Mange tilfeller i fotballens verden, men det mest banale er vel John Terry. Han brukte samme leggskinn i 10 år! men ble uforklarig borte foran en CL-match som selvfølgelig Chelsea tapte. Foran match har han rundt 50 ritualer å kjøre igjennom, her er 4 av ialt 50 ritualer:

Han roterer tapen rundt leggskinnene alltid tre ganger!
Han går aldri på dei to toalettene på venstre side i garderoben, er dei på høgre siden opptatt så venter han til det er ledig!
Han drikker ikke på morgenen på matchdagen før han drar hjemmefra, det bringer ulykke.
Han teller alltid lyktestolpene fra hjemmet til Stamford Bridge på kampdagen, en lyktestolpe var knekt i en hjemmematch for to år siden og antallet ble feil, og han vet at Chelsea tapte kampen!

Ingen over, ingen ved siden.... John Terry

Rituals are automatic responses to a situation. In life we have rituals for getting up, driving our cars, eating and sleeping. In tennis we have rituals as well when we serve that help us to operate on an "automatic" or non-thinking level.

The value of rituals in serving are many, here are 7:

1. They remind us of sequences to performance
2. They create a comfort zone for us
3. They help prevent us from forgetting steps that can influence our success
4. They assist us in performing on an automatic level under pressure
5. They can calm us under pressure
6. They can prevent us from rushing during a match
7. They can assist in defeating the "Mental Monsters" of success and failure

Rituals are habits that we develop consciously or unconsciously. Depending upon situations and perceived results, they can become superstitions.

When they approach the superstition level we feel we need them to be successful. Tennis players will not shave during a tournament as long as they are winning, they will eat the same meal as long as they are winning, wear the same clothes, play with the same racquet, wear the same shoes, stay in certain rooms, avoid stepping on lines or certain parts of the court.

We have all seen Djokovich as he demonstrates some rituals of top level players. They can become quite unusual and almost funny when we see some of the steps people perform to ensure their success. I will bet you have seen some funny rituals in the players you have met as well.

At one point during his match Friday against Jarkko Nieminen, Tsonga accepted three balls, then hit one back. He walked toward the other ball person, got two more and quickly knocked them both back. Then he served.

Tsonga joked later that it was simply a matter of obsessive-compulsive behavior, contagious on the professional tours.

"I think this one is good, I think this one is good," Tsonga said, mimicking his own thought process. He shook his head and laughed. "They're all the same."

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Også damene begynner etter hvert å ta etter herrene når det gjelder både en og to ekstra baller, men det er fortsatt et flertall som stort sett nøyer seg med 1 ball av gangen. Det er f.eks sjelden å se Venus Williams ta mer enn en ball av gangen og hun nøyer seg som regel med den første hun mottar av balljenta.

Spørsmålet er selvsagt hvor mye man faktisk får ut av dette ritualet før en serve, men det er mange som mener det er det lille ekstra å hente. Det som gjør det småkomisk er jo de spillerne som tar i mot både 3 og 4 baller uten å knapt se på dem før de forsvinner tilbake til ballgutten igjen.

Limer inn litt sitater og kommentarer rundt dette også;

Players generally look for the newest, least-fluffed balls - the ones whose fuzzy felt covering is the least disheveled - of the six in use during a match. The perception is that the felt starts to fluff after a few hard whacks, and a fluffed ball will be "heavier," slowed by drag as it travels through the air.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the veteran former No. 1 from Spain, held his hands apart in front of him as if holding an imaginary beach ball.

"After a long rally, if you use the same ball, it is like this," he said.

Whether there is truly an appreciable difference is debatable, but the process of choosing the ball offers glimpses into the psyche of the players.

Top-ranked Roger Federer is not especially particular or quirky, but wants the "fastest ball for the first serve," he said. He usually sends an extra ball back with a no-look, behind-the-back pass from his racket.

Andy Roddick, who relies heavily on his serve, which is considered the fastest in the game, is pickier. He sometimes looks at several balls resting on his racket, like a chef holding an omelet pan, looking for the sleekest one that might go an extra mile per hour.

If nothing else, the few seconds it takes to choose a ball can buy players time to exhale from the previous point and focus on the next.

"You try to take your time, get a little focus, and I look for a faster ball," Djokovic said.