What is Foul Shot? Foul Shot Explained in 2 minutes
Mike Goodpaster Last Verified
26/06/2026
What is Foul Shot?
A foul shot is a term used in multiple sports and is when a player or team have made an illegal movement of the ball. It is deemed a foul and a penalty of some sort is usually applied to the offending player or team.
For example, a foul shot is a common scenario in snooker and occurs when a player fails to hit another ball of the required colour, or first hits a ball of an illegal colour.
A penalty of additional points to the opponent is then applied and is a tactic that is often used by players when trailing a frame by a certain amount of points.
A foul shot market may exist in basketball betting, tennis betting or golf betting, as they are three of the sports in which foul shots occur on a regular basis, with penalties applied accordingly.
How is Foul Shot used in Sports Betting?
As a foul shot is something all teams and players are looking to avoid, there are rarely set markets for committing this offence.
However, in golf, a foul shot can be the difference between winning and losing and of a player commits a foul shot, it will change their odds immediately in the in-play betting markets.
This is because the cost of a foul shot is more often than not the addition of a stroke or potentially two strokes depending on the severity of the foul.
This has a detrimental effect on the player’s chances of placing inside the top 10 and ability to win the tournament outright.
Did you know…
In 2017, American professional golfer Lexi Thompson was penalised four shots after an eagle-eyed viewer spotted she had re-placed her ball in the incorrect position and thus committed a foul shot by playing the ball and signing an incorrect score card.
The result? Thompson lost the Major tournament in a playoff.
