Hello Snappers,

I want to apologize, it has been forever since our last blog post! There is no better time to drop a post about snapper superstitions than on Friday the thirteenth. In high school, I hated superstitions and I never wanted to give in to those ideas. Now that I am a specialist I've bought all in about the superstitions. Every snap is so important so I do everything I can to make every snap ideal.

My Superstitions

Lucky Shoes

I am just going to start with my most important superstition. The shoes are everything. I have lucky shoes for my tests in school, I have lucky shoes for the casino, I have lucky shoes for game day, and I have lucky cleats. These shoes change and lose their luck, but if I have good luck in a pair of shoes, I will continue to wear them until I feel like they have lost their luck.

This season, we were playing at home and I could not find a rhythm warming up or on the sidelines. The ball just wasn't coming off my fingers right, I wasn't feeling confident about my snaps, and I just was not feeling it before the game. I worked on it, tried switching up my grip a little, tried snapping at different lengths to get my head right, and nothing was working! Then I had a punt snap that was just too low for comfort. I could not risk putting my team in a bad spot by throwing a bad ball and I wasn't happy with what was happening. So at halftime, I switched back to the pair of cleats that I had worn every other game and everything felt right again. I even went as far as throwing away that pair of cleats because I never wanted to snap like that again.

Lucky Underwear

Every year for the last three years, I have tried out different compression shorts during the first week of camp and found the ones that I seem to have the best day when wearing. Those are my designated practice compressions for the rest of the year. Because of the great equipment staff we have at Northern Iowa, I can trust that my lucky compressions and my lucky shirt will be ready and clean every day for practice and games.

Lucky Pencils

I have always done better on tests when I have two Bic mechanical pencils (sponsorship?) with me on test day. I wear my lucky shoes, dress for success, and have my lucky pencils in order to give myself the best shot at acing a tough test.

Personal Take On Superstitions

I love having my personal superstitions, until they become something that I rely on. As a specialist, we have to remember to stay cool, calm, collected, and cool in all situations. Having a superstition that can push you out of your comfort zone on game day is not something that you want to have. At the end of the day you have to feel confident enough in yourself as a player to move on.

Like I said earlier, I have a lucky pair of cleats that I was able to go when I was having an off day, but I was also confident enough in myself to not need those cleats. I was wearing other cleats, felt off, and then put the other cleats on to get myself refocused and feeling confident. It's all about confidence, in yourself and in your technique. Your superstitions shouldn't cripple you from trying something new or not being able to perform without them.

I view superstitions as little parts of your life that add to your confidence, but aren't able to take it away. 

As always, hit us up on twitter with all you long snapping content! Let us know, on Twitter and in the comments,  what superstitions you have as a specialist, on and off the field.