After wrapping up his 31st 450 Monster Energy AMA Supercross victory in Houston, everyone immediately pointed out the change in Cooper Webb's demeanor from the weekend before. Rewind to the previous weekend at Anaheim 2, and a dejected Webb sat on the sidelines after the race. He had worked his way up fourth after a bad start and felt he could make a pass for third when he went down, sliding back to fifth. He stated the race might have been a “nail in the coffin” of his title defense, although he later softened that view a bit after he realized he was down 24 points (Webb initially thought he was down more than 30 points). A week later and he is celebrating, maybe even harder than after he won his first race back in 2019.
Cooper Webb is a rider that a sports psychologists (and sport psychology student) would love to study. From the outside looking in he seems almost unshakeable. If he is in second with two minutes left in a race, it seems inevitable he is going to win the race, he is just that strong.
Webb exudes confidence. His signature move is shooting the finger gun at his competition over the finish line (usually after making a late race pass for the win). But last year when others started picking up on his moves, he switched it up to rocking the baby to sleep, meaning, “Who’s your daddy.” Taking a look back at Webb's first ever 450SX win at Anaheim 2 in 2019, which also happened to be a Triple Crown, Webb even used the finger gun on Ken Roczen after winning the first race of the night. He had never even won a main event at that point, but the confidence was there.
Watch highlights from Cooper Webb's first 450SX win in 2019:
When confidence is that key, though, it cuts both ways. The first three rounds of 2026 had gone pretty much the opposite of the way the races usually work for Webb, with mistakes costing him points. Confidence is a fickle thing, so Webb was down on himself after Anaheim 2. While he does often start the season slow and build into a force as the series moves east, he was determined--and expecting--to not have to do that this year. Expecting to win early added pressure, and even Webb wasn't immune to that. Webb commented about this in the post-race press conference after Houston:
“I think for me, it was a little frustrating because I felt like my preparation, like I said, you do everything right. I didn't miss a day. I feel like I've worked the hardest I've ever worked this off season. I put myself kind of through the ringer just with testing and so on and so forth. So, I came into the season with a high expectation and maybe it was a little too much on myself to go out there and try to win Anaheim and prove why I'm the champion and do all that maybe was a bit too much on myself…. I didn't underestimate anybody, but it is tough, like I said, sometimes when you feel like you do everything right and you get your teeth kicked in.”
Worse, he's been in this spot before. Both of his previous title defenses started slowly, and didn't end with another number-one plate. In 2020, after winning the 2019 title, he didn’t win until round six in San Diego. In 2022 after winning in 2021, he never won a single race and was only on the podium four times.
Every athlete’s threshold for anxiety and pressure is different, but for the most part focusing solely on long term goals such as “win another championship” is never in an athlete’s best interest. And Webb admitted to feeling that pressure. Last year after winning this third championship he said he was going to enjoy it because he didn’t know if another one was ever going to come around again. But then something happened, Jett Lawrence got hurt. Webb, always one to admit that Jett is a tough one to beat, saw his championship odds improve again. But when all of that off-season work didn't equate to good results, the pressure to win A1 and repeat as champion mounted. Houston would not be fun. The pressure was there.
“Today, like I said, it was a lot of tunnel vision, not much fun, not much smiles, and it is hard," he explained. "Like I said, there's a lot of pressure for me to perform and for me to go out there and win. And I invite that pressure, but like I said, when you feel like you're doing everything right, you're training hard, you're having good weeks and then the results aren't coming and there's pressure from everyone. So, the media, the fans, the team, everyone expects you to win. So, I took it pretty hard and I'm my own hardest critic. So, a lot of sleepless nights, if I'm honest, a lot of ‘Why the hell am I still doing this?’ You get those kinds of thoughts going. Like I said on the broadcast, my wife really has kept me level-headed and helped me a lot this week just to be like, ‘You know what? It is what it is. If it ain't your year, it ain't your year.’ So, tonight was just a huge spark to get that confidence of like, "Hey, it still can be my year and let's do this thing."
In sport psychology there are many tricks to help build confidence. But positive self-talk and visualization, these things take time. And nothing can build confidence faster than a good result. Now that Webb is back in the winner’s circle the best thing he can do is not think big picture. Make smaller goals for each week and just focus on his strengths, which is being strong and relying on his smarts to pass riders at the end of the race. The first three rounds weren't what he wanted, but if he can do what he did in Houston again, who knows, he could go back-to-back for the first time.
