Yes it does!

No it doesn’t!

Yes it does!

Actually, it both exists and doesn’t exist simultaneously!

Perhaps Rocco Mediate sums it up this debate best, saying 

“As any athlete knows, momentum is the most unstoppable force in sports. The only way to stop it is if you get in your own way, start making stupid mistakes, or stop believing in yourself.”

Okay then.

What to make of all of this? What is the best research that has been done?

Quantifying momentum is a difficult and arduous task for any researcher, the naive of whom (such as coaches and media members) use anecdotal evidence to drive discourse. Alternatively, there can also be a tendency to use arbitrary cutpoints (i.e., the last five games, or the last 10 plays) when describing momentum, which is also less than ideal.

Before I try to quantify momentum, I…