Two Ways of Handicapping: Technical vs. Fundamental

In the world of sports betting, especially when you want to bet on the highly competitive and unpredictable NFL matches, there is always the necessity of getting an accurate prediction of the outcome. One of the most popular and famous ways of acquiring this prediction is through handicapping. We should all know what handicapping is, but for those that don’t, handicapping is when you use information, analyze it, and come up with a prediction based on that information. The prediction will give you confidence to place your bets.

However, there are two different ways of handicapping, technical and fundamental handicapping. These two types of handicapping are not mutually exclusive, so you can use one, the other, or both when handicapping. Great handicappers use whatever works for them, so they pick the best parts of each. How accurate each of these types of handicapping is depends on the one using them. Being able to use the best information that applies directly to the upcoming match is quite important.

Technical Handicapping

Technical handicapping is considered to be the more scientific and math based handicapping. This type uses all of the different numbers and statistics that can be found based around professional football. If you have ever gone to one of the sports website, you will find endless amounts of data and numbers on anything and everything. This information is what this type of handicapping uses in order to come to a conclusion and get its prediction. Some of the factors that are included in this type are:

• Offense/Defense Statistics. These statistics and numbers are based on how a NFL team plays as a whole. You will see various different Offense and Defense stats as well. These include stats like overall points scored and scored against, as well as yards passed/run and total yards. These numbers can give you a general feel for how a team performs, which is how the NFL ranks the team’s offense and defense.
• Player Statistics. These are much more specific stats, based on the individual performance of each player on the NFL teams. This allows you to know how well or bad a player has performed so far in the league. These stats can let handicappers know which are the key players that could change the outcome of a game.
• Overall Team Statistics. These stats are based more around performances such as 1^st down conversions, time of ball possession, and turnover ratio; among many others. These stats give handicappers a view into the on-field performance. Teams that have better turnover ratio tend to have more opportunities to score, etc.

There are other stats and numbers that you can find about a NFL team or matchup.

Fundamental Handicapping

Fundamental handicapping is the type of handicapping that takes into consideration the general outlook of a team’s performance. In other words, it takes into account everything that cannot be quantified through numbers and statistics. Some of these factors in fundamental handicapping are:

• Injuries. You could use include injuries in technical handicapping, but it is more often used in fundamental handicapping. Looking at how the overall performance of a team could be affected by a players injury cannot be quantified (it can, but very hard to do). Especially when the injured player is one of those key game changing players.
• New Reports. News reports give fundamental handicappers a lot of information. They can read up on how a NFL player is having a rough time dealing with depression or is having a hard time adapting to the weather; even reports on whether a player is coming off of a cold is valuable information. These reports give information beyond what you can see when looking at numbers.
• Weather. Who would have thought that the weather played such an important role in the NFL. This applies more often with uncovered stadiums, as they are always being bombarded by the effects of weather. For instance, during the Super Bowl, winter is in full swing, and the cold, snow, high winds, and any other factor like that could affect the gameplay.

Fundamental handicapping takes these extra factors into account and uses them to predict the performance of the NFL teams.

Combination Handicapping

When you start handicapping the NFL games, you want to strive to use both of these types. Be able to look at the numbers and stats, as well as the outside factors, and put them together to make a valuable and confident prediction. This will certainly give you an advantage when handicapping and betting. Combining both types of handicapping will take some effort and time, but as time passes by you will reap the rewards.

For those that believe that handicapping cannot accurately predict the outcome of a NFL match is somewhat right, but I would rather have a well thought prediction than basing my decision on my gut. No betting system is 100% accurate, but it can certainly help narrow down the choices. Use handicapping methods and strategies to enhance this knowledge.