late to the party and it looks like you got good advice, super fast lenses (f/2.8 or better), and IMO know the sport, It really helps, but also know your gear, what you can and cannot do. When I was active I’d be sitting with 30 other photographers and every. single. one. did a spray and pray. Well, almost. I didn’t, and the AP photographer didn’t either, but he’d show up, take 1-3 shots, edit them, upload, and leave. I mostly shot ice hockey and play/knew the game well enough that I didn’t have to spray and pray. I could take a few hundred photos and I’d keep more than 50% and my photos told the story of the game. Whether that’s 51% or 70% I can’t recall, it was 15 years ago and it varied from game to game some better than others, some worse. It was a lot of fun, met a lot of the hockey players I got to photo but it burned me out and I set the camera down for many, many years.
late to the party and it looks like you got good advice, super fast lenses (f/2.8 or better), and IMO know the sport, It really helps, but also know your gear, what you can and cannot do. When I was active I’d be sitting with 30 other photographers and every. single. one. did a spray and pray. Well, almost. I didn’t, and the AP photographer didn’t either, but he’d show up, take 1-3 shots, edit them, upload, and leave. I mostly shot ice hockey and play/knew the game well enough that I didn’t have to spray and pray. I could take a few hundred photos and I’d keep more than 50% and my photos told the story of the game. Whether that’s 51% or 70% I can’t recall, it was 15 years ago and it varied from game to game some better than others, some worse. It was a lot of fun, met a lot of the hockey players I got to photo but it burned me out and I set the camera down for many, many years.