When was the last time you watched a weather report after watching the news, forecasts were used in the agriculture by farms and helping them to plan their agricultural activities? Chances are slim or next to none. The weather forecasts are nowadays used to predict matches and this brings us to the big question, is how weather affects betting on sportsbooks.
On the pitch many players are directly affected by the elements of weather which include snow, rain and sunshine. Therefore, harsh conditions generated by the weather will greatly affect player’s psychology, playing form and also their stamina. Players working against the elements may have to shift to overdrive and this puts a lot of strain on the body.
These factors that the weather brings to our attention has some importance in betting since most of the matches are played in different parts of the world and therefore experience different climatic conditions that will directly or indirectly affect sportsbook betting.
Although most of us ignore the weather report willingly and thus we may end up making wrong decisions about the match since we haven’t included the weather forecast in our analysis on the pitch conditions during the game.
Does hot/ cold weather affect the final outcome of an event?
The match usually depends on whether a team is adapted to the changing environment since players are also human beings they are not immune to hot/ cold conditions and this may affect the outcome of the event.
We should also note that not all games are played on open fields like badminton, ice hockey among others which are not affect directly by the weather conditions and in some cases the game is played in an open field whereby players are directly affected by the elements. So how does the cold climate affect the performance of the event?
This is a common question that is mostly answered by the biology of the human being whereby the body tends to conserve energy by reducing movement and therefore players may not be willing to move a lot during a match. Also the cold may provide right temperature leading to the formation of the snow that covers a pitch and therefore affecting the bouncing ability of the ball on the surface, meaning players will have to shot harder to make the ball move faster or further.
On the part of goal keepers vision may be reduced since most of the matches played in the cold climatic conditions have mist or fog that reduces visibility on the pitch thus making it harder to make those saves and this makes it harder for players to be at their level best.
Hot weather many involves a lot of sunshine, meaning players will sweat more on the pitch lowering their dehydration levels and also affects visibility since sun rays directly affects the vision of the players especially goalkeepers.
The players may suffer from heat illnesses such as heatstroke that affects their ability to continue the match and also in cold climates they may lead to hypothermia among other conditions related to the weather of that area.
Sometimes it’s also wrong to make decision based on the climate of the area, what I mean here is that make decision on match without first finding out if the teams are accustomed to the weather conditions in their locality and this is considered since most home teams are adapted to their weather conditions much better than the away team.
The best tip on weather forecast betting is to fast see the countries weather conditions during their normal year calendar and therefore by looking at changes in weather makes it easier to predict the final outcome of the event provided the match is directly affect by the weather conditions.
Sometimes the weather from a place may consider low in other countries that experience harsh climate like in Russia the cold temperature may drop below -15 degrees while in some parts of Kenya 15 degrees is considered very cold conditions.
Let’s talk about Rain in different leagues
Rain is the most destructing among the climate factors since it directly affects the pitch conditions as we as the players’ moral and this leaves the match conditions on the ability of the pitch to drain the rain water fast.
If it’s raining hard the match may be canceled depending on the league their playing in and the match may be canceled depending on the referee’s decision. But in some case matches continue on even if the pitch conditions are bad due to rain a good example is Premier League events which are rarely canceled due to rain and this due to the fact the pitch is designed to drain water faster.
Although slipping and falling are common among the players this may easily result in player injury when sliding or shooting the ball of target. The rain also reduces the ability of keepers to make saves and also the ability of running is greatly reduced, with accuracy also being affected.
What is the effect of temperature and humidity on the player performance?
High heat and humidity during a game are mostly affected by increased core body temperature know as hypothermia which leads to decreased muscle endurance (the ability of the muscle to contract repeatedly or in a sustained manner over longer periods of time) this also shifts the energy production and consumption, during aerobic production to anaerobic mechanisms.
In order to counter this shift the body will use up the muscle energy stored and this also causes low blood flow to the heart, meaning the rate of pumping back oxygenated blood to the body will also be low.
Dehydration this mainly occurs when the rate of adding energy is not equal to the rate of adding energy since during the match/ event players are not allowed to access this facilities unless the break time whistle is blown and if this is prolonged may lead to health conditions. In short temperature and humidity directly affect energy production and may cause top players to underperform.
