Separating psychological momentum from strategic momentum: Evidence from men’s professional tennis

Philippe Meier, Raphael Flepp, Maximilian Ruedisser and Egon Franck

Journal of Economic Psychology, 2020, vol. 78, issue C

Abstract: In dynamic contests, strategic momentum and psychological momentum potentially coexist, which makes it difficult to distinguish between the two. We employ the setting of professional tennis, which allows us to separate psychological from strategic momentum. In tennis, converting a break point potentially triggers both strategic momentum—due to a change in the relative position of the players—and psychological momentum—due to a change in the perception of the players. To distinguish between these two momentum types, we employ exogenously given interruptions. Interruptions are predicted to affect psychological momentum negatively, while leaving strategic momentum unaffected. Using 4930 game-by-game observations from 141 Grand Slam men’s single matches, we show that the breaking players’ probability of winning a game increases after converting a break point, which provides evidence for momentum. Moreover, we show that this momentum effect is negatively affected by an interruption. Thus, psychological momentum seems to be the main trigger leading to a performance increase after a converted break point.

Keywords: Psychological momentum; Strategic momentum; Performance; Interruption; Behavioral economics; Tennis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 D91 L83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:78:y:2020:i:c:s016748702030026x

DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2020.102269

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