Rituals in sport
Rituals in sport become visible , for example, when watching a volleyball game . The athlete tripped the ball exactly 3 times before serving; after each point the players in the group go together, they strike, even if someone makes a mistake. The team seems to demonstrate with almost every ritual that it is a unit.
According to Michael Krüger , the essential characteristics of ritual acts of premodern tribal cultures can be recognized in all areas of sport . The following parallels between modern sport and the original rites can be identified: Both express mythical themes, symbolically reinforce the group norms, require those involved to carry out their tasks correctly, and they both take place in a “ magical circle”.
For many athletes who behave in other areas of life in a more objective and sober manner, magical rituals, even in the form of extreme and illogical actions, play an important role. It is only important that those concerned believe in such a supernatural connection between the performance of the rituals and the outcome of the competition. Today, sport rituals occur wherever institutionalized sport has penetrated - they always follow the same pattern . There is no functional meaning for rituals that have developed beyond institutionalized sports for athletes and supporters . The value does not lie in the fact that a sporting execution turns out well or fails, its meaning is more of a magical one. They assume the belief that they can release additional powers of a supernatural and magical kind or prevent disruptive influences. The omission of a ritual would therefore be equivalent to the absence of magical powers.
Differentiation from custom, habit and ritualization
The ritual can be demarcated from terms such as habit or custom, although sometimes these boundaries seem to flow into one another. If prescribed actions serve an immediate purpose (instrumental actions), one does not speak of rituals, but of habits. They arise because they are economical and require less effort. Ritual acts, on the other hand, serve to illustrate and symbolize (expressive acts). If a greeting gesture is not yet subject to any symbolic staging, such as when the opposing captains shake hands before a game, it is referred to as a custom. A custom refers to a tradition or habit that is based on moral values or rules. If the purpose of the habit is forgotten, but if it is observed out of awe , the habit becomes a ritual. Social manners and customs facilitate communication and togetherness.
Rituals of the athletes in the context of the competition
Magical practices and objects
Wherever there are athletes, there are various kinds of magical-religious practices. Beliefs and actions vary greatly: from group and individual practices to bizarre rituals, there is a diverse range of the “magical-religious realm”.
Womack distinguishes between three types of rituals in sport: On the one hand, the initiation rites, which effect the way in which people are accepted and connected to the group. In second place are the preparatory rites, these are aimed precisely at directing the outcome of an impending event in the desired direction. Womack uses these again in "day-of-the-game rituals" (rituals are carried out over the entire day of the competition), "pregame rituals" (rituals are performed between arrival at the stadium and the start of the competition ) and in "activity- specific rituals ”(rituals are performed during the competition). Preparatory rites can not be explained sociologically , as they are performed individually by the athlete. The third ritual type according to Womack is the protection rite. They generally serve to take the uncertainty away from the indefinite and the unpredictable.
In the first half of the 20th century, most athletes, including an increasing number of racing drivers and pilots , carried out magical “ superstitious ” practices. One reason is that the technology was not mature enough at that point and the risk to humans was much greater. A large part of the sport superstition is based on the frequent accidents from the early days of certain sports. Superstition comes to the fore in situations in which feelings of insecurity, high psychological stress and low perceived ability to control prevail . These are situation characteristics that apply particularly to performance-related situations. Superstitious rituals have no immediate purpose, they usually arise spontaneously and possibly give the athlete the feeling that they have an influence on chance or luck . Nowadays, the confidence of athletes is based on technology (car, airplane, boat) and on their own skill and strength, but also on superstitious actions that have no rational connection with athletic performance. However, they indirectly generate z. B. a sense of security. The boundaries between superstition and belief become blurred when athletes ascribe different (positive, negative) “vital forces” to individual rituals, gestures or objects, as can be seen from the example of a mascot . Another example is provided by athletes when they publicly express their religious feelings by kneeling down, praying or making the cross; these do not count purely individual statements as part of general religious manifestations.
The type and shape of the lucky charms encompasses pretty much everything you can imagine and bring with you: certain people, animals, plants, crossed thumbs, hats, the sports equipment and materials themselves and also traditional lucky charms such as horseshoes and religious accessories. Lucky charms are those with whom there is a special personal relationship.
Gestures
A large number of gestures of success and victory have found their way into the field of sport, which in principle carry the same symbolism: superiority and victory . A common sign is e.g. B. the clenched fist at hip height or the body lengthening by the two arms stretched into a "V" in the air (existing similarity to the oranten position ). Such signs make the athlete appear bigger and stronger in relation to the opponent , and they also become more noticeable to the audience in the situations in which they want to be seen. Arm movements of this kind, expressing triumph and prayer, occur all over the world and probably go well beyond any cultural learning. A natural ritual among athletes is to congratulate the winning opponent . In no other area of society is there such an opportunity for ritualized congratulations as in sport, especially in competitive sport. Those take a peacemaking position especially in physically tough disciplines. Another sign of respect for opposing teams, which makes the outbursts of anger and hardship disappear, is the jersey swap - it is the only spontaneous act to express respect and joy towards your opponent .
In certain sports, such as soccer , some athletes kiss the ground before entering the field. This behavior is reminiscent of the Pope's gesture when he kisses the ground immediately after landing in a host country. These and many other ritualized gestures are theatricalized in a more or less exaggerated form and distort their traditional meaning.
Athlete rituals before and after competitions
For a large number of athletes, rituals are part of the repertoire of competitive behavior. Some of them are practiced in training long before the competition , other rituals are suspended until immediately before the competition. Athletes are particularly often exposed to situations of great pressure and great uncertainty. Many people watch the service delivery and they are often in the public eye. The performance in a competition can determine whether it is e.g. B. Receive funding, join the elite squad or be judged positively or negatively by the media . In addition, athletes only have a limited number of opportunities to perform or demonstrate their performance . Rituals can help to create feelings of controllability and predictability in stressful and sometimes uncontrollable situations. They help maintain emotional stability so that athletes can better cope with the tension and stress. Rituals in a fixed sequence often take place the day before the competition. This includes following the precisely prescribed route to the venue and eating certain meals at the same times. Some athletes stop shaving a few days before a competition and avoid people who they think could bring them bad luck . Another example is given by many runners in the last few minutes before the start, in which they follow a precise schedule that must not be interrupted under any circumstances. During this time they keep away from any conversation. Success is downright invoked in advance ; Logic and rationality are mostly neglected. However, sports science findings have an impact on the upcoming competition nonetheless. The values achieved in test runs and test games mean much more than just objective feedback on the level of performance. Such tests serve the athlete as an oracle function , which is supposed to take away the fear of possible failure. In addition, some athletes look for excuses in advance if the desired success does not materialize. These are supposed to create success by distracting from it - they therefore have a double function.
If the hoped-for success is finally achieved in the competition, a large variety of success rituals can be observed among the athletes. The series of victory rituals includes, among other things, doing laps of honor as well as the victory drive after returning home. This elevator then often leads to the ceremonial reception in the town hall. This staging reflects the simplified form of an ancient Roman triumphal procession , in which the victorious general entered the city in a four-horse triumphal chariot through one of the triumphal arches .
Trophies and cups, coats of arms and emblems
Like every traditional tribal culture, the modern state and the church , sports clubs and associations also have an official emblem . It is usually protected by copyright and has the meaning of a totem . It sometimes appears in animal form and represents the entire animal species. It has the function of a helper endowed with supernatural powers; the emblem is intended to concentrate positive power and provide protection. The fans carry their club symbols with them like a magical talisman at important competitions. The emblem is, so to speak, an unmistakable identification mark with which supporters express their affiliation and loyalty to their country or association. The identity feature appears on a wide variety of objects: pennants , flags , programs , T-shirts and many more. On playing clothes , the emblem is usually found on the left half of the chest, directly above the heart. The emblems have gone through several phases in the history of football. In the early days, many clubs adopted the coat of arms of their local parish. Due to the emergence of a large number of associations in the individual cities, an alternative for the local coat of arms was sought later . New symbols were sought. Every football club wanted to have a mark belonging to them . Another reason for the search for a new symbol was that many old coats of arms were too complicated and too delicate to use as an easily recognizable emblem.
In addition to the emblems and coats of arms, which are supposed to unleash the fighting spirit and the club's emotions, there are trophies and cups . According to Morris , the conquest ritual of the winner's cup is derived from the behavior of the male primeval hunters . With the return of the killed hunted prey , those gave the signal of an impending tribal festival . Successful warriors of antiquity, on the other hand, hung up their booty after a battle was won in memory of this glorious deed. The shining cups and medals symbolize the prey for the prevented hunter, which he receives as the culmination of his arduous pursuit. The cup is often seen as a symbol of abundance; in ritual use they often contain a potion that is said to confer immortality. Like the Grail , the goblet is used in magical rituals as a vessel with magical powers for both earthly and spiritual life . If a team drinks from a goblet, it denotes the affiliation with an idea to which one feels jointly committed. The typical football trophy is a large silver cup in the form of an oversized drinking vessel. The size of the cup is borrowed from old England , the birthplace of modern football. It was customary there for centuries to pass an extremely large silver goblet around at festive banquets . Morris sees the “huge love cup” as the prototype of today's soccer cups. The first World Cup ( Coupe Jules Rimet ) had the style of a goblet in the figure of a winged goddess of love . In her raised hands she holds a vessel that symbolizes the love cup.
In school sports
Being a student is difficult and often children need clear guidelines in school life. Rituals can help bring order, structure (both spatially and temporally) and transparency to the classroom . The large space capacity of the sports fields, gymnasiums and swimming pools alone seeks orientation and peace, so that an orderly lesson can take place at all. Thanks to their symbolic meaning, they are immediately understood by everyone involved and thus create familiarity and security for the students. Automated actions can take the burden off the student from thinking about details, so the student and teacher can focus more easily on the essentials. If the rituals are accepted by the students, they will also be followed in a recurring manner. In addition, they do not have to be spoken, which saves a lot of time. As an example, the old greeting ritual of every sports unit from the GDR could be mentioned, which expresses itself in such a way that the students stand in a row in front of the teacher and the teacher begins the lesson with the following words: “We are starting today's sports lesson with a simple 'sport' ... "and the students answer with the word" ... free ". Rituals can change or be replaced over time. They relate to individual grade levels and adapt to the respective work situation.
literature
- Frank Röller: Rituals in Sport. The cult of the Religio Athletae. Invoco-Verlag, Homburg 2006, ISBN 3-938165-01-4 .
- Martin Schuster: Rituals, Art and Art Therapy. Med.-Wiss. Verlags-Ges., Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-939069-42-3 .
- Christoph Wulf (ed.); Jörg Zirfas: The culture of ritual. Productions. Practices. Symbols. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-7705-4017-4 .
- Ommo Grupe, Dietmar Mieth (ed.): Lexicon of ethics in sport. (= Series of publications by the Federal Institute for Sport Science. Volume 99). Hofmann-Verlag, Schondorf 2001, ISBN 3-7780-8991-9 .
- Verena Menapace: Rituals in competitive sports. Thesis . University of Vienna, 2012.
- Hans G. Buhrmann, Maxwell K. Zaugg: Religion and Superstition in the Sport of Baketball. In: Journal of Sport Behavior. Volume 6, No. 3, 1982, pp. 146-157.
- Allen Guttmann : From ritual to record. The essence of modern sport. Schorndorf 1979.
Web links
- Martin Krauß : Aesthetics of a pale charm. In: Friday . November 9, 2001.
Individual evidence
- ^ Arnd Krüger : ritual and record in sport. In: A. Luh, E. Beckers (Eds.): Upheaval and Continuity in Sport - Reflections in the Field of Sport History. Festschrift for Horst Ueberhorst. Brockmeyer, Bochum 1991, p. 92.
- ^ Mari Womack: Why Athletes Need Ritual. (A Study Of Magic Among Professional Athletes). In: Shirl J. Hoffman (Ed.): Sport and Religion. Human Kinetics Books, Champaign (Illinois) 1992, p. 192.
- ^ Hans G. Buhrmann, Maxwell K. Zaugg: Religion and Superstition in the Sport of Baketball. In: Journal of Sport Behavior. vol. 6 No. 3, 1982, p. 146.
- ^ A b Karl Wehrhan : The superstition in sport. In: Theodor Siebs , Max Hippe (ed.): Word and custom. (Folklore work called the Silesian Folklore Society, 24). Breslau 1936, p. 4.
- ↑ Erving Goffman: Interaction Rituals. Over-behavior in direct communication. 1st edition. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-518-28194-1 .
- ↑ Desmond Morris : Body Signals: Bodywatching. Heyne Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-453-37101-1 , p. 144.
- ^ Mari Womack: Why Athletes Need Ritual. A Study Of Magic Among Professional Athletes. In: Shirl J. Hoffman (Ed.): Sport and Religion. Human Kinetics Books, Champaign (Illinois) 1992, p. 196.
- ↑ Athletic insight . In: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ↑ Desmond Morris: The Animal Man. 2nd Edition. Heyne Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-453-09883-8 , p. 63.
- ↑ Udo Becker: Lexicon of symbols. Herder Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-89836-219-1 .
- ↑ Desmond Morris: The Man We Live With - A Guide to Our Behavior. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-426-04596-6 , p. 154.