Why does home advantage make a difference?
- 12 Feb 07, 11:50 AM
I seek knowledge. Could someone please explain to me the concept of home advantage? Eh? What is it all about?
Why do teams playing on a piece of turf that is 100m by 70m and largely identical to any other such piece of turf .
Hoarse, tired, happy. That’s how it feels after you’ve won, and all I was doing was a commentary!
Having been at Murrayfield on Saturday and marvelled at how a Scottish rugby team with such a paucity of comparative resources can beat a Welsh team, life is a bit sweeter.
This little country called Scotland will be a slightly happier place. There is a feel-good factor when your national team wins, and I guess that’s one of the major attractions of sport.
It all kicked off at the first scrum of course and I think that’s where Scotland won the game.
The Welsh pack edged backward along with their confidence. Oh, and the lineout was good but you don’t need me to tell you what you saw with your own eyes. And Rob Dewey is going to be a star in the centre.
Later at night Chris Cusiter and Kelly Brown came up on stage with my band at the (see above) and we raised some money for injured players and made our hands and eardrums bleed at the same time.
It was loud, it was sweaty and it was good and the whole flaming Scottish rugby team was on song. Just like the earlier match. And it was on our home turf.
But back to home advantage. The Scots maybe knew they had to win and show their fans they could win in the process? Is that it? I remember as a player playing more vigorously at home, but I really don’t know why.
So, professional and amateur sports psychologists out there – please analyse and construct an argument to demystify home advantage. I thank you. I need to go back to bed. I am knackered.
Wales 27-18 England
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The match left us all hoarse, as often we thought Scotland were going to do it, and score a try. However, come 10pm, we cared little - it was a result, and one we badly needed. There was a definite celebratory atmosphere in the Jam House (and the band was good, JB!) - the Scotland team getting huge cheers when they arrived! :)
I can live with more Saturdays like that.....
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Great night in the Jam House John, really hope you raised lots of funds for the cause!
Did not see any of the Welsh team there, were they invited? Or maybe they were kept behind for detention!?!
Best team won on the day.
And you Scottish boys know how to party.
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The match left us all hoarse, as often we thought Scotland were going to do it, and score a try. However, come 10pm, we cared little - it was a result, and one we badly needed. There was a definite celebratory atmosphere in the Jam House (and the band was good, JB!) - the Scotland team getting huge cheers when they arrived! :)
I can live with more Saturdays like that.....
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Well, Scotland last year did the same, turning over France, and England at Murrayfield, and every chance of good results this year. They could win the grandslam, and I think oit is the passion and sher noise of the crowd. The three Celtic greounds and Stade De France seem noisier and more atmospheric. Who can forget the atmosphere yesterdya at Croke Park, Ireland fans belting out some song which almost helped inspire an amazing comeback from 3-13 down. That said, the win vs Wales was no surporiese on the bakc of last years home performances for the Scots and Wales having no Mike Ruddock. You could finish 3rd, or push for 2nd.
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I remember hearing of a study where statistics were compiled regarding the decisions of referees at Premiership football grounds and needless to say, far more free-kicks and penalties were given to the home side. Of course I realise that this could well be because the home side were playing better anyway!
It is probably less of a factor in rugby because it is more difficult for the crowd to see infringements and therefore influence the referee. Also in my opinion rugby is easier to referee anyway, with less subjective decisions (and diving for that matter) meaning the referee has less to get wrong.
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Home advantage - well apparently having the majority of the crowd behind you is a good thing. Likewise if you lose in front of a home crowd you are 'letting down' more people too. In a game like rugby playing the conditions can be a huge benefit. Seeing O'Gara take a kick at Thomond the ball looked like it was going wide by a huge margin when the wind blew across taking the ball between the posts. Knowing how to play that has to be an advantage. I'm sure too that Leicester players aim their kicks to touch at relevant points in the ground, particularly towards the 'Next' stand. Something they'll be able to do as it's their familiar ground. There's always an element of comfort as well to be had when you are familiar in your surroundings.
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I always wonder about the home advantage and guess that it is all to do with knowing your surroundings so that you can concentrate purely on the game.
The set up is exactly as you would wish, you know your bed, etc., so you can relax.
I guess there is also the fact that the majority of the crowd are there geeing you up which must give you a lift when you are blowing hard at the end.
The final idea I have is that we are constantly told about home advantage so it probably sinks in and gives you added confidence at home and less so away.
Like all sports if you know that you can do something, you generally will, so knowing that you win more at home than away breeds more confidence. Which becomes self-perpetuating. And works the other way for the opposition.
Maybe this helps explain why Croke Park didn't quite have the home advantage you would expect. As it wasn't really home for the Irish team.
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i saw the welsh front row in the 3 sisters which seemed to hav turned in2 a small bit of wales for one nyt. i rekon they wer trying to stay with the masses, safety in number et al
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I am sure the crowd have more of an impact on the officials than on the two teams - they are under a lot of preassure, and interpretation is often the key, and that must ne influrenced by people booing or cheering your decision.
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Hi
Yes, thanks to all of you who came to the Jam House. We had been told that the Welsh squad was coming, but Gareth Edwards and lots of Welsh greats were there and we had a fantastic time with them and the Scottish squad.
Weren't Kelly Brown and Chris Cusiter good on stage? And Gavin HAstings with the Prov Johnstone band later?
It was one of those good rugby nights and my band wants to thank all of you who came along. I am going to send the folks at the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú a picture our bass player, Graham, took of you all during the final song
john
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Hi
Yes, thanks to all of you who came to the Jam House. We had been told that the Welsh squad was coming, but Gareth Edwards and lots of Welsh greats were there and we had a fantastic time with them and the Scottish squad.
Weren't Kelly Brown and Chris Cusiter good on stage? And Gavin HAstings with the Prov Johnstone band later?
It was one of those good rugby nights and my band wants to thank all of you who came along. I am going to send the folks at the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú a picture our bass player, Graham, took of you all during the final song
john
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Hi
Yes, thanks to all of you who came to the Jam House. We had been told that the Welsh squad was coming, but Gareth Edwards and lots of Welsh greats were there and we had a fantastic time with them and the Scottish squad.
Weren't Kelly Brown and Chris Cusiter good on stage? And Gavin HAstings with the Prov Johnstone band later?
It was one of those good rugby nights and my band wants to thank all of you who came along. I am going to send the folks at the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú a picture our bass player, Graham, took of you all during the final song
john
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Come along Mr Jenkins, Ireland had to travel back home following the game in Cardiff and played with superb effort yesterday against France, who present a more formidable opposition than Scotland.
These players have not other work committments, are looked after every moment of their 'working' week. To blame a six days turnaround is laughable.
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Come along Mr Jenkins, Ireland had to travel back home following the game in Cardiff and played with superb effort yesterday against France, who present a more formidable opposition than Scotland.
These players have not other work committments, are looked after every moment of their 'working' week. To blame a six days turnaround is laughable.
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I think the whole Welsh squad was invited and had asked for passes, but I understand how hard it is to be seen to be partying when you lose a game.
The Welsh fans who were in the Jam House were absolutely superb, as you might imagine, so thanks again to everyone who came
Ruck and roll
JB
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Come along Mr Jenkins, Ireland had to travel back home following the game in Cardiff and played with superb effort yesterday against France, who present a more formidable opposition than Scotland.
These players have not other work committments, are looked after every moment of their 'working' week. To blame a six days turnaround is laughable.Perhaps bringing the squad out of their comfort zone (indoors training arena), and up to one of the valley training grounds on a bitterly cold, wet Tuesday and Thursday evening will help concentrate their efforts!
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Will there be a jam house event on march 10th when the irish lads come to town? Now that'd be really on tune!
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I remeber when playing for my Cup wining side at school that there was a mentalty about playing at home. The fact was you simply didn't lose. With 300 of your friends and perants watching your every move you were determined to show them how good you were. If you lost you'd had to spend a week having the piss ripped out of you if you lost or played badly. I can only imagine the effect being 100 times more in a massive 80,000 seat stadium. Playing at home it's all in the head
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Ask the All Blacks about home advantage... they don't seem to have a problem playing away from home?
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I remember reading somewhere that a study determined that testosterone levels are higher in players when they are at home as opposed to away. This extra boost, thought to be related to the urge to protect one's territory, has been put forward as an explanation for why the home team plays better. See
Hope this enlightens!
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I think home advantage certainly exists and probably comes from being more relaxed in familiar surroundings, together with the boost from the majority of the crowd being with you. Swapping sports briefly - have you noticed how woefully poor England's Cricketers perform at Lords. We seem to often get off to a ropey start there (usually 1st test is at Lords) and yet always seem to do well at the Oval! Maybe we should play the first test in South London!!
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Why does home advantage make a difference?
BECAUSE!!
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Most home advantage comes because the outhalf knows exactly where he is on the pitch without having to look up. With Ireland playing at Croke Park on Sunday they lost that advantage, and ROG's kicking was as bad as it has ever been - consistently missing touch. That would not have happened at Lansdowne. Sure the crowd is great, and the comfort of your own dressing room, but the bigger factor is the ability of the outhalf to make his touches
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The only exception to home advantage is France. Of course they know the pitch at Stade de France, they're familiar with the surroundings etc. but the crowd is different, go to the Parc des Princes for the Heineken Cup and the atmosphere will be great, but often the Stade is full of people coming out of curiosity, well-to-do middle-aged women who have never shouted in their lives, or full of people who do not know the basic sport fan codes, hell, some people there don't know the rules to rugby! France has a semi-advantage, it's a good thing we can beat teams away...
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1. Adrenaline - in an agression based sport having 70000 putting a collective boot up your backside will help
2. Nationalism & Passion - how many times have we seen players reduced to tears during the anthems (I nearly was watching Ireland on Sunday and I'm English).
3. Intimidation - ever played away at a Welsh or French club - nasty! especially if you are a referee
4. Travelling - takes it out of you
5. Familiarity - knowing your range and winds
6. Climate - Scotland v England 2002, foul weather, I don't think England fancied it. What's the Scot's record like in Rome?
7. Automatic roofs - apparently it is a little known fact, but in Wales, roof mechanisms are affected by weather and the quality of the visiting team. No one can explain it, it just happens.
On the other hand, home advantage sometimes works against you. Ask Charlie Hodgson about pressure at Twickenham. (and that barn door 20 paces away).
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John, Are you going to do another concert next year after the english game ?
Home advantage always gives you an edge even at all levels, you dont want to lose in fromnt of your home support so you play better
I think
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Yes, the home advantage question is an interesting one.
I've seen it at Murrayfield and of course at 'HQ'.
The ABs have never really bought into that one as they tend to focus on the task at hand (ie: the game itself) as opposed to what's happening off the pitch.
I'm sure the noise of the crowd can lift a team if they can hear it but I don't think our guys are interested in anything outside the game itself.
That's part of the reason why they are such formidable opponents anywhere they play...focus, gifted players and a pure love of the game.
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Well its official, the ABs are some sort of gods.
I have to disagree with Eileen #27. The AB's are successful because they are head an shoulders above everyone else in test rugby at the moment.
When they aren't they tend to avoid playing them.
Have a look at AB's away form compared to home form over the last 5 years and still saythat they are a better side away.
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Apart from the obvious home crowd there is the point that the players know instinctively where there are at any point on the pitch when its their home turf. Just like a racing driver who drives the same track day in day out has an advantage over someone who doesnt. Same for footy and rugby players. I heard Thierry Henry state recently that he has been struggling to find form at the Emirates as its a new surrounding and he isnt able to punt the ball backwards without looking and know it is going into the goal. I know the international players aren't always playing at their home clubs but they will play at the likes of Twickenham more than their opponents.
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Apart from the obvious home crowd there is the point that the players know instinctively where there are at any point on the pitch when its their home turf. Just like a racing driver who drives the same track day in day out has an advantage over someone who doesnt. Same for footy and rugby players. I heard Thierry Henry state recently that he has been struggling to find form at the Emirates as its a new surrounding and he isnt able to punt the ball backwards without looking and know it is going into the goal. I know the international players aren't always playing at their home clubs but they will play at the likes of Twickenham more than their opponents.
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The All Blacks win away a lot because they are consistantly better than the opposition. However, if they are to lose they are still more likely to do it away rather than at home.
A rubbish team will lose both at home and away.
I would wager however that any country against the same opposition will have better average points diff at home than away. Whatever the colour of their shirts.
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Home advantage: when you play a sport as demanding as rugby you'll surely take even the tiniest advantage, whether real or imagined.
It's a psychological thing - playing in familiar surroundings and in front of a big home crowd is of course easier.
It says quite a lot about Scottish mental fragility (unfortunately) that they can pick off the big boys at home but tend to struggle against the same teams away.
Along with scoring tries, it is a major issue which Frank Hadden will have to address soon if he wants to have a higher world ranking.
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Calm down no.28....
I was just pointing out that the ABs don't have a 'HQ' or Murrayfield as such so there's not the emotional attachment to a particular ground.
Glad you think the ABs are Gods though...
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Home advantage makes a difference because:
Your stadium
More home fans
No travelling
etc etc etc.
This is a waste of a blog.
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Much of the 'home advantage' is actually derived prior to the match. It is a natural human emotion for tension levels to rise the further you move from 'home' i.e. the neighbourhood you're most familiar with. Even heading 5 hours down the motorway to another town, with different accents, signage and landmarks and you are sub-consciously acting more defensive than you would at home. A new hotel, a new bed, all makes you a little less relaxed. This innate tension expends energy. Consequently away teams generally go into games feeling more defensive, even before the advantages of crowds and officials are factors!
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Home advantage. A friend of mine did his Doctorate on this - not a bad way to spend 3 years and looked at home advantage in football, hockey and rugby.
While crowd, pride etc, etc do add something. The main reason is that the eye picks out distinguishing marks and the brain can orientate itself better - players are more aware of their own position on the pitch. If a striker (or kicker) can pick up distinguishing marks in the stadium, they have a better mental picture of exactly where they are. In football and hockey this leads to a greater accuracy with the 'snap shot'. In rugby the kick to touch should be better. Similar can be said for passing etc.
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Changing sport to football, look at the FA cup shocks of the past.
Most of them have come when bigger teams have had to visit smaller clubs (else they wouldn't be shocks!) and is mostly due to a rabid home support (just like the scots!), a desire to succeed in your own back yard and the stars being taken out of their comfort zone.
In football you can also choose the dimensions of the pitch (within specific parameters) to better suit your game and disrupt your opposition. Arsenal had the smallest pitch in the country at Highbury before moving to the Emirates, which was also one of the reasons they had a terrible record when playing their home european games at Wembley.
However, there are also examples of teams doing better away from home (if only for a short period of time) due to the enormous amount of pressure placed upon them by their home support - i.e. Newcastle (earlier this season) who seemed to get boo'd if they're only drawing nil - nil at half time!
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It makes a difference playing in front of seventy people who are cheering for you....I think seventy thousand could have a degree of impact too...
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Playing in front of 70,000 fans cheering for you must be an advantage but can be nullified by poor refereeing, viz, Ireland's game against France on Sunday. One minute playing "advantage" for 30-40 seconds and the next minute blowing immediately for a knock forward when the team who have not offended have gained possession are about to score under the posts!
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33, Eileen.
Yes indeed the AB's are 15 Black Gods....
However even they appear to do somewhat better at home ....Only ONE World Cup victory - at home........and their success away vs South Africa is pretty poor as well.
It is however a mistery to me why 'home advantage' actually matters.
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not to ireland at croke park it isn't an advantage!
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Post 20. That seems to make a lot of sense.
But as a control, I wonder if anybody has analysed home results in women's sport.
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re 41 - Cro(k)e Park or (should that be Choke Park)
England lost at Wembley against Wales - It had been a home fixture for Wales - although previously a home fixture for England against Canada.
Initially France really struggled at Stade de France after being awesome at Parc de Prance for years.
Wales invincible at Cardiff Arms Park but struggle at the Millenium Stadium.
Perhaps because it's new surroundings increase the pressure.
Too much pressure affects performance i.e. if you're too psyched up you underperform.
If you're in a relaxed environment you will perform better.
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Post 43. "Wales invincible at Cardiff Arms Park"?
This would be the same Cardiff Arms Park where they failed to beat Ireland for almost two decades would it?
Wales 'struggling' at the Millennium Stadium has nothing to do with the pitch or the atmosphere and everything to do with the fact that the Welsh teams of bygone days were great and the modern sides, while clearly better than say 10 years ago, are not.
But you're right about teams settling into new grounds.
It was clear last week that both Ireland and France were struggling with the dimensions of the pitch, especially in the first half. The Croke Park pitch is much bigger than the one at Lansdowne Road.
This happens in all sports. Arsenal really struggled at the Emirates Stadium for the first number of months and in that period they played several matches there. Ireland will only play a handful of matches a year in Croke Park.
Still, adapting to unfamiliar grounds against quality opposition should help the Irish team come the World Cup (the Irishman says hopefully).
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i concur with one of the above posts with regards to the heightened testosterone levels on home territory and lower testosterone levels in a 'visitor'.
i read a study where a rat was introduced into another rats cage and the above was observed. the rat who was already in the cage and was recorded to have higher testosterone thrashed the rat that was introduced which recorded lower testosterone levels.
i will have to dig the paper out and give you a reference.
you can notice this when you go around to somebody's house (especially if you don't know them too well) and you feel slightly uneasy and uptight, but after a period of time you begin to relax.
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where do you draw the line between confidence and complacency. would Ireland have felt as comfortable after going four points clear against France with minutes to go had they been the away team? Perhaps not the best example because Ireland weren't at their usual ground although... leading to, but not supporting my next point; the outcome of national fixtures in football/ rugby especially seem to be more influenced by home advantage than in regional fixtures in for example the zurich/barclays prems. contradictory food for thought...
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John B, bit late on this one.
Did you know that a study in Italian football showed home players had 30% higher testosterone levels than those in the away team?
It's a primitive thing - another tribe is stepping on your land, trying to show you they're the boss. In the old days we didn't have rugby or football, we had wars.
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Just to poke a gaping big hole in the "home field familiarity" theory. Neither, AB's, boks, nor wallabies have a "Home" stadium. They all rotate around their respective countries (which I feel is an excellent idea, it allows everyone the chance of a home test near them at some point). Yet all three are classed as formidable "at home". So the ground your are playing in really has nothing to do with it. It must be related to the concept of "home" and wanting to protect it, as outlined more eloquently above.
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who are the last few people to beat the all blacks?? springboks are the only ones capable in my opinion. im not sure of the exact data but i think the score waas bout 50 - 30 to SA in 2004.. When the rest of the world catches up with the All blacks , they may then start to feel the effects of Home advantage / Away disadvantage!
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