"No time to think": the strange pre-match routine helping Godo score goals

Strasbourg forward Godo uses pre-match mental visualisation and neurovisual training—eye movements, hand gestures, imagined game situations—to sharpen reflexes, decision-making and visual processing at elite speed.

Martial Godo, Strasbourg's striker, was spotted performing an unusual pre-match routine before Sunday's game against Auxerre: alternating eye blinks, hand movements, and walking through the penalty area while mentally rehearsing game situations. The practice has drawn attention on social media and reflects a growing trend in elite sport.

The routine combines two distinct techniques: mental visualisation and neurovisual training. Mental visualisation involves creating a mental image of an action before executing it—a footballer imagining a run, a pass, or a shot. According to Angela Ragaigne, a neurovisual specialist working with elite athletes, the brain activates the same neural pathways during visualisation as during actual performance, helping prepare the nervous system for competition.

Neurovisual training goes further, training how the eyes and brain capture, process and analyse visual information. It focuses on eye movements, peripheral vision, and the ability to filter important details. At the highest level, where decisions happen in tenths of a second, this preparation becomes crucial. "An attacker has no time to think," explains Sébastien Durand, a physical trainer working alongside Ragaigne. "It all happens in tenths of a second. Everything must be worked on beforehand to become automatic.