Depends on the action. When I used to do horse shows (Hunter/Jumper) I would put myself in the best position for a good shot, prefocus on the center of the jump bar, and just listen. The change in cadence would signal the start of the jump and I would snap shortly thereafter. After a while I didn't even look through the viewfinder. Shooting football, soccer, basketball LaCrosse - I'd follow the action because it was very unpredictable.

For horse shots, I disable focus with shutter press and use back button focus. For the action stuff, release priority continuous servo focus either on shutter press or back button.

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"Sports photography" is a very general term and there are techniques that are universal and some more specific to certain sports.

I find the most useful and important aspect of sports shooting is being able to anticipate the action and strategize accordingly. Understanding the sport is not completely mandatory but extremely advisable for best results. Even if you know nothing about a sport you can shoot instinctively when you see interesting plays and excaitng action. If you, however, know the game, the rules, the players and the various strategies, you are ahead of the game.

For a few years, I worked on staff for a daily newspaper and oftentimes I was assigned to sports I was not familiar with. If I knew assignments like that were in the offing, I would go out with a more experienced staffer or, at least try to attend a game or a race to get the feel of the action.

Growing up in the U.S. I was familiar with baseball, football basketball, track and field, and boxing. I have been shooting that stuff since high school. When I came to work in Canada there were lots of soccer, rugby, hockey, curling, and Highland Game events.

As for FOCUS- the technique again is dependent on the sport and image you want to capture. With today's auto-focus menu choice can select the best mode for the type of action, Years ago before auto-focus I would sometimes pre-focus at a certain point on a race track and wait for the runner, car or horse to enter that zone. Lately, I do lots of boxing and martial arts shooting. At ringside, I can use a wide-angle lens- I might use one of my older lenses with a focusing scale and just preset for the hyperfocal distance and let DOP take care of the rest. I know that old-fashion sports finders are a thing of the past but I made one for my Canan DSLR gear so I can pre-focus and shoot by using an improvised wire-sports finder. I can see action before it enters the fame and shoot faster and more precisely as to peak action.

So, everyone is offering good suggestions about auto-focus modes, and shutter speeds but there are a few BASICS that kinda slipped through. The direction of the action as to angle affects shutter speed choice as well as focal length, and distance. You might find the attached chart and explanation handy. It's old school but important.

I still like to try to anticipate the peak of action and shoot precisely rate than spray and pray. On someof my older DSLRs there is a 1/7 sec human/mechanical refleex lag- that means there is a slight delay in when you see the peak of action, you squeeze the shutter release and there may be a tiny delay until the image lands on the film or sensor. After some practice, you get to automatically compensate the that.

As for panning with the action, I find it effective to "follow-through, that is, continue panning a bit after the exposure just t ensure a consistent pan.

A few years ago, a friend of mine was shooting pro-basketball with high-powered electronic flas. The borough in 3 2400 watt-second Speedotrons- hung the lamphead in the rafter and shot. Great shots- no grain or noise, lower ISO, smaller apertures, crazy DOP and you cou see the pores in the player's skin. !/1000 sec fals duration surely stops most of the action. I don't know what rules, as to flash, are in force nowadays.

Depends on the action. When I used to do horse shows (Hunter/Jumper) I would put myself in the best position for a good shot, prefocus on the center of the jump bar, and just listen. The change in cadence would signal the start of the jump and I would snap shortly thereafter. After a while I didn't even look through the viewfinder. Shooting football, soccer, basketball LaCrosse - I'd follow the action because it was very unpredictable.

For horse shots, I disable focus with shutter press and use back button focus. For the action stuff, release priority continuous servo focus either on shutter press or back button.

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