ABSTRACT
Research on the “hot hand” myth tries to find evidence of support or refutation whether athletes elevate their performance following streaks of success. Mainly explored in professional basketball but also in other sports, the belief that a player is more likely to score next time when he has just scored with his last two or three attempts is a controversially discussed topic. Gilovich et al. ( 1985 ) exposed the hot hand as a fallacy. Results in this area led to considerations about the existence of streaks in other sports but results are various (Bürger, 2009 ).
Unlike football, rugby, handball and many more sports, a regular volleyball match is not limited by time but by points that need to be gathered. Every minute more than one point is won by either one team or the other. That means a series of successive points enlarges the gap between the teams, making it more and more difficult to catch up with the leading one. This concept of gathering momentum, or the reverse in a performance, can give the coaches, athletes and sports scientists further insights into winning and losing performances.
