Rec and Sports

10 Fantasy Sports Rules to Improve Your Team

1) You need to have time to dedicate to leagues. Joining a fantasy league requires a commitment of time, especially if you want to do well. It’s tough when you have to play a team with multiple players on the DL in their active lineup. If you don’t have the time to dedicate then don’t join the league.

2) You must stay the course with your team no matter what. Fantasy sports are great when your team is healthy and doing well but you might find more satisfaction in other ways. Imagine leading a team to a championship after having faced an uphill climb all year…the victory will be even sweeter.

3) Put a lot of effort into your draft. You’ll be living with this team for a long time so put the extra time in on the front end and it will pay off. Do your research, enter mock drafts, and develop a strategy that gives you the best chance to draft well. And don’t ever do an autopick draft…ever!

4) Allow some time to set your lineup each week. You must ensure you play the maximum number of players per week to provide the best chance to win. Leaving guys on the bench with open roster spots will only hurt your cause and over the course of a season, can be the difference between making and missing the playoffs.

5) Evaluate your competition each week. Look at your opponents roster and see how they score in each category over the course of the season. In baseball, if your opponent has a weak pitching staff there may be no reason for you to start your weaker pitchers as your stronger ones may get the job done.

6) You shouldn’t always start your marquee players. Using baseball as an example, Johan Santana is not a pitcher you want to start hitters against because of his dominance.

7) Search the waiver wires regularly. You can almost always count on your opponents to make bad moves and drop good players when they’re not scoring well. It’s up to you to be the first to recognize this and capitalize before anyone else.
20% of your players are expendable. A good portion of your players beyond your studs can be dropped if they’re not playing well, and a better player can be had off the wires. Don’t be afraid to pull the trigger when you need a boost.

9) Know where your team is both strong and weak. Your team will score well in some categories and in others they won’t. Identify those categories and look to improve where you are doing poorly while still maintaining your stats in the categories where you’re strong. Searching the waiver wires or making a trade are good ways to improve your team.

10) Never join more than 2 leagues at a time. Any more than 2 teams will likely result in neglect of setting lineups, making player moves, etc. Think about quality rather than quantity and you’ll improve the chances of winning your league.