Pinky-Links and Eye Contact: How the Use of Pre-Competitive Routines Changed My Coaching Practices

As a volleyball coach, my training approach has often relied on reproducing what I saw others do. Consequently, in this study, my purpose was to transform my own coaching practices with a U16 volleyball team. Through my learning during a post-graduate course-based Master’s degree, I became fascinated with pre-competitive (PC) routines and the potential they have to improve athletes’ positive psychological states during training and competition. I employed an iterative Action Research (AR) process to facilitate my learning and application of different PC routine approaches. Specifically, I aimed to challenge myself to examine critically not only my planning and implementation of PC routines (what I did), but also how this process helped me learn to become a more conscientious coach.