Is knowing who’s going to win in a sports match an art? No, it’s science. It’s not something that you can just do and depending on your personal God-given gifts, be better than the rest. You have to pay close attention to teams, players, coaches, boardrooms and the general culture of the cities. Predicting a winner becomes a whole lot easier when you understand that it’s nothing more than studying human nature. Although the human being is the most unpredictable thing in the universe at times, if you understand the mindset of professionals, you will be amazed at how accurately you can paint the future. You will also learn a few life skills which you can utilize in your own life to get ahead in your professional and or personal life. Master the following things and you will feel like you’re from the future.
The culture of teams
Every single sports team has its own history and culture. Every single player has their own unique personal background. And every single sports organization has it’s unique professional background as well. Culture is something that can and should be studied. For a sports team, what is the work ethic like? Does a particular team have a top player which encourages the lesser and greener players to do better? What is the attitude of a team when they are losing; do they want to fight or do they lose hope quickly? This is something that you can only learn if you follow the team carefully and look for insider information. Following specific journalists, such as those that are often allowed in the locker room to interview players straight before and after a game is one way. Pay close attention to their social media feeds to get little snippets of information.
You should also study the coaches of the team. What is their background? Have they ever played the sport or are they coming in purely from a management perspective? If you’re trying to predict who will win in a one versus one sport such as tennis, you should follow the players carefully. Find out who their trainer is, what kind of nutritionist and or sports science professional they have on their team. The more you study how teams, coaches and players approach the sport, the more you will understand their nature.
Study the styles
Various sports that have such a long history, will have styles of play. One of the sports that rely heavily on styles is boxing. Boxing goes back to the Ancient Greek days and the modern variation originates in London, England. Styles make fights as they say and it’s up to you to study the styles of fighters. You will need to find out more about their trainers and the gyms they hail from. Some trainers are more technical and work on the fighter’s ability to counterpunch and move around the ring without being caught. Some trainers want their fighters to use their power and aggression against fighters that don’t have an answer for a ‘pressure’ style.
Regarding fencing, all fencers come from houses and schools. The most historical nations in the sport, i.e. Italy, UK, and France, have different styles from one another. Depending on who the trainer of the fencer is and what kind of house they come from, it can be easy to predict how the swordsman will approach a bout. Learning the styles of sports teams and individuals is half the battle in itself. The more knowledgeable you are of their style, the more accurately you can predict when a winner when styles clash.
When they need to rebuild
Sports teams are businesses and just like any other type of business, they will often need time to restructure their operations. This is called ‘rebuilding’ in sports circles as it’s the time used to create a team that is more likely to succeed. It could take a few months to a few years, such as the complex process of buying players and getting on board the right coaching staff. Understanding the way teams approach this process, will give you a heads up on what kind of team you can expect them to be in the near future. Take a look at the 2020 NBA Draft and how you can approach a comparison of teams. You can make a fantasy list of teams heading off against each other and pinpoint weaknesses on each side. Then you will know what kind of improvements teams need to make to no longer have any weaknesses against any team. Depending on how well the rebuild is going, the odds in the markets will rise and fall. Tracking the progress of a team can be done simply by studying which team is being backed the most by the wagering market.
Personal knowledge is useful
If you have played or are still playing a particular sport, you know about the challenges it presents you. Therefore, you can use your own insider know-how to predict who the winner of a contest in your sport might be. If you play golf a lot and you know what type of injuries will give you a certain walk and or movement, you can spot this next time you watch the pros. Perhaps you have felt what it’s like to have a bicep tear. When you’re recovering from it you know what kinds of shots and force you can play. If you see a pro out on the green moving in the same way that you once did, you can bet that they have the same injury as you did. Even if they try to disguise it, to the naked eye it might not seem anything out of the ordinary, but you can spot it thanks to your personal knowledge.
Sports predictions are not an art form, it’s more like science. All you’re doing is studying human behavior and using your knowledge to predict the most likely winner. Anything can happen in sport but if your study the styles of play and the culture of teams, you will have a much better record of guessing outcomes of matches correctly.
