14 European golds. She has committed to years of dedicated training to achieve her optimal performance level. And she has been helped by dozens of sports scientists and psychologists through British Cycling’s £25 million World Class Programme. Yet before Kenny heads out to race in the velodrome she will momentarily forget all of the training and the science… and step on a lucky wet towel.
“I am really superstitious and I always tread on a wet towel before I race,” admits Kenny, 28, who hopes to compete in the team pursuit, omnium won the race. So I just do it all the time now.”
Despite the rise of sports science and psychological training, the dark arts of superstition and ritual still pervade the cycling world. American rider Evelyn Stevens, a four-time world team-time trial champion, used to carry a lucky marble. Britain’s 30-time Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish refuses to pin his number on his jersey until the morning of a race – a ritual he learned from Tour legend Eddy Merckx. Former world time-trial champion Emma Pooley would never pack a team cap for the post-race podium presentation, so as not to tempt fate. And American Andy Hampsten, the 1988 Giro d’Italia winner, only used even-numbered cogs on climbs.
Behind its sleek and scientific façade, the pro peloton is a bubbling cauldron of mumbo-jumbo and hocus-pocus. Riders who get the number 13 bib wear it upside down to banish any unlucky vibes. Pros never shave their legs on the morning of a race. Some like to align the labels on their tyres with the valves of their inner tubes. Others ritually listen to the same tracklist before every race. So if you like to ride in a pair of lucky socks, or kiss your necklace for good fortune before a race, you’re in good company. A survey of elite athletes, published in the JournalofApplied SocialPsychology, found that 80.3 per cent of athletes perform one or more superstitions before a competition.
CHARMED LIFE
For psychologist Bradley Busch, director of the Inner Drive mindset coaching company (innerdrive.co.uk), these dark arts remain one of the most fascinating and frustrating mysteries in modern sport. “It’s amazing that we’re talking about multi-million pound organisations like British Cycling, and riders at the absolute pinnacles of their careers, and yet before a big race it still all comes down to: this quirky superstition makes me feel good, so I will do it,” says Busch, whose clients have included Olympic medallists and Manchester United footballers. “But we all have quirks. For elite riders under pressure, superstitions provide a sense of control. And for
non-elite riders, you get into this wishful thinking that there is this secret, magic ingredient that makes you perform at your best.”
Psychologists dislike superstitions because they are placebos that encourage athletes to rely on illogical factors, like luck, rather than rational, controllable factors, such as physical preparation and good nutrition. But science suggests superstitions – however odd – may actually work. A study by the University of Cologne, published in the journal Psychological Science, showed that when subjects activated a ‘lucky’ superstition via a cue, such as crossing their fingers or using a ‘lucky’ charm, their performances in di!erent challenges improved. In one test, subjects who were given a ‘lucky’ golf ball performed better at putting than those who used a ‘normal’ ball. Other subjects given a ‘lucky’ charm performed better at memory tests than those without one.
The researchers believed that these surprising performance benefits were derived from a rise in the subjects’ “self-e"cacy” – their innate belief in their ability to complete the task. They concluded that, “activating a superstition boosts participants’ confidence in mastering upcoming tasks, which in turn improves performance.”
According to research in the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, superstition is an entirely “natural psychological mechanism” that helps athletes cope with stress. Engaging in superstitious behaviour o!ers the illusory assurance of control in an uncertain situation, such as before a highly unpredictable bike race.
Superstitions tend to form organically in response to an athlete successfully overcoming a certain fear, or after they complete a particular action before a memorably good performance. When enough imaginary connections are made between the ritual and the favourable consequences over time, the behaviour becomes cemented in the athlete’s mind.
Superstitions also tend to grow in importance as the perceived level of pressure increases: a study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that ritual commitment among athletes is greater when the importance increases. This led the researchers to conclude that, “although the enactment of superstitious rituals often does not make sense to observers, it may serve an important tension-regulation function”.
ROUTINE BUSINESS
Bradley Busch says he no longer wastes time trying to argue with athletes about their odd rituals. “I used to think there is no point doing superstitions because you’re relying on luck and intangible things, but I’m a bit more relaxed about it all now,” he explains. “Even if it’s not remotely scientific, if you feel it helps you, I want you to go into a competition with confidence.”
However, an excessive dependence on superstitions can be seriously disruptive. “It sounds harmless but the problem is: what happens if you lose your lucky socks?” warns Busch. “Or if you can’t follow your usual superstition? Is that going to leave you feeling stressed and you lose all your confidence? Will years of training go out the window?”
The key message from psychologists is that in moments of pressure you need to be able rely on yourself, and give yourself evidence-based reassurances, such as reminding yourself of your many hours of training, your personal bests and your past successes, rather than whatever strange wizardry you think is crucial to your success.
For this reason, it is better to adapt superstitious behaviour into a more functional routine. The di!erences between a superstition and a routine are subtle but important. Routines are consistent, purposeful and rational actions that prepare your mind and body for a good performance. Superstitions are compulsive and irrational actions that cannot be said to have a logical impact on your performance. “Generally, we say that if something helps your performance it is a routine, and if it plays no identifiable part in your preparation then it is a superstition,” says Busch. “So if you lose your lucky socks and you think you now can’t perform, that is a superstition: it’s not helping you. But if you have a regular warm-up
“FOR ELITE RIDERS UNDER PRESSURE, SUPERSTITIONS PROVIDE A SENSE OF CONTROL. FOR NON ELITE RIDERS, THERE’S THIS WISHFUL THINKING THAT THERE IS THIS SECRET, MAGIC INGREDIENT THAT MAKES YOU PERFORM AT YOUR BEST ” PSYCHOLOGIST BRADLEY BUSCH
practise, or a relaxation drill that helps you to get into a good place mentally and physically, that is a routine: it is tangibly helping you to prepare.”
The other key di erence between a superstition and a routine is that a superstition is rigid and unmalleable, whereas a routine, however structured, always remains flexible. “You need to be able to adapt to whatever circumstances you’re in,” insists Busch. So if you like to wear a lucky base layer before a time trial, but you forget it one day, there is nothing you can do, and you may convince yourself that your performance will be a ected. The behaviour is inflexible, so it is a superstition. But if you like to follow a structured 30-minute warm-up on the rollers before a time trial, but something unexpected happens, you might still be able to get 15 minutes on the rollers. “It may not be perfect but you can still perform, so that is a routine,” says Busch. “It is structured and it helps you but it is also flexible. You need to ask yourself: does this action help my performance, and can I adapt it to di erent circumstances?”
Busch says there are strategies to help you identify any lingering superstitions so you can start to carefully turn them into more functional routines. “The first strategy is looking for alternatives and exceptions,” he explains. “For example, can you tell me one time when you lost your lucky socks and you still did really well?
That’s an exception to the rule that proves it is still possible to perform without your superstition.” This question will help you to identify any irrational connections you have built up over time - the ‘magical thinking’ when you make a connection between an action and an outcome that does not exist.
The second strategy is to examine the language that you use. “If you find yourself using phrases like ‘always’, ‘every time’ or ‘never’ – all those absolutes and extremes – you are probably engaged in a superstition,” says Busch. “For example: ‘I never win without my lucky socks.’ Those words – just like ‘must’ and ‘need to’ - are red flags. It is better to change to thinking: ‘I will try to do this,’ or ‘I could do this.’” This allows rooms for adaptation: you may ‘try’ to eat your lucky porridge before a sportive, but if the hotel doesn’t have any you can still eat energising muesli instead. The details have changed. But your routine has not.
SOCK IT UP
Dr Ruth Anderson, director of Mind HQ (mindhq. com.au) and author of TheCyclingMind, has worked as lead psychologist for British Cycling and head of psychology services for the Australian Olympic Team. She advises all of her athletes to analyse the underlying mechanism behind a superstition, instead of the superstition itself.
“Rather than focus on the superstition as a strategy, focus on the specific action or behaviours that are behind the ritual that you are engaging in, as that is the more likely reason for any success,” she explains. “For example, your lucky socks won’t determine if you can execute your skills but being organised, preparing your kit,
“YOUR LUCKY SOCKS WON’T DETERMINE IF YOU CAN EXECUTE YOUR SKILLS BUT BEING ORGANISED AND STAYING CALM WILL POSITIVELY IMPACT YOUR MINDSET ” DR RUTH ANDERSON
and staying calm and consistent with how you get ready, will positively impact your mindset.”
She agrees that it’s better to build flexible routines rather than rigid plans. “Stick to general principles rather than a rigid step-by-step guide so you can fit it into the race environment you are in,” she insists. “Developing a strong selfawareness of your psychological state when anxious will assist you in identifying what the early warning signs are that indicate you need to modify your routine, to either better manage your own psychological state or adapt to the changing environment around you. You don’t need a perfect preparation - you just need to understand how to prepare your mind and body to perform in the environment you are racing in. If you have a routine and understand how to adapt it then obtaining your optimal state is always within in your control. Superstitions will more than likely get in the way at some point.”
Anderson says she has noticed a decline in superstitions among the elite athletes she has worked with in recent years. “They have become less prevalent as elite riders understand more about their psychological state and know what to do to perform at their best,” she explains. But Laura Kenny’s wet towel tactic, Mark Cavendish’s race number ritual, and the countless strange superstitions we will see at the Olympics this year suggest the dark arts will continue to help and hinder athletes for many years to come.