Steal to Turnover Ratio

Steal to Turnover Ratio is one of many that’s used to evaluate a player’s ball control and handling skills. A steal occurs when a player on defense takes possession of the basketball from an opposing player. A turnover is created when a player with the possession of the basketball loses possession as a result of their own error (throwing the basketball out-of-bounds) or an opposing player’s error.

This ratio measures the true effectiveness of steals. If a player steals the basketball a lot, but also turns it over a lot, the steals become insignificant because the player and therefore the team, cannot keep possession of the basketball. The ratio is found by dividing the number of steals by the number of turnovers. Below is the variables and equation used to calculate the steal-to-turnover ratio.

Formula: Steals  / Turnovers

Where:

TO – when a player loses possession of the basketball to the opposing team;

STL – when a player forces a turnover from an opposing player.