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Momentum Doesn't Exist — Behavior Does

It's Just a Sport argues 'momentum' is just players changing what they do.

Cam Jolley

Cam Jolley

Co-Founder & Academy Coach, Coach Central

This piece makes a claim I've come to believe — 'momentum' isn't a mystical energy, it's just players changing their behavior, usually out of fear — which is oddly empowering, because behavior is something you can actually train.

The argument

The author describes his team pressing bravely while ahead, then conceding late and suddenly dropping off and inviting pressure. On review, the players said it plainly — they got scared of losing and stopped doing what they'd trained. That wasn't momentum swinging. That was a behavior change driven by emotion. What exists is what we do, and we can choose and train what we do.

Why this matters to how I coach

It reframes those wobble moments as coachable rather than mysterious. If a team folds after conceding, the fix isn't a motivational speech about energy — it's training the principles so deeply, and building enough trust, that players keep doing the right things even when they're scared. It connects to something I care about: I want players who can endure a hard moment and stay calm under pressure. You develop that by pointing them back to their principles during the storm, over and over, until it holds on its own.

How I'd use it this week

Manufacture an emotional swing in a scrimmage — award the other team a soft goal — and coach your group to keep executing their principles anyway. Composure under pressure is a rep, not a speech.

Takeaways

  • 'Momentum' is usually just players changing their behavior under emotional pressure — often fear.
  • Because it's behavior, it's trainable: drill principles deep enough to survive the scoreline.
  • In wobble moments, redirect attention to principles, not the result — that's how composure is built.

Read the original

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