Why Have a Pre-Competition Routine?
A pre-competition routine gives you a familiar sequence to follow when the venue, weather, timetable and pressure may all feel unfamiliar. It reduces unnecessary decisions, helps control nerves and directs your attention towards the things you can control.
A good routine should be practised in training. It should also be flexible enough to cope with delays, changing conditions or limited warm-up opportunities.
Relaxation and Muscle Tension
A familiar routine reduces uncertainty and can help you feel calmer and more in control. This matters because nerves often create unnecessary tension in the jaw, hands, shoulders and throwing arm, making the movement feel rushed or restricted. Before each throw, take one slow breath, loosen your grip where appropriate, drop your shoulders and relax your face.
Relaxed muscles can move more freely and quickly, allowing force to flow smoothly from the legs and hips through the trunk and into the throwing arm. Unnecessary tension can restrict movement, disrupt timing and cause the athlete to force the throw too early. Relaxed does not mean floppy or inactive: the muscles should tighten strongly when needed, then release so the next part of the kinetic chain can accelerate. This balance between relaxation and effort helps produce rhythm, speed and control while avoiding wasted energy.
Develop Your Own Warm-Up
Every thrower is different. Your event, technique, age, mobility, injury history and current fitness will affect how much preparation you need and which movements help you feel ready. Weather, waiting time and the facilities available may also require small changes.
Your warm-up should therefore be personal, but it should still follow the RAMP principle:
Raise your heart rate and body temperature.
Activate the muscles you will use.
Mobilise the joints needed for your throw.
Potentiate by gradually rehearsing faster and more powerful event-specific movements.
Practise and refine the routine during training rather than inventing it on competition day. Learn how long it takes, which exercises help you most and how you know when you are ready to throw. A familiar personal warm-up reduces uncertainty, supports confidence and becomes the first dependable part of your competition routine.
While Waiting - Only the Next Throw Matters!
The gaps between throws give the mind plenty of time to replay mistakes, worry about the result or compare performances with other athletes. None of these thoughts can change what has already happened. Your only useful task is to prepare for the next throw.
During training prior to the event, think what you do between throws and start to us the same simple routine after every attempt:
Put on warm clothing and keep moving gently.
Take slow breaths and release tension from your jaw, hands and shoulders.
Accept the previous result without repeatedly analysing it.
Take one useful technical point from your coach, if needed.
Watch the throwing order and begin preparing at the planned time.
Picture the next throw being completed successfully.
Use one short, familiar cue as you are called.
If your thoughts begin racing, deliberately move your attention to something simple: your breathing, your warm-up movements or a relaxed conversation. You do not need to remain intensely focused throughout a long competition. Relax between rounds, then narrow your attention when your next throw approaches.
The last throw has finished and the final result has not yet happened. Only the next throw requires your attention.
Entering the Circle or Runway – Trust Your Training
A strong routine makes entering the circle or runway feel familiar, even when the competition is important and the surroundings are different. Following the same actions each time—selecting the implement, checking your starting position, finding your visual reference point and taking a controlled breath—tells your mind and body that it is time to throw.
You have already repeated the movement many times in training. Your body knows the sequence, so you do not need to consciously control every foot position, turn or arm movement. Trying to think through the entire technique can create tension and interrupt the natural rhythm of the throw.
Remember: your body knows what to do, this routine is just the way of unlocking that
The aim is simply to reproduce what you have practised:
Enter calmly and follow your normal setup.
Find your usual starting position and the eyeline you have identified previously.
Take one controlled breath and release unnecessary tension.
Use one familiar technical cue, not a list or any instructions.
Trust the movement and commit to the throw.
Competition is not the time to invent a new technique or produce a special throw. The goal is to give your trained movement the best possible chance to happen.
Self-Talk Before and During the Throw
You can give your full attention to only one thing at a time—but you can choose what that one thing will be. As you prepare to throw, avoid mentally working through every technical detail. Conscious analysis can create tension, interrupt your rhythm and slow a movement that should be fast and automatic.
There are a couple of techniques that have been shown to work in multiple people BUT, that hard part, only you can decide what works for you . . .
Choose one short phrase that directs attention towards the action you want. Use positive, action-based language and above all, make it simple. For example:
“Tall and smooth.”
“hIP first.”
through the point.”
A poem or simple song that you can repeat. For example:
The annoying song you jus can't get out of you head
The first song hat comes into you head when you think of the phrase nursery rhyme . . . .
Whatever you choose, it has to be something you can focus on to block out technical or negative thoughts, but not so complex that it detracts from the actions you need for the throw
After the Throw
Your routine should continue after the implement has been released:
Wait for the implement to land.
Recover your balance and exit correctly.
Check whether the throw was legal.
Notice one useful piece of information about how it felt.
Accept the result and begin preparing for the next round.
A simple reset is:
Acknowledge it → learn one thing → let it go.
Do not repeatedly replay a mistake. If necessary, speak briefly with your coach, agree on one useful cue and then move your attention to the next throw.
The aim is not to create a superstition. It is to build a dependable process that helps you arrive at every throw physically ready, mentally settled and focused on the next action.