The transition from toroidal counter- to co-rotation in the core plasma has been observed at L to H transition in several tokamaks. Spontaneous reversal has also been observed in TCV beyond a threshold in the density. We develop a model based on the following phenomenology: (1) the increase in the gradient of the pressure triggers formation on a fast time scale of cells of convection (similar to Rayleigh–Benard, but with a single sign of vorticity); (2) poloidal rotation is induced by the envelope of the peripheric velocity of the convection cells; via the baroclinic term the gradients of temperature and density sustain the poloidal rotation against the decay due to the parallel viscosity; (3) the fast increase in poloidal flow induces a high-time derivative of the radial electric field; (4) the neoclassical polarization creates a series of parallel accelerations (kicks on each bounce) of the trapped ions, leading to an increase in the toroidal precession or to its reversal; the source of energy is the work done by the radial electric field. (5) the diffusion transfers on resistive scale the toroidal momentum from the trapped ions to the untrapped ones. The correlated interactions are examined and the estimated time scales are found to be compatible with the observations.