Shooting sports seems easy but it is not. This is something that requires skill and precision. Without this, translating jam-packed and intense action from your lens to a tangible material won’t be achieved.
First of all, your pose in capturing the athlete’s actions is a big factor whether the image you snapped can convey the intensity and gravity of the situation.
Unfortunately, even the top athletes may look silly and ridiculous with a photo that’s taken at wrong angle and moment.
Take Advantage of Motor Drive
Unless you have a powerful 6th sense, shooting photos of your subject at just the right moment where their body is in optimal position is almost impossible. This is the reason why various camera companies have invented and introduced a function called motor drive.
Coordinate with the Athlete
The next thing to do is to pick a frame to be used from burst photos you have taken. Understanding the sport that you are shooting would be a big help in this regard. Athletes know everything about the sport they are playing and know what poses to take which is surely a winner! Now, even if the athlete know how to strike a winning pose, if you as a photographer don’t know how to maximize it, this will render useless.