The modern sport of great achievement is a game on the edge for most of the competitors. Athletes give their best, and the smallest detail can affect the result. In this text, we will analyze additional factors that often affect the outcome of sporting events. And that means the success of bets in bookmakers.
Additional psychological factors in sports
Most of the bookmakers’ clients, when making a bet, take into account only the tournament motivation and the mood of athletes, teams, and coaching staffs.
But other additional factors also influence the psychological tone of the participants in a match or competition:
- problems and troubles in personal life, family, in relationships with friends or teammates;
- psychological pressure from the press
- conflicts between athletes and coaches;
- in team sports – problems in understanding with partners.
A striking example: the refusal to communicate with journalists, and then the removal from Roland Garros – 2021 tennis player Naomi Osaki.
Refereeing style as an additional factor in sports betting
The refereeing style of a match often affects the outcome of a sports confrontation. There are types of bets that directly depend on this additional factor:
- the winner on yellow cards, totals and odds of warnings;
- whether a red card will be shown;
- the number of offsides;
- 1X2, double chance, totals and odds on fouls, etc.
But refereeing affects more than just match statistics related to fouls. The judge’s style may be too liberal or, conversely, strict.If the referee allows a lot of struggle on the field, pushing and hard contacts, it is harder for the more technical team to play, and the team that emphasizes physical power gets the advantage.
If in team sports, judges influence the result indirectly, then, for example, a referee in boxing or a panel of judges in figure skating can completely resolve the issue with the winner. This makes predicting sports performance more difficult.
Weather conditions, playing turf quality, game start time
Weather conditions can affect the outcome of outdoor sports in different ways:
- intense heat often becomes an assistant to more enduring, but less technical athletes;
- rain during a football match makes technical actions more difficult, makes it more difficult to pass accurately, but more long-range strikes become dangerous;
- breaks due to weather in a tennis match can bring down the fighting spirit or functional tone of the favorite;
- gusty wind often turns biathletes shooting at the firing line into a real lottery.
Many examples can be given of how weather conditions affect the scenarios and outcomes of sports confrontations. This is an important additional factor in sports betting.
It is also important when the match takes place – under the baking sun at 14:00-16:00 or late in the evening, when it is much easier to breathe. For example, in the Spanish Football Championship, early matches are rarely productive. In the heat, the pace of the game is low, chances are not created so often.
Finally, when analyzing sporting events, it is important to take into account the quality of the lawn, the playing surface. For example, Luis Enrique, after the match between the Spanish national team and the Poles in the second round of the Euro 2020 group stage, said that his players were unable to show their technical advantage, largely due to poor-quality turf.
Location of the match, allowed number of spectators
Always an additional advantage for a team or an athlete was the performance at home. Fan support is a significant incentive for an athlete to give it their all.
A striking example: the match between France and Hungary at the European Football Championship. In Budapest, it was allowed to completely fill the stands, because of which the Hungarian football players gained a noticeable advantage and tied with the reigning world champions.
After the match, several French players complained that the completely filled stadium was a real shock for them. For a year and a half of playing in empty arenas, they simply lost the habit of psychological pressure exerted by tens of thousands of foreign fans.
Injuries and damage to athletes
In football, the loss of a leader can be decisive. It is hard to imagine that the Portuguese national team will be the same formidable force without Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Argentina national team without Lionel Messi.
