Glossary / Turnover Percentage (TOV%)

What Is Turnover Percentage (TOV%)?

Turnover Percentage is an estimate of how many times a player turns the ball over per 100 plays they're involved in. It measures ball security relative to how often a player actually has the ball in a position to score or pass it away.

Formula

TOV% = 100 ×TOVFGA + 0.44 × FTA + TOV
TOVThe player's own turnovers
FGAField goal attempts
FTAFree throw attempts

Worked Example

A player has 3 turnovers, 15 field goal attempts, and 4 free throw attempts.
TOV% = 100 × 3 / (15 + 0.44 × 4 + 3)
TOV% = 100 × 3 / 19.76
TOV% ≈ 15.2%
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TOV% FAQ

What is a good Turnover Percentage?

There isn't a clean position-based benchmark for TOV% the way there is for AST%, REB%, STL%, or BLK%, since turnover rate tracks usage far more than it tracks position. As a rough guide, a TOV% in the low-to-mid teens is normal for a high-usage playmaker, while anything comfortably under that for a similar role is a good sign of ball security.

Does a low TOV% mean a player is a good decision-maker?

Not necessarily. A player can also just be playing insanely safe and not doing much of anything that would generate a turnover in the first place, like avoiding tight passing windows or off-hand drives entirely.

Why don't turnover rates split cleanly by position the way rebounding or blocks do?

There are a lot of different ways to cause a turnover, from live-ball reads to post entries to simple ball-handling mistakes, and those risks show up differently depending on a player's role rather than their position. A ball-dominant guard and a high-usage post player can both run hot for completely different reasons, which is mostly a function of usage, not position.

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See It Live

Every player's TOV% this season is on the Player Stats page, alongside shooting splits, shot zones, and role-adjusted efficiency.

Related Stats

Often discussed alongside TOV%: USG%, AST%, TS%.

See how TOV% compares against a player's specific role on Role Stats, or browse the rest of the Glossary for more stat breakdowns.