ABSTRACT
Momentum has been described as “psychological power which may change interpersonal perceptions and influence physical and mental performance” (Iso-Ahola, 1980). Taylor and Demick (1994) defined momentum as a multidimensional construct where events can lead to positive or negative changes in cognition, physiology and behaviour which lead to changes in performance and competitive outcome. These mechanisms are believed to lead to temporal patterns in observable events within sports contests. It is hypothesised that if previous events are performed successfully, it is more likely that current events are performed successfully than if previous events had been unsuccessful. There is a perception of momentum among athletes and commentators of sport (Vergin, 2000), but scientific studies of actual sports behaviour have provided mixed evidence as to whether event outcomes are influenced by previous event outcomes within the same matches (Bar Eli et al., 2006). Much of this research has been in basketball which is an indoor game with some similarities to netball. However, there are fundamental differences between the two games including differences in shooting (Barham, 1986). In netball, players can only shoot within the shooting circle and only the goal attack (GA) and goal shooter (GS) are permitted to enter the opposition's shooting circle. The shooter has 3 seconds to make a shot and opposing circle defenders are not permitted to obstruct or make contact with shooters, marking the shot from at least 3 feet away from the shooter. A further difference to basketball is that the net used in netball does not have a backboard behind it which reduces the chances of rebound opportunities where shots are missed. Shooting is an important aspect of netball because it is the scoring mechanism of the game and is one of the factors contributing to teams scoring from their possessions (O'Donoghue et al., 2008). There is no published research investigating momentum effects or any other temporal aspects of netball shooting. Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation was to determine whether the outcome of shots in netball was influenced by the outcome of previously played shots. Given that shots are played from different locations, under different marking conditions and with different techniques, there are other factors that may influence the outcome of netball shots. These factors are also considered in the current investigation to see if there are any tactical differences in shooting depending on the outcome of previous shots.
