Alistair Higham: When Momentum is Totally Against You

When momentum is totally against you it can lead to mental and physical negativity, even at the pro level.

When the momentum is totally against you, it is the easiest thing in the world to believe it’s just not your day. At one point you were up a set. But now you’re 4-1 down in the third. We’ve all been there. For most players it seems that the hill is too big to climb.

They conclude that the flow of the match is irreversibly with the opponent. Then it becomes all too easy to display negative body language, or indulge in fits of temper giving your opponent even more encouragement. At times like these players sometimes wonder why they bother playing at all!

The fact is, however, that matches do turn around regularly from seemingly impossible positions. The key point is to understand this. You are only in a stage of momentum. When momentum is totally against you, that is just one of many stages. And those stages always change over the course of a match.

Champions know matches can turn around from "impossible situations."

If you can shift the momentum to a different stage, the match can start to…