Momentum

Here is a final important issue to understand as we close our series on Marginal Gains. Momentum. Understanding momentum can offer a final marginal gain that can be very beneficial to you at key moments in a match.

I sometimes hear players say that a slow start isn’t the end of the world when they are playing best of 3 full sets, they’ve got plenty of time to work their way back. What they fail to understand is they have made their task doubly difficult. First, they have to get the score back level, and if they manage that, then they have to find a way to win.

The Myth

There is a myth about momentum. Many people believe that if a player is behind and then levels the score that player then becomes a strong favorite to push on for the win. This seems even more likely to when the player levels the score more easily.

However, there is often big danger lurking for the player that levels the score. We’ve all seen score lines like 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. If you win the second set easily and presumably have the momentum, what does that really mean in terms of…