We have talked about this when it comes to the NFL specifically and I hear it all the time with my braves as they dominate at home and suck on the road. My question is what is it exactly that gives the home team an advantage. I know it varies according to the sport but what is it about a specific sport that gives the advantage. Football the easiest advantage would be crowd noise. MLB I guess would be last at bat and simple amount of travel those guys do. NBA travel and I feel its easier for crowd to intemidate refs into getting calls. There has to be more to it though if it is indeed that big of advantage. What do you guys think?
Home field Advantage?
- Thread starter UGA12
- Start date
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/keeping-score-an-edge-to-friendly-confines/
Recent research has found that having the last at-bat is not a statistically significant advantage. Three professors ? Theodore Turocy, the data manager for the Society for American Baseball Research and an economist at East Anglia University in Norwich, England; and Stephen Shmanske and Franklin Lowenthal, professors at California State University, East Bay ? have used simulations and examined data to debunk this myth.
Instead, the home-field advantage in baseball has to do with a more mundane reason: familiarity with the ballpark. This comes through in extra-base hits. Because baseball fields do not have a consistent outfield shape, size or turf, outfielders have adjustments to make between parks. Among balls hit into the outfield, home teams have more hits, especially triples and inside-the-park home runs.
Recent research has found that having the last at-bat is not a statistically significant advantage. Three professors ? Theodore Turocy, the data manager for the Society for American Baseball Research and an economist at East Anglia University in Norwich, England; and Stephen Shmanske and Franklin Lowenthal, professors at California State University, East Bay ? have used simulations and examined data to debunk this myth.
Instead, the home-field advantage in baseball has to do with a more mundane reason: familiarity with the ballpark. This comes through in extra-base hits. Because baseball fields do not have a consistent outfield shape, size or turf, outfielders have adjustments to make between parks. Among balls hit into the outfield, home teams have more hits, especially triples and inside-the-park home runs.
Well having the last at bat dictates what managers do at times, but how much of an advantage it is who knows. I would agree with you about knowing the park in baseball, fotball and basketball all play on same fields/courts though:shrug:
Generally speaking, I don't think it's a huge advantage in baseball because that's a slower game and the crowd just doesn't get loud for very long periods of time. In basketball and football, however, I think it's a bigger deal. And in college sports, I think it's huge. In college you have kids who get more amped up for games when they know they have their buddies and family members in the crowd, and they feed off the energy of the crowd in general. More adrenaline = a better effort. Also, in college you have motivating factors like knowing that you're playing your rival on national TV in "your house," and there's always the "we won't let them beat us in our house" mentality.
In the pros I think it's important, but not as important as college. In the pros there are some guys (not saying all, but some) who are just there for a paycheck, so I don't think you get the same effort from everyone in the pros like you do in college. It's still a big advantage though.
One only has to look at a team like the Seahawks -- they can, and have, beat some very good teams at home over the last few years, even though they are a bad team. Furthermore, they have one of the loudest stadiums and they usually lead the league in false starts by their opponents due to the crowd noise. But you take that same team on the road, and they are one of the worst road teams in the NFL. As an example, they beat SF 31-7 at home in week 1, yet they may very well lose by a similar score when they play them in SF.
In the pros I think it's important, but not as important as college. In the pros there are some guys (not saying all, but some) who are just there for a paycheck, so I don't think you get the same effort from everyone in the pros like you do in college. It's still a big advantage though.
One only has to look at a team like the Seahawks -- they can, and have, beat some very good teams at home over the last few years, even though they are a bad team. Furthermore, they have one of the loudest stadiums and they usually lead the league in false starts by their opponents due to the crowd noise. But you take that same team on the road, and they are one of the worst road teams in the NFL. As an example, they beat SF 31-7 at home in week 1, yet they may very well lose by a similar score when they play them in SF.
In my opinion Davis Cup Tennis has the biggest "home court" advantage in any sport. Try winning a match in South America with the crowd shinning mirrors in your face and throwing stuff at you. And I ain't making that up. You see guys ranked in the 800's beating guys in Top 100 all the time in Davis Cup.
The crowd is a huge difference in any sport, but in an INDIVIDUAL sport it is magnified ten fold.
The crowd is a huge difference in any sport, but in an INDIVIDUAL sport it is magnified ten fold.
