Alistair Higham: Momentum an Introduction to the 5 Stages

Why are tennis matches often so unpredictable? What makes them twist and turn in such surprising and unexpected ways?

In an international junior match, Julia raced out to a 6-1, 4-2 lead, hitting winners with ease, looking calm and in control. 25 minutes later, she had lost the second set and was down 1-5 in the third. Nothing was working and now it was her opponent who couldn’t miss.

Momentum: an invisible force that comes from the flow of energy between players.

But at 1-5 Julia saved three match points. At 2-5 she saved another. From that point, she won the next 5 games in a row and took the match 7-5 in the third.

On the surface her result might seem unusual or even miraculous, but any experienced observer of competitive tennis can recount many similar stories. Particularly in junior tennis, the swings and turnarounds are often astounding.

But the question is why and how do they occur? The answer lies in understanding momentum, and how it flows.

Momentum is the hidden force that controls the flow of tennis matches. It is invisible because it comes from the flow of energy between competitors. But you can sense momentum if…