The Projected Performance Model: Relating Cognitive and Performance Antecedents of Psychological Momentum

Abstract

Psychological momentum has been an elusive phenomenon in sport psychology research. The present study utilized a two-round free-throw shooting contest between pairs of participants to examine factors which influenced participants' perceptions of momentum and subsequent changes in performance. Factors hypothesized to contribute to perceptions of momentum were divided into three categories of Personal Variables, Situational Variables, and Self-ratings of Performance. Perceptions of momentum could be significantly predicted by both Situational Variables and Self-ratings of Performance. Changes in performance, however, were only significantly predicted by Situational Variables. These findings support the notion that attributions of positive and negative psychological momentum function simply as a labeling process in the evaluation of performance, with little or no effect on subsequent performance. Based on these findings and other research on psychological momentum, a theoretical model (Projected Performance Model) is proposed to conceptualize more clearly fluctuations in performance and their relationship to the construct of psychological momentum.

Performance-induced emotions experienced during high-stakes table tennis matches

“…Although our study showed evidence that certain elements of competitive tabletennis interaction contribute to the experience of typical emotional contents, the impact of theseemotional contents on the effectiveness of actions undertaken during matches needs to beinvestigated. It may be that the experience of a pleasant emotion results in lower effectiveness dueto a drop in the player's concentration and, conversely, that the experience of an unpleasantemotion leads to greater effectiveness through heightened concentration (Cornelius, Silva,Conroy, & Petersen, 1997). The results of our study allowed us to identify certain match situationsthat were typically associated with certain emotional contents.…”

Perceptions of psychological momentum of elite soccer players

“…There seems to be a strong belief that PM is an important determinant of success in sporting contests, even though there is both evidence for (Cornelius, Silva, Conroy, & Petersen, 1997;Jones & Harwood, 2008) and against (Koehler & Conley, 2003) a positive relationship between PM and sport performance. Research suggests that perceptions of PM exist and alter in response to gaining or losing ground in a competition (i.e., scoring or conceding) (Briki, Den Hartigh, Hauw, & Gernigon, 2012;Eisler & Spink, 1998;Iso-Ahola & Dotson, 2014;Moesch & Apitzsch, 2012;Perreault et al, 1998;Stanimirovic & Hanrahan, 2004) and therefore might be a possible explanation why a player's performance changes in relation to the score line.…”

Momentum in US Open men’s singles tennis

“…Within sport, momentum is seen as a bi-directional construct, whereby successfully performed events increase the probability of subsequently performed events being successful and unsuccessful events decrease the probability of subsequent events being performed successfully (Cornelius et al, 1997). This creates the notion of positive and negative momentum (Burke and Houseworth, 1995;Taylor and Demick, 1984;Vallerand et al, 1988).…”

“…In tennis such events could include dramatic shots, winning a game after several deuce points have been played, unforced errors at crucial points, and not converting break point opportunities. It is important for tennis coaches and players to understand events that may initiate positive or negative momentum given their hypothesised importance in determining match outcome (Cornelius et al, 1997). Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation was to analyse momentum at both point and games levels including process variables as well as outcome variables.…”