"Old Mo"

I often hear sports announcers refer to momentum as "old mo". They talk about changes in momentum in a game. One team seems to have all the momentum on their side, then suddenly something changes and "old mo" seems to change sides.

The scientific definition of momentum is that is the power residing in an object. The mathematical formula for momentum is mass times velocity.

We all experience times in our lives where we seem to have all the momentum. "Old mo" seems to be on our side. Things are a lot easier when we have momentum on our side. The problem are those times where we seem to lose momentum. Once lost, it seems hard to regain.

If we apply the scientific formula for momentum, then it might be easier to regain. We have two ways to get "old mo" back on our side:

1. Increase mass - to me this means increase activity level. Often we lose momentum because we stop doing those things that created the momentum in the first place.

2. Increase velocity - to me this means stop procrastinating and putting things off. A faster moving object creates more momentum than a slower moving object.

Golf Lesson

If you are a golfer, you can relate to the term "bogey train". A bogey train is a situation where "old mo" has left you and no matter what you do, you can't make better than bogey on each hole. You see this frequently in pro tournaments. A golfer gets on a streak and seems to make every putt. Or the opposite, they seem to miss every fairway or green, and are constantly missing greens or short putts.

Good golfers have found the best way to regain momentum is to do two things:

1. Have a routine and stick to it. It is very easy when things start going bad to abandon those things which have worked well in the past.

2. Play each shot rather than worry about the score. A golfer can't force results. All they can do is make the best decision possible, hit the ball as best they can, and then observe the results.