Does Prayer Before An Athletic Competition Affect The Overall Performance Of The Athlete?

The influence that modern sports have had on society within the past few centuries is profound. Billions of individual’s worldwide tune in through various forms of media in order to support their most revered establishment. Throughout the hardships and adversities that humanity has overcame, and will continue to overcome, one can turn to the world of sports to escape from these destitutions. The athletic activities provide and fuel the competitive spirit found deep within, and permits supporters to have the greatest amount of encouragement and backing of an organization possible. As society has progressed through a multitude of circumstances, the world of sports has adjusted its standing in society in order to stay relevant and withhold

Many athletes are superstitious, or go through the same series of progressions or habits before competition, because they believe it gives them luck or a better chance to perform optimally. Some of these habits, may include praying. The act of praying is a way for an athlete to think they can attain an edge, so they can compete better. During my time as an intern with Fordham Athletics, I was given many opportunities to spend time with athletes from a variety of sports. My interactions with these athletes, as well as my own experience as a college athlete who prayed before competitions, triggered my interest in the relationship between prayer, and athletic performance. Does prayer before competition affect the overall performance of an athlete? In this paper I will examine the effects of religion and prayer on an athlete going into competition, as well as how it affects an athlete’s overall performance.

Sports—which involve emotion, competition, cooperation, achievement, and play—provide a rich area for psychological study. People involved in sports attempt to master very difficult skills, often subjecting themselves to intense physical stress as well as social pressure. research has expanded into numerous areas such as imagery training, hypnosis, relaxation training, motivation, socialization, conflict and competition, counseling, and coaching. Specific sports and recreational specialties studied include baseball, basketball, soccer,

Have you ever wondered how two athletes with two different faiths can change their own lives by their ways of living? Eric Liddell was a Scottish runner and a faithful Christian. On the other hand, Harold Abraham was a British runner and a Jew who struggled to change other people’s thought of Jews. Both of these men ran in the 1924 Olympics for different purposes. The movie “Chariots of Fire” showed how Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams differed from one another. Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams were different in their faith, economic status, and their motivations.

In Chapter 10 of Religion and Popular Culture in America, Joseph L. Price attempts to show sports as an example of popular culture as religion, because of its ability to shape the engagement of their fans and the fan’s environments. Although the majority of fans do not see sports as coming close to being a religion, Price gives several compelling reasons as to why sports are religion.

Individuals participate in rituals for various reasons. As explained in Baseball Magic by George Gmelch, athletes often participate in rituals for superstition-based purposes. These athletes tend to participate in rituals or taboo in order to improve their performance on the field. Alternatively, The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual, written by Richard Sosis, describes that participation in religion-based rituals is often with the intent of improving the communication and cohesion of a group. Although Gmelch introduces ritual participation in the context of individual performance and Sosis in the context of group performance, both authors explain how rituals can benefit a given group or scenario. As an individual who has both witnessed and

1..An American Apotheosis, written by Joseph L. Price, discusses the religious element of sports. His thesis, “For tens of millions of devoted fans throughout the country, sports constitute a popular form of religion by shaping their world and sustaining their ways of engaging it.” (Price, p. 196) Takes on the difficult challenge of defining sport as religion. This is done through Price’s exploration of how sports shape and engage the world for the millions of devoted fans in America, how sports enable participants to explore levels of selfhood, how sports establish a means for bonding with the devotee community, how sports model ways to deal with fate while playing by the rules and how sports provide the prospect of experiencing abundant life.

To many people, a sports game is just another thing to watch on the weekend with a group of friends cheering on your favorite team and hoping they come away from the game with the big win. To Jamie Ogden, his life revolves around sports. “Sports has always been a big part of my life.” states Jamie. His interest in sports started at a young age while watching his older brother play basketball and baseball. “I would go out and just sit and watch him practice in the driveway.” The other thing that helps clear his mind is his faith in Christ. “Faith is a huge part of my life. It is incorporated in everything I do.” While growing up, both sports and faith in Christ gave Jamie a way to make his dreams about playing professional baseball a reality.

contemplation, practice, or training in solitude led to higher skill levels, be it in sport,

In the Article, “Professional Athletes Should Not Engage in Excessive Religious Expression,” author Jonathan Zimmerman believes that religious expression should not be involved in sports. When most players express Christian faith, it alienates other religions. Schools banned religious acts, so should sports. Zimmerman thinks that if other faiths practiced their religion on the field, the news announcers wouldn’t celebrate them as men of faith. He believes there is favoritism to one religion over the others. Zimmerman says the problem isn’t their religion but assuming that everyone follows the Christian belief.

In Hochstetler’s article he discusses reason people choose to pray. Athletes pray for various reasons and they do not all pray in the same way. Prayer is a mysterious thing and difficult for some to understand. This leads to tensions with prayer in sports. These tensions lead people to question if prayer by athletes is genuine. Hochstetler concludes that an athlete’s relationship with God must mature in order for the athlete to genuinely know how to pray and what pray for. This article relates to my research topic with the way it explains the relationship between sports and prayer. It explores the reasons behind prayer and helps people understand the importance prayer can have in an athlete’s

Sports has become such a massive part of our culture and it is truly the most important thing in a lot of people’s lives. Every sports fan wants the same thing, for their favorite team to win the championship. They watch all season hoping their team gets the chance to play to win the trophy at the end of the season, and it can sometimes get to a point where it consumes their every thought. Van Sloten argues that our innate desire for our favorite hockey team (Colorado Avalanche) to in the Stanley Cup, is actually a desire for God. He defines this natural desire for God as sensus devinitatis. John Calvin defined it as “an inherent understanding and awareness of (God) into every single human” (84) and Van Sloten thinks this comes out most potently during sports. As I write this paper, I am watching Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose walk of the 18th fairway of Augusta Nation Golf Club in the first playoff hole to win the Master tournament. Sergio has been on the PGA Tour since 1996 and has yet to win a major tournament. As they make the walk up to the green I can’t help but feel nervous, excided, and terrified all at the same time, and I’m just sitting in my dorm room watching, I can imagine what the players must be feeling. I want Sergio to win so bad that my palms are sweating and I can’t watch as he hits his putt. Can this yearning for a golfer that has waited so long for this moment to finally prevail, really just be me wanting God? Honestly, this is an idea that has never crossed my mind and I’m not sure I am convinced about it. My desire for my favorite sports teams to win seems like a pretty selfish desire to me and really has nothing to do with God. The idea of sensus devinitatis makes sense to me but I have never thought that when I have a strong Earthly desire for something, it’s just my desire for God. That would make me feel a little bit better because I know that I

Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).

The information gathered has been used to inform people on religion and sports . Starting with the article by Albert Mohler this article perfectly state's the effect that sports has had on religion. The relationship between sports and religion has always close and often awkward. The massive growth of involvement in sports at the expense of church activities and involvements. About fifteen years ago a catholic archbishop of New York lamented the fact that little league baseball was taking his altar boys away on Sundays. This was the start of the sports and religion dilemma.

Sports and religion are things that can go together in many ways. Sports were founded on religion and were kept strong by religion. Now sport is taking over as religion almost in today's world. Sports can promote things that are not necessarily right according to God but we participate anyway. While how the mind and body are connected give another way of how sport is. Finally, we see that sports in a modern context have changed greatly and are ritual heavy one would almost say idolic. Religion and sports are both here to stay and they really are a way something that can unite everyone.