Possession (sports)

American football official indicating which team has possession after a fumble

In sports, possession is control of the ball or other implement of play by one team, which typically gives that team the opportunity to score. Generally, the team with possession is said to be on offense, while the other team is on defense. Sports have different rules governing how possession is kept or lost ("turned over"), which affect the strategy of gameplay. The number of possessions or total time of possession are often useful statistics of team or individual performance.[1]

In goal-based sports, including basketball, all forms of football, hockey, and lacrosse, the team with possession has the opportunity to score. In bat-and-ball games including baseball and cricket, the ball is controlled by the fielding team, which are on defense.

Determining possession

In several sports, possession is exchanged after the offensive team scores, or when the defensive team physically takes control of a "live" (in play) ball through a fumble, interception, or steal. In gridiron football, possession is additionally controlled through a series of allotted plays called downs, over which the offensive team must move the ball a certain distance down the field, or lose possession.

Possession at the start of a game, or in a neutral restart, may be determined by several methods, including a coin flip (American football and cricket), home team status (baseball), or by giving the teams an equal opportunity to physically take possession; this may be called a dropped-ball (association football), a ball-up (Australian rules football), a jump ball (basketball), or a face-off (hockey).

In some timed sports, the team with possession may try to "run time off the clock" by keeping the ball and not attempting to score, in order to deny the opposing team possession. A shot clock speeds gameplay by requiring teams to attempt to score within a certain period of time or lose possession.

See also

  • Turnover (basketball), when a player loses possession of the ball resulting from a steal, going out of bounds, committing a violation, or committing an offensive foul
  • Turnover (gridiron football), in American and Canadian football when the offense loses possession of the football because of a fumble, interception, or on downs
  • Turnover (rugby league), when a team loses possession or at the end of a team's six tackles
  • Turnover (rugby union), when a team loses possession in a ruck or a maul

References

  1. ↑ "Possession". SportingCharts. Retrieved 17 November 2017.


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