A Beginner’s Guide to Netball Betting

Netball Basics

Netball takes place on a court that is very similar to a basketball court. It has a basket at each side and two teams of seven players play the game. The basic aim is to score more points than the opposition by shooting the ball through the ring. Players have a specific position, which limits their movements to certain parts of the court, and a match takes place over four quarters, each 15 minutes long.

As such, it is very important to understand the different netball positions. They are as follows:

• GK (Goal Keeper) – This player must stop the opposition from scoring goals. They will work closely with the team’s Goal Defence (GD).
• GD (Goal Defence) – This player’s job is to win the ball for the team and prevent the opposition’s Goal Attack (GA) from being effective.
• WD (Wing Defence) – The job of this player is to look for opportunities to intercept and to stop the opposition’s Wing Attack (WA) from making runs and receiving and passing the ball.
• C (Centre) – This player acts as a link between a team’s defence and attack. They will be making the most runs in order to receive and pass the ball.
• WA (Wing Attack) – This player’s job is to feed the team passes to provide them shooting opportunities.
• GA (Goal Attack) – This is one of the two players allowed to score. Their primary job is to feed the GS (Goal Shooter) and help to score goals.
• GS (Goal Shooter) – This is the player tasked with scoring goals and they will work with the GA to achieve this.

Together with the players on the court are two umpires. They ensure that the teams follow the rules and hand out penalties when necessary, such as if a player runs with the ball or obstructs. Penalties may also be awarded if a player steps with the ball or handles the ball incorrectly. The player will then be told to stand out of play until a pass or shot has been taken. Throw ins work the same as in football, it will be taken by the player that last had contact with the ball.

There are of course many more rules associated with the sport, but these basics are enough to begin watching it and understanding how a game works.

You can place bets on many different netball events. The main one is the Olympics, but it is far from the only major competition. The Netball World Cup takes place every four years, netball also features at the Commonwealth Games, and there are a few other major tournaments, such as the annual Netball Quad Series and the Fast5 Netball World Series.

Betting on Netball

Each netball match brings with it many different betting opportunities. Here you can find a brief explanation of the most common betting markets so that you can make best use of them.

Money Line

This is the simplest betting market in every sport, including netball. It is simply a bet on which team will be the winner at the end of the game. You can bet on either team to win or for the match to end in a draw. As long as your chosen team wins, then you win the bet.

Spreads

Spread bets, also known as handicap bets, can appear a little complicated. However, they are actually very straightforward and are an excellent way of increasing your betting options. The idea is that a handicap is assigned to the favourites, which they must then overcome to be declared the winner.

For example, you may see something like Team A -7.5 and Team B +7.5. This means that if you were to bet on Team A to win, then you will only win the bet if the team are still the winners after 7.5 goals have been subtracted from their score. If you were to bet on Team B to win, then you would win the bet if they were the winners once 7.5 points have been added to their score.

Total Points Under/Over

Over/Under bets are another type that are very easy to understand and present some exciting options. You are betting on something to be higher or lower than the given amount, in this instance the total points scored by both teams. For example, you may see Over/Under 75.5. In this instance, if you think that the combined number of points scored by both teams will be 76 or more you bet over and if you believe it will be 75 or less, then you bet under. You may also see this market available for the individual scores rather than the total scores.

1st/2nd Half and 1st/2nd/3rd/4th Quarter

Very often you will see the all the betting markets described above (Money Line, Spreads, Total Points) available for specific halves and quarters. This means that you can bet on which team will win halves or quarters, how many points will be scored in each and so on.

Race to x Goals

This type of market allows you to bet on which of the teams will be the first to score X amount of goals, for example 10. Simply pick a team and if they manage it, then you win.

First Team to Score

This market is completely self-explanatory. It is a bet on which of the two teams will be the first to score in a match. However, you may also find it available on the halves and quarters as well, so there are many betting opportunities.

Futures and Outrights

For major tournaments, you may be able to place futures and outright bets. For example, you could bet on which team will be the outright winner of the tournament. Very often, if you place a bet at the very start of a tournament then you will find some fantastically generous odds.

Live Betting

Live betting, also known as in-play betting, is an excellent way to make watching netball even more exciting. It allows you to bet on matches as they are taking place. Many of the same markets explained above are offered and their odds are updated in real time to reflect what is happening in the game. This means that by keeping a careful watch on the markets, you may see some great opportunities. Sometimes live betting also offers special markets known as ‘Next To’ bets. As the name suggests, these are bets on the next thing that is going to happen, such as the next team to score.

What to Consider When Betting on Netball

As with any sport, the key to placing successful bets on netball is to become as familiar as possible with the sport and to carry out careful research. Here we shall try to give you some tips about the kind of research that you should be doing.

First of all, you need to make sure that you are familiar with the competition. Netball rules tend to vary slightly from tournament to tournament, and this will have an effect on the style of play, which can of course have a huge impact on a team’s performance. Therefore, it is essential that you know exactly what type of competition you are betting on.

Also, choose which tournaments you bet on carefully. The same group of teams tend to win the major championships, which can make them a bit boring to bet on and the odds are generally low. Therefore, you may want to consider betting on national leagues and smaller tournaments.

In regards to research, make sure you are familiar with every member of the team. In netball, each player has a defined role and is of equal importance. This means that you need to be aware of any player injuries or changes to the line-ups. You can also look at the players’ statistics, as this will help to give you an idea of what kind of form they are in.

You can also consider factors such as the teams’ schedules. For instance, if one of the teams has travelled a long way after playing many matches, then they may be fatigued and this could affect how they play. Conversely, if a team has had a long break between games, then they are likely to be well rested, which could give them a major advantage.

As you become more familiar with the sport, much of this knowledge will become instinctual and hopefully it won’t be long before you are placin