A pre-performance routine is a consistent sequence of thoughts and actions an athlete performs before executing a skill or entering competition — the basketball player's free-throw ritual, the golfer's walk into the ball, the server's bounce-bounce-breathe. Routines exist at two scales: a macro routine before a whole competition, and a micro routine before a single skill execution.
Routines work because they focus attention on a controllable sequence, regulate arousal through familiar action, trigger a rehearsed performance state, and reduce in-the-moment decision-making. Above all, they give a pressured mind a job to do instead of leaving it to dwell on the stakes.
An effective routine is short, entirely within the athlete's control, and robust enough to survive real conditions like fatigue and noise. It typically blends a physical action, an attentional cue or cue word, and a brief image of success. Pre-performance routines are one of the six domains of mental performance; see our guide on building one that works.