English footballer David Beckham has confessed to OCD and says his obsessiveness helps keep him training (Image: Giuliano Bevilacqua / Rex Features)

Many athletes feel obliged to perform bizarre rituals before competing. Experts say that sometimes these behaviours can stray into obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and can even force players out of competition.

A number of sports stars have confessed to the odd habits that help them stay focused. Here are 10 famous examples compiled by psychiatrist Thomas Newmark of Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, and New Scientist staff.

1. Soccer star Kolo Toure, central defender for Arsenal and the Ivory Coast, likes to be last onto the pitch. In February this made him miss the start of the second half of Arsenal’s European Champions League tie against Italian team AS Roma – and earned him a booking for entering the field of play without the referee’s permission.


2. Curtis Martin, running back for the New York Jets in the US National Football League, reads Psalm 91 before each game.

3. In the 1998 soccer World Cup, French defender Laurent Blanc would kiss the shaven head of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez before the kick off of each game. France lifted the trophy.

4. Marshall Faulk, former running back with the Indianapolis Colts and the St Louis Rams, habitually wore all black on the way to the stadium.

5. Turk Wendell, formerly a pitcher for Major League Baseball teams including the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets, was known for multiple rituals including brushing his teeth between innings.

6. Wade Boggs, formerly third baseman for the Boston Red Sox, had a similar array of rituals, including eating chicken before each game, and writing the Hebrew word Chai, meaning “living”, in the dirt before each bat.

7. South African cricketer Neil McKenzie would tape his bat to the ceiling and insist all toilet seats in the dressing room were down before going out to bat. After being dropped from the national side in 2004, he recovered from what he describes as OCD, and returned as a successful opening batsman in 2008.

8. Basketball superstar Michael Jordan always wore his North Carolina college shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform

9. England soccer star David Beckham has admitted that he suffers from OCD, which may explain the obsessive practice that underpins his prowess with free kicks. He hates the asymmetry of odd numbers, and will throw away one can of Diet Pepsi if he has three in the fridge.

10. World tennis number one Rafael Nadal of Spain is similarly obsessive about his drinks. His water bottles must be lined up, with the labels facing the baseline he is playing from.