Pre-Rally Rituals: The Hidden Key to Consistent Junior Squash Performance

Every rally begins before the ball is struck.

In junior squash, consistency is often treated like a personality trait. Some players are described as “steady,” others as “emotional,” as if these qualities are fixed. In reality, consistency is built from habits, and one of the most powerful habits a young player can develop is a clear pre-rally ritual.

A pre-rally ritual is a short, repeatable routine used between points to reset attention, regulate emotion, and begin the next rally with intention. Elite players do this instinctively. Juniors usually need it made explicit, trained deliberately, and reinforced over time.

This is not superstition. It is applied performance psychology.

Between points, the mind is at its most vulnerable. Attention drifts, emotions spike, and decision making becomes reactive. Pre-rally rituals work because they impose structure on that vulnerable moment. They give the player something stable to return to when everything else feels noisy. They anchor attention by pulling focus away from the previous rally and toward the next task. They regulate emotion by slowing the physiological response to stress. They promote consistency by ensuring each rally starts from a similar mental and physical state. They also improve decision making by clearing mental space, allowing the player to choose how they want to start the point rather than simply reacting.

The research literature supports this approach. Effective routines are deliberate and task relevant, not random habits. They are particularly valuable in sports with repeated pauses and restarts. Reviews by Stuart Cotterill and earlier work by Robert Singer show that pre-performance routines improve attentional control, confidence, and performance stability across sports and levels.

At Squash Tigers, we teach pre-rally rituals using a simple three-step framework that can be completed in a few seconds. The simplicity is deliberate. Under pressure, complexity collapses.

The first step is to acknowledge the circumstance. The player names what just happened without judgment. This might be recognizing a lost point, a tight score, an unforced error, or an opponent’s pattern. This step closes the previous rally and prevents it from bleeding into the next one. From a cognitive perspective, unresolved events continue to occupy attention. Acknowledgment clears the slate.

The second step is to set a forward-looking action. The player chooses one clear, controllable intention for the next rally. This might be technical, such as preparing the racquet earlier, tactical, such as playing length first, or positional, such as recovering more aggressively to the T. This step shifts attention away from outcome thinking and toward execution. Instead of worrying about whether they will win the point, the player commits to how they will start it.

The third step is to affirm readiness and capability. This is where belief is stabilized before action. The affirmation is not hype or bravado. It is a brief, believable statement that reinforces the player’s sense of preparedness and control. It signals that the player is ready to act on the intention they have just set.

What matters most here is emotional resonance. An affirmation only works if it feels true to the player at the moment they say it. An affirmation that is emotionally resonant for one player may feel like empty noise or even “cheese” to another. When a phrase feels forced or exaggerated, the brain often rejects it, creating doubt rather than confidence. For this reason, affirmations must match the player’s personality, experience level, and internal voice.

Some players respond well to direct statements of readiness or capability. Others prefer quieter language that simply reinforces clarity or composure. A younger or less experienced player may resonate more with a statement that affirms preparation. A more experienced competitor may connect better with language that reinforces decision making or calm under pressure. The only test that matters is whether the statement feels honest enough to stabilize belief.

When affirmations are emotionally resonant, they act as a psychological green light. They close the reset process and allow the player to step into the rally with conviction rather than hesitation. When they are not, even a well-designed routine can lose its effectiveness.

In real matches, this three-step process is practical and repeatable. After a mistake, a player acknowledges the error, sets a corrective action, and affirms readiness before serving. After a winner, the same structure applies, reinforcing discipline rather than celebration. At pressure scores, the routine remains unchanged, which helps the moment feel familiar rather than overwhelming.

Coaching pre-rally rituals requires discipline. The routine must take the same amount of time whether the player is winning or losing. If it becomes longer under stress, it shifts from preparation to avoidance. Routines must also be trained in practice. They do not magically appear on match day. We build them into conditioned games and pressure scenarios so they become automatic.

A simple method is to play short games where every rally must begin with the routine. If the routine is skipped, the point is replayed. Over time, the habit becomes ingrained and survives competitive pressure.

There is strong academic support for this approach, including work from Australian researchers. Christopher Mesagno from Federation University Australia has published extensively on pre-performance routines and pressure performance, showing how structured routines protect execution when anxiety increases. While Bruce Abernethy’s research does not focus specifically on routines, his work on perceptual-cognitive expertise helps explain why they matter. When attention is organized and emotional interference is reduced before the rally begins, players are better positioned to perceive cues early and make effective decisions under time pressure.

Pre-rally rituals may look trivial from the outside. In reality, they are one of the most practical and evidence-based tools available to junior players. They teach young athletes how to reset between points, regulate emotion, and begin each rally with clarity. These are skills that extend well beyond the squash court.

Train it. Repeat it. Trust it.

Bibliography and Further Reading

Singer, R. N. (2002). Preperformance state, routines, and automaticity: What does it take to realize expertise? Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 24(4), 359–375.

Cotterill, S. T. (2010). Pre-performance routines in sport: Current understanding and future directions. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 3(2), 132–153.

Mesagno, C., Marchant, D., & Morris, T. (2008). A pre-performance routine to alleviate choking in “choking-susceptible” athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 22(4), 439–457.

Mesagno, C., & Hill, D. M. (2013). Definition of choking in sport: Re-conceptualization and debate. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 44(3), 267–277.

Abernethy, B., Farrow, D., Gorman, A., & Mann, D. L. (2012). Anticipatory skill and expert performance in sport. In Skill acquisition in sport: Research, theory and practice.