Auburn athletes have different ways of getting their minds in the game.
Some gain focus by listening to music, some with rest and some through practice.
Other athletes do it with luck.
Superstition, ritual, routine--no matter what it is called--for some athletes, it is the best way to prepare for a game.
Lewis Barker, psychology professor who teaches a sports psychology class, said there are positive and negative superstitions, and both have the ability to affect athletic performance.
"There's a whole literature on how these positive attitudes lead to better performance," Barker said.
Barker said one reason he thinks most superstitions appear to be random or unfounded is because they have nothing to do with the physical performance of an athlete, except to make them feel more positive about their performance.
Barker said superstitions seem eccentric because they reflect the unique experience of the individual.
"Whatever you do that makes you feel better about yourself and increases your self-efficacy/self-confidence," Barker said. "Whatever it is, that's going to have you perform better."
Auburn soccer player Julie King has multiple pregame superstitions.
"Pretty much throughout my life of playing sports, I've always had little quirks that I would do, especially before a big game," King said.
Every year since she was a freshman, King gets a new good-luck charm for some pregame luck.
"At the beginning of each season, I've changed it," King said, "basically because we haven't completely met the goal that we wanted to reach in the season.
"I guess if we won a national championship, then I'd probably keep the same charm."
This year's model is a Gumby figurine adorned with an eagle charm necklace that King's sister gave her.
"I can't forget to kiss him," King said, describing her routine. "Right before the game, at some point I have to touch its feet."
Gumby is only the beginning of King's game-day ritual.
"During our warm-up, with three other girls, Monica Afanador, Lydia Townsend and Sammy Towne, we have to line up in a certain order during our warm-up," King said.
King said right before the game she does a handshake with one of her coaches, Amy Berbary.
Another routine developed after King scored a goal against Alabama at the end of the year, pushing the game into overtime in the last 17 seconds.
"Right before that happened," King said, "I guess it was maybe at halftime, Chris Cahill, one of our coaches, gave me a piece of gum, and I kind of made a joke, like 'This is the game changer' or something like that, and I ended up scoring.
"So then from then on I had to get a piece of gum from him."
Despite participation from other teammates, King said her rituals do not go unmentioned.
"People make fun of me a little bit," King said.
King said she is not reliant on her superstitions, but they help keep her focused.
"I think, overall, it's just a matter of getting myself concentrated for the game," King said. "If I don't touch the figurine, I'm not like, 'Oh, we're going to lose the game,' but I do think that it helps me get my mind in the right place for the game."
Senior Mike Berry, offensive lineman for the football team, not only said he does not have any sports superstitions, but that he thinks they can interfere with an athlete's focus.
"In sports, especially, people get superstitions, especially when you're winning and stuff like that," Berry said. "If one thing's been working for them, they don't want to get away from it.
"I learned early that it really doesn't matter to me. It's just one of those things that if you practice hard and you prepare for life, you'll be fine."
Berry said the effect superstitions have on athletes is mental.
"Going into games, you've got to have your right mind-set," Berry said. "By having a superstition, you're not able to do that or do the same thing you've been doing. It kind of hurts you mentally, and then it hurts you in the game."
Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes' pregame rituals range from listening to his iPod to eating sunflower seeds. Though other players on the football team like to sleep before a game, Bynes said he never lets himself sleep.
Bynes said every player follows his own routine to keep focused.
"Whatever we're used to before a game, we like to stick to it," Bynes said.
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