Are these the strangest superstitions in sport?

Sports are becoming more and more data focused and moving away from gut feelings and intuition, but one area which still remains the same is the superstitions all sports people have. Some seem perfectly reasonable, but others start to become pretty bizarre…

Alou had a wonderful career in the MLB, racking up over 2,000 hits and 332 home runs, he did all of this whilst refusing to wear batting gloves. Not that strange yet, but the reason why he eschewed the gloves was his superstitious need to urinate on his hands to ensure they stayed firm.

In theatre, you don’t say ‘Macbeth’ during a run of the play, or ‘good luck’ to an actor. In the NASCAR world, you make sure to have peanuts moved as far away as possible from your car before a race. Perhaps started due to a crash loosely involving peanuts in the 30s, this one seems a little extreme.

McKenzie was an abrasive opening batter for South Africa, he was also a man of superstitions. He started by turning off all changing room lights and closing every toilet seat lid he would also tape his bat to the ceiling before every game after his teammates had done the same to him as a prank and he’d gone on to score a century. Whatever works.

Miles had one hell of a coaching career, but he always had a secret up his sleeve if things got out of hand for his teams. He would reach down for a clump of grass to chew, according to him it “humbles me as a man”, if that’s what it takes, Les…

Gardiner spent seven years in the NHL and whenever he would find himself in a scoring drought he would stuff his stick down the toilet to "Show it who's boss." Not really much else to say on this one.

Woods was probably too good during his pomp to need superstition on his side, but there is a reason why he always wore red on Sundays. His mother told him, due to his Capricorn star sign, it would be the color to give him the most power and to save it for when he needed it most. The results speak for themselves.

‘Slinger Malinga’ had one of the strangest bowling actions in history, but it sure was effective. But perhaps it was his superstition of kissing the ball before every delivery which was the secret of his success.

Baseball is one the quirkiest sports there is, shrouded in superstition, but when teams need a final push, there is one thing that everyone believes in. Turning your hat inside out from the seventh inning onward will certainly get your team back in the game (this statement cannot be backed up with any proof.)

Talking of baseball caps, pitcher Kline would simply refuse to wash of wear a clean hat. Only wearing one at each of his stops in the majors. Thankfully pitchers aren’t too close to anyone else on the field otherwise there might have been some complaints about the smell.

Boggs was an excellent hitter in the MLB, and he put it down to the precision of his training regime, but it wasn’t the exercise that helped, but when he did them. At 5:17 he would take batting practice and 7:17 he would do cardio. Tough to argue with the results.

The legendary college basketball coach would often be seen sucking on a wet towel. What started at an attempt to keep his mouth from drying up soon became part of his game day ritual.

Tendulkar has a decent claim to being the second best cricketer in history, but he also had a very set routine when it came to padding up. He would always put his left pad on first and any mistakes would cause him to fret.

‘The Great One’ was certainly one of a kind, but it wasn’t just his play that was unique. He was obsessive about putting his gear on in the same order every time, but more importantly, he would ensure the blade of his stick was covered in baby powder, often freaking out in the locker room if he couldn’t find any.

One of the best players in the NHL in the past 20 years, ‘Sid the Kid’ had a series of sueprstitions including taping his own stick every single time, eating at the same restaurants one road trips and never talking to his mother the night before a game.

Waugh is one of Australia’s greatest-ever batters, but maybe we can’t put that all down to his grit and talent, but instead, we should be looking at his lucky red rag which he always carried with him when batting. That rag must be doing something right.