Mastering Pre-Competition Routines: Control the Controllables, Build Familiarity, and Compete with Confidence

Game day doesn’t start at kickoff, the whistle, or the first sprint. It starts long before you even arrive at the sports complex, it starts with the routine you build to guide your mind and body into a state of readiness. Athletes at every level perform their best not by chance, but by creating predictable systems that keep them grounded, focused, and mentally primed to show up fully.

A pre-competition routine isn’t superstition. It’s a proven strategy the brings control, familiarity, and routine to a complex environment full of variables. It’s a set of deliberate habits that help you control what you can, adapt to what you can’t, and step into competition with clarity and confidence.

Let’s break down how to build a routine that actually elevates performance.

1. Control the Controllables

Competition brings uncertainty in many forms, opponents, conditions, calls, crowd energy, and countless variables you can’t predict. A routine narrows your focus down to one powerful question:

What can I control leading into this environment?

Your preparation.
Your breath.
Your body language.
Your focus.
Your response to pressure.

By anchoring your routine in controllables, you reduce anxiety, frustration, and protect your energy from draining into things that don’t matter.

Examples of controllable elements in your routine:

• Preparing your gear/equipment the day/night prior: laying out uniforms, accounting for equipment, doing a functions check that your equipment is ready to go.

• Breathing techniques: box breathing or slow diaphragmatic breathing.

• Warm-up sequence: How do you arrive to the field/sport location? What is your stretch sequence? Do you say a prayer? etc.

• Positive self-talk phrases: Affirmtions can go a long way to getting your mind centered and focused on the sporting test ahead.

• Visualization of your role and responsibilities: Get your mental repetitions, cover contingencies,

• Intentional music playlist: The power of music to pump you up, calm you down, and to hone your focus is well researched. Sometimes the perfect playlist is exactly what you need for the drive to your event, or even during the breathing portion of your warm-up.

• Hydration and nutrition steps: This starts multiple days prior and can be a major factor in peak performance and just getting by.

Every controllable action sends the message:
“I’m ready. I’m in control. I can handle what comes next.”

2. Build Familiarity for Unfamiliar Environments

Not every competition will happen in your home stadium or your familiar gym. Travel, new facilities, and unpredictable circumstances can shake an athlete who relies heavily on external stability. If you don’t have a plan for nutrition then you are left to the whims of the continental breakfast, if you don’t have an equipment check routine then you might go to sleep uncertain that you have everything you need and see the impact on your recovery.

That’s why great athletes create internal stability.

A good pre-competition routine works anywhere, your home, a hotel room, locker room, sideline, or field. This familiarity creates psychological safety and stability. It tells your brain:

“We’ve been here before. We know what to do.”

You can build this familiarity by using a few simple steps:

• Starting your routine at the same time before competition, regardless of location. You can use the start time (I start my routine 3 hours prior to the start of the game), or you can use an actual time (I start my routine the night before the game at 7:30 p.m. no matter what.

• Using the same breathing or mindfulness practice.

• Bringing a few grounding items (journal, headphones, stretch band).

• Repeating your visualization sequence.

• Performing the same stretch or movement pattern.

• Using the same detergent on your uniform (smells have powerful connections to memory).

Even small consistencies create comfort, and comfort supports clarity.

3. Predictability Reduces Stress and Sharpens Focus

The mind loves predictability. When you follow a set routine, you remove decision fatigue, reduce stress hormones, and allow your mental energy to go exactly where it’s needed, your performance.

A predictable routine also trains your brain to know when it’s time to switch gears:

Routine → Focus → Ready → Compete

Over time, the routine itself becomes a performance trigger. Your mind learns to enter “competition mode” simply by following the steps you’ve trained. For me, playing ice hockey, the song “Enter Sandman” by Metallica would flip the switch from pre-game mode, to competition mode. As soon as I heard the intro, I was checked in and ready to go.

Predictability isn’t rigidity, it’s preparation and taking control to build comfort and a mindset switch. Even if things go wrong, you have a stable foundation to return to.

4. Preparing the Proper Mindset to Compete

A pre-competition routine isn’t complete without mental readiness. Physical preparation means nothing if your mind isn’t aligned with your purpose.

Your routine should include:

• A confidence affirmation
  “I trust my preparation.”
  “I compete with clarity and composure.”

• A focus cue
  A word or short phrase to anchor your mind (e.g., “Attack,” “Calm,” “One play at a time,” “Game time").

• A reset strategy
  A breath, gesture, or word you use to reset after mistakes. I like to incorporate a physical movement with a mental strategy. Prior to coming off the ice after a bad shift I flip my stick up so the blade is pointing up and I imagine the last shift pouring out of the stick. I have a new stick, I am ready for a new shift, I focus on the present and not the last shift.

• Intent setting
  What do you want to bring to today’s performance? Energy? Discipline? Leadership?

Preparing your mindset reduces fear, quiets overthinking, and shifts you into a high-performance state built on confidence rather than pressure.

A good pre-competition routine doesn’t make you perfect. It makes you prepared and makes the environment familiar.

When you know what to focus on, how to regulate your emotions, and how to step into competition with composure, you give yourself the best chance to perform with consistency and enjoyment. Game day becomes less about nerves and more about opportunity.

If you're an athlete, coach, or parent looking to build individualized routines that fit your sport, your needs, and your performance goals, I’d love to work with you. Fill out the contact form on one of the pages or sign up for a free 30-minute consultation.

~ Dr. Ty