Paintball Journal

Indoor paintball is officially the most difficult sport to photograph. No matter where you go, no matter how well lighted it appears to you, your camera will not agree. In fact, your camera will disagree so wholeheartedly with the whole process that it will probably render the majority of your pictures vague gray blobs with ISOs in the upper thousands and grain from hell.

Admittedly, if you’re not a photographer, you might not know what all that means exactly, but just know that it is overall bad.

Here are some examples from last weekend.

As you can see, they don’t turn out so hot. The best that you can do is get close and take flash shots, or dress them up later in a photo editing program. Here’s an example of each, in order of how I mentioned them.

A little bit better, but impractical at best. You can’t really win photographing paintball indoors. However, I think I managed to catch my first paintball in flight this time around, and I was pretty dang excited.

Check it out.

I’m pretty stoked about that whole thing, plus I didn’t get shot too much and my camera didn’t even explode, so all in all, a decent weekend for photography.

Some tips for shooting paintball in general:

Get as close as possible to the action.
Don’t shoot through netting.
Don’t shoot indoor paintball.
Use a ref shield!
Fast shutter, low ISO, etc. etc. Paintball is incredibly fast.
Watch the game, and the shots will come. Know when people are going to make their moves.

Actually, I’ve been here before. As I peer around, I realize that this territory most definitely looks familiar. I join battle here, much as I have before, against the forces of evil and apathy!

Here are some of the things that I’ve written in the past about cheating in paintball, and what you can do to help remedy the situation.

There is a rot in paintball today. That comes in the form, not only of cheaters, but those who don’t complain and call out the cheaters who degrade our sport. They are just as bad, because they are the enablers to the cheaters. Easily the worst of the whole category goes to every pro player who’s ever wiped. I’d rather give up paintball forever than do what you do and get perks for it.

First of all, I won’t go into every argument of why wiping and playing on and using cheater boards are all cheating and are not “just penalties” like any other sport.

I’m not gonna do it. I’ve argued that far too many times before to do it again tonight. If you’d really like to read my arguments, look around this site for a couple of minutes, or go visit my other blog at xpaintball.

Instead of all that, I’ll tell you who is ultimately responsible for what’s happened and what is happening. It is the industry and the leagues. Here’s what needs to happen to remedy the situation.

First of all, some sort of standardization within the leagues has got to take place. That means with equipment (read: boards) or rules (read: ROF and refs). Or both.

Boards are needed to force a cap on ROF that is actually completely and totally enforceable. Today, that’s difficult at best, and impossible with semi-auto. That is, without changing other gear regulations (gravity fed hoppers only, mechanical guns only, single trigger only, etc.).

Rules are needed, not that there aren’t sufficient rules today, but that they aren’t actually enforced. Professional refs need to be just that, professional and paid to do their work well.

This post also displays my defense of Rant Week. I’m complaining sure, but I’m complaining about things that can genuinely change, as well as *gasp* suggesting changes!

I’m going to define “rich kids” right off the bat here, so that there’s no mix up and innocent bystanders aren’t offended too badly. These rich kids that I refer to are those that do not work, and/or do not pay for the majority of their paintballing shenanigans, yet have the most expensive gear that money can buy and enjoy looking flashy in their matching outfit and gun combos.

Typically, they are the least motivated paintballers to get better because they haven’t had to work to get to where they are, don’t know their equipment well, and simply are annoying to be around for someone who puts money towards college and has to scrounge to play on the weekends.

This weekend I saw one kid probably a year or two younger than me decked out in full Dye C7 gear with matching colors that corresponded with his red/black fade DM7. He was a pretty bad player. He shot some paint, but wouldn’t move or expose himself. In fact, there was little at all to be said about his playing style.

My complaint is from the perspective of the sport. He contributes nothing. He can’t give advice to save his life. But who will kids look up to? Me, the guy shooting an Ion dressed in some khakis and a hoodie? My friends, shooting their hodgepodge of paint weaponry, with some of the most ghetto rigged set-ups I’ve ever seen? Or this punk decked out in red?

Every time, it will be the kid in red.

So, what’s the solution to this? Actually, it’s pretty simple. You get better, be friendly, give advice freely, and never brag. Eventually everyone learns to take a second look at kids who are dressed from head to toe in fancy gear. I learned long ago that it was the player on the inside that mattered much more than the player on the outside. By showing the world that it doesn’t take the most expensive gear to win, we make the change for the better.

Guess what week it is, boys and girls! Oh, yeah! It’s rant week for Dana! That means you get five, count ‘em, five! angry pictures of me this week!

First of all, these rants are made in good humor, and I harbor no true ill-will towards those who propagate that which I rant against. Er, well… if I do it’s just a wee bit. A little righteous anger never hurt anybody.

Secondly, here’s my first angry picture of the week, yar!

And we’re off.

I went along with some of my friends to mess around at the local rec ball field this weekend and saw some of the most ridiculous stuff. Now, I understand that you should take advantage of the field set-up and layout, but there was just some basic stuff that should be below anyone.

First of all, blind firing around a corner has to be my biggest annoyance. I invariably have to give a lecture about it when I play with new players. Usually that lecture takes place on the field while they’re blind firing at me, whereupon I take up the task of informing them of the dangers of shooting blind around a corner.

It is dangerous, it is illegal, it is dumb. It makes me bunker these kids. I can’t help it, I don’t want to, it just happens…

Next up we have shooting through holes in wooden bunkers that only a barrel can fit through. Someone called it chicken shooting yesterday, which I kinda like. Similar to blind firing, except slightly more effective. Though there’s nothing “wrong” with doing it, it still ticks me off, because I’d never do it.

I may or may not have viciously bunkered a dude who was doing that to my teammates yesterday. In fact, I may or may not have run across the entire field and got shot up myself in order to do so.

You know, just things to keep in mind when playing cheap and dirty.

My final annoyance today falls much in line with the other two, which is shooting under bunkers. Bunkers are not actually meant to be shot under. If there is a gap in the bunker, move away from it, then ignore. If there should be more than one gap in said bunker, simply go back to step one and repeat.

If not, you may have one angry Ion-wielding Asian in a Santa hat bunkering you very soon.

When asked how important teamwork is, you might point to players like Nicky Cuba or Ollie Lang and say, “Teamwork? What’s teamwork?”

But you can trust me when I say teamwork is incredibly important. In fact, you can trust them when they say it is. Because they do.

Here’s your Ollie Lang quote for the day. “I never regarded myself as anything other than another team member… I couldn’t have achieved any of it [multiple, consecutive national championships in the National Paintball Players League] without these guys.�?

That’s Ollie Lang, immediately following his breakup with Dynasty. I think both he and Dynasty have proven that his words hold true this year, with Dynasty taking the NPPL, and the Ironmen dominating many of the events and the PSP by storm.

Here’s a little more proof to you. When you look back at Paintball Journal, how many of the tips have been about bettering team cohesion? Let’s take a stroll down memory lane…

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Every once in a while I see something posted somewhere that makes me go, “Wow, I have a lot to say about that, but I really don’t feel like taking the time to answer on this thread.”

And then I realize that I’m in a constant struggle to find topics for this blog.

Which brings us to today’s (and many past and future) posts.

Today I’ve got a bit of a guide for choosing the best cleats for playing paintball.

Playing Surface

The surface that you play on makes a big impact on the types of cleats you’ll want to choose from.

The most common surface for most of you will be the standard outdoor grass. It’s that green stuff that grows on the ground for the better part of the year outside of your computer room and house.

I like the baseball and soccer cleats for grass. They are typically lightweight and cheap, as well as offering a good amount of traction for those “Oh, snap!” moments, when suddenly leaping sideways seems like a good idea. They’re fairly durable and should withstand even the most brutal running on rec-ball fields.

For those of you who prefer to rough it in the woods, I’d suggest boots or high ankle cleats. Support and comfort are two things you should look for, because often woods games last a long time and you want to be comfortable staying on your feet for hours on end. Traction becomes less of an issue because being quick on your feet often isn’t nearly as good as tactical knowledge.

Now, all you indoor and tourney players, here’s what you’ve read through all that duff for. Probably the best traction you’re going to achieve is with paintball cleats. I’m not gonna lie though, unless you’ve got way too much money laying around, then you won’t be able to pick up a pair. If you play on thick turf, go with the soccer or baseball cleats as a more economical solution. If you play on thinner carpet, track cleats work very well. However, track cleats also tear up turf pretty bad, so you should definitely ask the field owner if metal spikes are allowed.

Yes, the title is redundant, no need to point that out. It’s redundant for a reason, actually.

A closed team practice is one of the best ways to get better results at tournaments. By a closed practice, I mean having a field that your team can play on exclusively all day, as well as a limited number of players. That doesn’t mean that only your team can practice, and that’s where practicing with teams comes in.

First of all, individually, you can get a lot better by going to other team’s practices. Playing against a good team can be very challenging if it’s only you and several other proficient, but separate, players on the opposing side. That’s a great way to work on individual skills like playing down with a handicap. More often than not, you’ll probably find that you’re outnumbered and out gunned, which is just how a tournament game might turn out.

If it’s your own team running the practice, then it definitely shouldn’t be just a series of scrimmages, even if another team is there specifically to practice with you. Instead, start out with drills, especially competitive drills like jousting and snap shooting. That will benefit both teams, and throw a little unpredictability in the mix. Practicing against your teammates is fine and dandy, but especially with drills, familiarity can be a bad thing.

Once you’ve run some drills and warm-ups, then scrimmages are definitely called for. Make the teams even, but don’t mix and match. A lot of what your team should practice should include customized communication as well as coordinated moves and predefined breakouts.

The most important part in choosing a team to practice with is looking for a team that is better than yours. That will ensure that you have someone to learn something from, because if they’re better than you, they obviously know something you don’t.

Don’t be afraid to talk to different teams, most of them will agree to practice with you, because different people do different things and that aspect of unpredictability is important to practice against as well.

Sorry for my recent inactivity. It’s National Novel Writing Month and somehow I’m still 6,000 words behind. NaNoWriMo and school have teamed up to pound me into oblivion, thus leaving my blogging in second place to the rest of my survival.

Today’s topic is winter paintball, one of the coolest styles of paintball. No pun intended, but if you get it, you can keep it.

There are several things to take into consideration when playing paintball during the freezing months, not the least of which is the fact that some fields just straight up close down during the winter. However, that shouldn’t deter you from putting together a day of play with some friends in some woods or nearby forest. Just be sure to get permission from whoever owns the property.

You’ll have much less of a problem using a Compressed Air tank rather than a CO2 tank in cold weather, as air is much less adversely affected by the cold temperatures. However, high tech only goes so far, and often it’s wiser to use a tank like a Tippmann to play in the cold than a high-end gun with parts that may be permanently damaged by the temperature. A reliable gun makes a huge difference in winter time paintball.

Layers are a must, but should also reflect your surroundings. Remember that pure white is rarely a good choice, even after a heavy snowfall. You should break your colors up in a way similar to that of branches and trees contrasting with snow drifts.

Possibly one of the easiest things to forget are your paintballs. If the temperature is approaching freezing, then your paintballs will become extremely brittle and susceptible to breaking as they drop into your chamber. You should try to keep paintballs inside or at least out of the cold as much as possible.

If you carry pods on the field, which I’ll bet you do, you may be in danger of contracting a severely debilitating disease. Let me break it down for you.

Disease Profile -

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A lot of field owners wonder about payment in terms of everyday reffing and tech work.

Most fields only need about two techs tops for an everyday crowd. The ones that I visit have one working most days. Unless you’re in the middle of a huge city and get massive event-sized crowds on a weekly basis, one good tech will be more than fine. It’s worth it to pay the tech, especially if they don’t play regularly. If they are a regular player, then things like paint discounts, free field and air fees, and shop discounts are also ways to reimburse them for their time.

Refs are a little different. For non-tournament work payment is really a little ridiculous. You can find volunteers who will work for paint, or even paint discounts. If you find that your current refs aren’t performing up to par (screwing around, not paying attention to safety concerns) find some experienced players who are looking for a little sponsorship in return for reffing time. No one could possibly complain because reffing recball is extremely easy, no matter how you spin it.

Tournament reffing should be very different. Take the time to find refs who have had experience reffing in larger tourneys, if possible. A common practice is to pay the refs from the tourney entry fee, something like 20-40% going to refs. Depends on the tourney turnout, entry, etc.

These are definitely choices to be made with care. There are balances between quality and expense that have to be um… balanced. Anyway, just a few ideas to spur you along your path of righteous ref and tech hiring.

For us, paintball started out as something purely for fun, in the woods, and when we had enough money to do so. A little over a year and a half ago, we were introduced into the speedball world. We were still absolute noobs to this aspect, but we loved everything about it right off the bat. We thought about the idea of tournaments and a team. We had plenty of people, and some decent equipment shortly after, so why not give it a shot?

Any group of kids can play paintball, and any group of kids can call themselves a team. But for just any group of kids, tournament paintball will be a whole new experience, and will take much more than they often bargain for, especially in regards to their team. One person needs to be able to take command and responsibility to organize practices and any tournaments you wish to enter (not that other teammates won’t help), and everybody else on the team must acknowledge the fact that he has complete rule over you in practice. I’ve come across several articles about ‘breaking in the noobs’ and similar ideas, and here’s what I’ve found.

If you want to call your motley crew of Joe Nobodies a team, then you have to practice, and practice, and practice some more, but paying very close attention to the first one can save you a lot of time in the end. First, get to know your players and their styles by doing any number of drills, and at the same time, figure out who makes the weakest link.

1. Find a set of bunkers five to ten yards apart, and put a player in each one. They have twenty seconds to shoot each other out, and if they fail to do so then they both run a hill, or do pushups. Once somebody is out, he steps off and another jumps in. It should be a rapid fire pace giving the players little time to recover, or even think for that matter. Bunkering is definitely encouraged.

2. 3v1 – This is a great bunkering drill, because even if he does manage to shoot somebody out, there are still two more opponents out there. This greatly increases your chances of seeing a bunkering move.

A good eye will find out several things about a player, so look for those that are smart, aggressive, stupid, or timid. Pay special attention for aggressive and stupid and know the difference. A stupid person might look aggressive running down field until he gets blasted, but this will take work to beat the stupidity out of him and make him a smart, field-reading player.

This will also tell you who has the motivation and determination to be part of a winning team. These players won’t talk back, and will gladly put themselves on the line in order to win a game. If you catch somebody that is shying away from the drills, or is not clearly pulling his weight, then don’t be afraid to give him the axe if he doesn’t shape up.

If you are good friends with other teams, particularly fairly experienced ones, ask them to help you guys out by scrimming you for awhile. They will absolutely grind your team, and it will be a very ugly process, but this is one great way to get the determined on their feet, and those that just aren’t ready for tourneyball off their feet. If anybody is dragging around by the end of the day complaining, then perhaps they shouldn’t be part of the team.

There are so many variations to this first Hell Practice that nearly anything can work. But, never forget the overall idea of it. It must be a fast paced day with few breaks. They must get dirty; people need to be covered in paint and dirt by the end of the day. Punish them for any mistakes they make by making them run hills, or do pushups. And if at any point during this ‘weeding out the weak’ process anybody tries to tell you know or otherwise, then give them the boot.

When you have three, maybe even four or five guys playing in a somewhat small, indoor field you would think that there’s no way somebody is just going to come flying downfield and bunker your whole team right off the break, successfully too. Well, that’s the way I thought too until I had seen it at least two different times in a very short period.

The first time I experienced this, my team breaks out and I dive into back right. I come up firing down the snake side, and then begin to cross up. Before my gun is even down I get my face blasted, and this is all within seconds of the break. There were two guys walking, WALKING, up the opposite tape side, and as I looked over to the rest of my team I notice that they are all looking in. I don’t think either of the two guys ever stopped shooting all the while, and as they reached about the fifty, they ran the rest of the way and finished to finish them off.

The second time I was with the same group of guys, different day, and was taking some pictures on the sidelines. A guy by the name of Mike, tall and quite husky (the one you wouldn’t think to doing the run throughs), some how manages to split the field and bunker three people out, while the fourth had been shot off the break. How? He runs towards their back right, just to the inside. The guy in back right was shooting the tape, so naturally he didn’t have any idea what was about to happen, and that’s fairly understandable. The sad part is, the two other guys to the left side of the field were both looking towards their tape-side. Mike bunkers the guy in back right, calmly turns and shoots the two others in the side.

In both instances, the teams getting bunkered were all looking in the wrong direction, and not crossed up. I take it that both of them were planned to happen, whether it would work or not, so it could have just as easily gone wrong for them as well, because not only have I seen this done successfully a few times, I’ve probably seen twice as many end in total blunder. Somebody tries something like that and runs into three lanes of paint, because this time the team is watching.

Communication is key here. Never once underestimate your opponents, or question their stupidity. Make sure your team knows the basic plan, and keep it crossed up as much as possible! Communication! Communication! Communication! Do this, and you’ll protect against 99% of the people who try something crazy like running downfield off the break to blast you all in the sides when you’re looking the other way. And don’t think that it won’t happen to you, because that’s exactly when it does.

Don’t hate the cheer, it’d almost be useful if it wasn’t so lame.

Being aggressive, and playing aggressively, is key to doing well at paintball. I’m going to discuss a specific instance where it really pays off, but expect more of this in the future.

In the tournament last weekend, JFK won through sheer aggressiveness. They pushed the field in every game, and rarely finished with any players on their side of the 50. However, one of the most important things is playing smart and aggressive at the same time.

At the break, that often means two or three out of a three man team lane. Delayed breaks can be the start of huge games, especially on a three man, when one elimination is a big deal. After the delay, push key bunkers, snake being a good choice in a lot of scenarios.

Also, once in the snake, move up it! One time, a JFK player got into the snake, had a clear slide down the snake, but wouldn’t move. If he had moved, the game would have been over at least a couple of minutes earlier.

So, the key is often playing aggressively, and be willing to take some chances. Know your strategy, know the field, know the opposing team. If someone had shot a good lane right into the starting box off the break, JFK would’ve been screwed.

Anyone can win, on any given day. Just listen to the cheerleaders… “Be aggressive!”

Evan , JP, and I went to Paintball Paradise today to watch a three-man tournament. JFK entered and pretty much raped, but no one was really happy with the way the tournament was run. Here are some tips for fields wanting to run tournaments.

1) Reffing. Reffing can make or break a tourney. While today’s tourney was pretty laid back, and the reffing wasn’t horrible or anything, there are certainly areas in which it could’ve been improved. Everyone has a right to a fairly reffed game.

2) Field set-up. Make sure your field or fields are set-up well. Today’s field was set up very nicely for the limited set of bunkers that they had.

3) Prizes. At least make sure the winning team makes money instead of being in the hole. Today first place got $120. Entry was $30 per person, plus paint. Technically that’s losing money. Just saying…

4) Promotion. Let people know way in advance, make a big deal about it, put it online. What makes a tournament a tournament are the teams.

5) General set-up. Things like the staging area, the overall prices on everything from paint to food, the bracket style, all influence teams on deciding whether or not they’ll come back next tourney. Definitely can be more than worth it to cut prices on drinks for the day, or to set up a small canopied staging area.

Within this is the efficiency of how you run the tourney. Today there was more sitting around on breaks than actual playing. Extremely boring to play and to watch, let me assure you. Running a fast tournament with quick turnaround is crucial to what a team will consider a good tourney and a bad tourney.

Ah, yes…the Ego 7; only the sexiest gun on the market. Everybody wants one, yet only a lucky few have it. If you’re a dreamer like me, maybe this Virtual Tour of the Ego will make you feel just a little better by bringing you closer to it than ever before (that is if you don’t already own one). It’s complete online tour that takes you step by step throughout the guns build, and what needs to be maintained to keep it in prime condition. It even comes in four languages.

But what do I care, I just love looking at it! Man, I just wish other guns had virtual tours, because this makes cleaning look like a joke. Props to Planet Eclipse and the designers for taking the time to do this!