Paintball Journal

Following up on Dana’s post about violence in paintball, I’ve thought of some things that we can all do to give paintball less of a wild, violent game look and more of an organized sport. My family knows I play paintball, and whenever we’re at family gatherings they always ask if I’m still at it. Right now they think paintball in general, when actually it needs to be viewed as speedball and woodsball; they are entirely different games.

What I’m going to try to do is elaborate on speedball, and explain the differences and the setups and the styles. Speedball is organized – time is set, the field is symmetrical, and nearly every aspect has some regulation. I want them to see it as the sport I see it as.

I also want people at school to see it like this. When I tell them I play paintball they say things like, “Oh, that’s cool…Doesn’t that hurt?” Whether it’s guys or girls, they only see the woodsball side of it; that’s all they know of it. And I think that’s the only reason why paintball still remains that way. It’s because the people just don’t know about it.

So I think I’ll make this my goal. When I tell somebody that I play paintball, I want them to say something like, “Cool, woodsball or speedball?” Or, “Do you play on a team?” I have yet to see this though.

Here is a comprehensive list of paintball gun safety tips. Use them, I urge you.

Sorry I can’t add too much input, but that pretty much says it all.

After coming in 4th, almost 3rd in our first tourney, we had some high expectations for this one. And rightfully so, Evan, JP, and I worked our asses off to get where we are today. We made sacrifices for our team, and it showed in our first tourney. We’ve put a huge amount of time, energy, and money into being better players.

So we took 6th this time around. Evan and I weren’t on the top of our game, and neither Ben nor Brock had enough experience to really compete.

While Evan has burned out pretty bad, I burned out too, just a little bit less so. I’ve taken a little different approach to the whole idea, and I want to get better now. I love this sport way too much to just quit on the dream of competing at a higher level. Even though I never really have considered playing seriously, I always want to be getting better, I always want to be able to compete with whoever I play.

That said, I took it pretty hard on Sunday too. I don’t really have all that much drive to get back out and play right now. However, when I do, I want it to be fun and serious at the same time. For example, not recball against some church group.

I’d love to head back to Friendly Fire soon. Run some drills where my team practices moving and bunkering, skills which have huge consequences at the smaller tourneys. I’ve got some great drills in my head that I’ll hate and my team will love, 2 vs 1’s and things like that.

When you haven’t put as much resources as we have into the sport, it’s hard to take it seriously, and I could tell Brock and Ben weren’t as down as Evan and me after the tourney. To them it’s all fun, and there isn’t anything wrong with that. But a team that plays for different reasons isn’t a team that will stay together for long.

I hope that Ben and Brock can see the fun in playing competitively. I’m not saying that I run practice like a drill sergeant, it’s just that while it’s fun pwning noobs at recball, it can be so much more rewarding doing well in a tourney after training and working on being a better player. In practice I’ll have to see who is willing to make that commitment.

I can honestly say I had fun a couple weeks ago at Silver Spur, running around, mowing faces all day. But it was NOTHING compared to the feeling of doing well at that first tourney.

zeroes for a day, no trace, paintball, friendly fire paintball, silver spur

Looking back on the tournament, I can see that we simply failed at several of the points we had wanted to work on. First of all, we said we were going to move more, be the aggressor, run up and shoot people, but that didn’t happen. We got back into our conservative mode, but instead of focusing on setting up solid defensive breakouts we somehow got caught in between trying to do both. Several times we missed our lanes, and they were usually the ones coming downfield, and it was a lot harder to completely lock it down due to the width of the field this time and the absence of out front player. Basically, pick a plan and stick to your guns. When you get up on bodies then look to improvise, but until then make sure everything is covered.

Secondly, our communication was pathetic. I didn’t expect our newest member to just jump right in and play like we did, but being new didn’t help communication whatsoever. And then there were times when I thought I was being vocal enough, and afterwards they’d say, “Dude, where was that guy?” I’d tell them I was screaming his position, and then there were times where I wasn’t hearing them. It helps to be extra loud indoors. The walls are concrete, everything echoes, and once all guns get up to speed the small things just get droned out. If you’re not hoarse by the end of the day then there is something wrong (and we weren’t even close).

Paintball, Paintball tips, paintball tournament

I hate Egos. Well, okay, here’s my lesson for today, kids. Gather round because this could save you from death welts on your back someday.

Here’s the situation, we’re down three on two. It’s me in back right, and Evan at home. We’re playing JFK, who we know will move on us, so I cross up, looking in. Evan’s supposed to be crossed up looking towards the right tape, but no, he’s looking out the left side of his bunker, same way as me. JFK makes a simultaneous move, Sam running down the right tape (right into where Evan’s field of fire should have been) and another player moving to the 50 dorito.

I have no idea Sam’s coming and I’m sure this dorito man is about to eat paint, when suddenly I’m on my knees in rather severe pain because my back has been destroyed by Sam.

So, cross up when you’re down. And make sure your team mate is doing the same thing. Owie.

evan is a noob, paintball, back pain, arthritis, crossing up, ego

So it’s you first tournament - congratulations – but are you prepared? Here is a list of things that you might like to consider.

8. Are you ready?

Whatever you do, do not walk into a tournament if you or any of your teammates are not ready to throw it down. Go in like you have everything to lose.

7. How is your gear?

Still shooting woodsball level guns? Nothing is saying you can’t use them, but chances are that you’ll face teams shooting guns a lot fast than you, and as much as I hate to say it, speed does matter to a certain degree.

6. Physically – are you fit?

If you plan on playing serious paintball, getting in shape is a must. Not only will your strength hold after a long day, you won’t be as sore afterwards. A lot of times, teams will begin to wear down towards the end, start playing sloppy. This is where you can capitalize.

5. Is the money and ride secured?

Don’t be scrounging for money the night before a tournament, and definitely plan a designated driver days in advance. There is nothing worse than waking up finding that you don’t have a ride.

4. Is everything working and packed?

Make sure the batteries are fresh, all the electronics – hoppers, guns, etc. – are working properly, and then check it off on a list. Do not tinker with things if they are working, something bad will inevitably happen.

3. So you made it – are you intimidated?

It’s natural to be intimidated by flashy guns, jerseys, and angry looking people, but don’t worry about it too much. When we walked in with our Ions, I couldn’t help but feel some sort of shame, for everybody was shooting Egos, Timmies, Pms, Dms, Shockers – and it just felt bad shooting something so low-grade. But we got out there, and we did our stuff.

2. Do you know how to walk a field?

If you don’t, find a guide on the internet. Walking the field and memorizing it inside out, upside down is a thing you must know how to do. Learn the angles, the key positions, everything about it; it can only help you in the long run.

1. The final step.

So you’re lined up, seconds away from breaking and every thought is screaming at you. The clock counts down the last few seconds, which tick by as minutes in your mind, and finally the buzzer sounds. What do you do? What can you do?

The only thing left is for you to get out there, AND MOW SOME FACES! It’s too late to turn back now, and so while you’re there, you might as well make some people see who is boss. Don’t be afraid to try risky moves. Challenge them, and dominate the field. If you are going to lose, do it running down field, gun blazing away. What is possibly stopping you? Nothing.

Let go all fear, doubt, and disbelief.

Paintball is a physical sport, especially if you are playing at a tournament level. During the off-season, I play on a small, indoor field, so it’s not a huge workout. To keep myself in shape (besides running track from March - May) I’ve devised a workout that will work for anyone.

1/2 The total push-ups you can do.
50-100 Crunches.
25-35 Fast snaps, using your legs in some semblance of a squat. Simulates remaining in a ready position for an amount of time as well as coming over the top and snapping to the side of the bunker while in that squatting position. It’s hard.

Anyway, repeat this routine 5 times, at the end I usually finish it off with some ab workout like leg-lifts or something. As you get stronger, increase the reps within the sections of the routine, and eventually add more reps to the entire routine. This will at least make sure you’re used to regular activity come paintball season.

Don’t suck. Oh, wait, more accurately, try to be professional, descriptive, opinionated, and well-written. Here are some tips for writing a good (paintball) blog.

1) Check your grammar. Nothing screams 13-year-old-n00b like bad grammar.

2) Come up with original stuff, not just news copied and pasted from another paintball site.

3) Play as much as possible. By participating in that which you are blogging, you create more opportunities for ideas to swim about your head.

4) Explore different angles of your subject. There are about a thousand different fields of paintball to discuss, so don’t just focus on one (unless you can be excessively in depth).

5) Promote your blog by telling other paintballers and bloggers about it, but don’t spam. Spammers go to hell.

6) Contact me. I want to know about more paintball blogs that are well-written and that I can network this blog with.

7) Don’t be afraid to voice a little opinion. This is what truly brings a blog to life, the voice its writer infuses within it.

I just want to see more respectable paintball blogs. So all you aspiring bloggers out there, go ahead and give it a try, just don’t make it a waste of your time!

This is why Team Dynasty is the best in the world. Yes, I realize Lang has moved since this was taken, but it still shows a great team effort, mainly by Lang and Fraige. Take a look.

Now that’s just awesome. Talk about coordination, Fraige runs up as a decoy, and immediately Lang is right in the snake without anybody watching! It may look like an accident to the untrained eye, but every move there happened on purpose. Even Lang doing his three man run through, it’s not like he ran blindly down field. This could only happen with great communication on his team’s part.

But like I was saying - coordination. This is still something our team is lacking, and probably not just ours. I think it’s simply going to take a lot of practice to know when you should play off of another teammate’s bump.

For instance, if you team moves into a 50 bunker, such as a snake or maybe a dorito, there’s a good chance that it’s going to lock down the other team until he is taken out. But what good is he doing besides just that if the rest of your team doesn’t move up field and take advantage of their predicament? Not much.

So next time we hit the field we’re going to work on a better offensive coordination, as well individual skill. Our tournament practically turned into a defensive lock down, and it worked fine, but you don’t see the pro teams playing like that too much.

There are loads of things that one can wear on one’s head to protect from the inevitable headshot that will most definitely happen if one isn’t wearing anything.

Here are some ideas on what to wear (almost all of which I’ve tried at some point or another).

- Nothing! You can even try styling your hair, like Thomas Taylor or Glenn Takemoto.

- Reverse baseball cap. JP is a big fan of that. And the Cubs.

- A beanie. Always stylin’ in a beanie. Evan pimps an IU beanie most of the time these days.

- A t-shirt. Seriously, one of the more comfortable things I’ve worn about my brains over the years. However, it does tend to impede hearing.

- A sandanna. Like a bandanna, except pretty much made for paintball.

- And finally, my personal preference, a santa hat. Comfy, and looks very sexy. At least it does on me.

When we showed up to the tourney on Sunday, and saw just how many teams were shootings PMs/DMs, Timmies, a few Egos, maybe a Shocker or two, we were surprised to see how many people weren’t playing their bunkers right, or just making stupid mistakes.

Time and time again I saw people going left on the break while awkwardly shooting from the right shoulder using their right hand. I thought it was common sense; go left shoot with the left, go right shoot with the right. Not only does it look stupid, it really slows you down. If you can’t shoot with your off hand it’s best to dive straight in, and come up shooting rather than taking the chance of getting shot out off the break.

I also noted how many people were leaving their hoppers hanging out. The field was particularly low, so people tended to stay low and snap from around the sides. When you do this, angle your hopper in towards your bunker and keep your head directly behind the gun! I still can’t believe that there weren’t more hoppers blown away.

Here’s a good form.

And despite the fact that there were so many high end guns, and we were only shooting Ions, we still came in fourth (though we held 3rd all day till the finals) at our very first tournament. I was expecting to get annihilated, but we held our own through teamwork. We didn’t lay enormous amounts of paint like most teams did; we just kept our wits about us. We developed a plan, knew what we wanted to accomplish, and played smart paintball. That’s all it takes. We aren’t great, but teamwork always beats individual skill.

Okay, so 4th Place, that’s not bad, for our first tournament that’s exactly where we want to be.

We got a nifty barrel condom and t-shirt (Please excuse the deplorable state of my t-shirt. I kinda slept in it). We have leftover paint for our next practice. But most importantly, we have experience now! We know what to improve on and how to plan our next practice around weak spots.

I truly felt like I was the weakest individual player on our team. I played back, Evan played mid, and JP played front (with one of the shortest set-ups I’ve ever seen). Every game seemed to follow the same pattern.

I’d make my bunker, no problem, considering it was right in front of the break. I’d call out positions, and maybe pin a couple of guys, then get shot out.

Things I’d like to improve on include, but aren’t limited to:

1) Laning off the break. That’ll be easier once I get used to my trigger, and get it set up in a way that will allow me to shoot faster. Plus, I need to get it in my mind off the break to stay up and shoot at the exact location I need to, just in front of an outside back bunker. There was a team on Sunday that had a guy who would always walk to the net-side tape back bunker. If I could have put a steady stream of paint there off the break, we would have been up 3-2 in bodies, and had a chance against a team that only lost once all day.

2) Gun-fighting. I didn’t get in a whole bunch of gun-fights but my form has to be tighter. Coming over the top in the first couple of games got me shot up, and you should see my left arm. Though a lot of that is from run-thrus. Well, okay, so here’s my left arm, there were actually a total of seven welts on it:

3) Field awareness. The experienced teams walked all over the inexperienced ones because of this. You don’t have to hit a bunker and be immobile for a game. It’s very important to stay mobile, look for bumps and moves, because you won’t win a game from one bunker. That was a problem with me, I’d be gunning from one bunker and forget to move.

Anyway, all stuff to work on next time we go and practice. Ah, and here’s our win-loss record for No Trace (our team name).

No Trace vs. JFK Loss
No Trace vs. Hardcore Win
No Trace vs. Smoken Aces Win
Apocalyptic Dreams vs. No Trace Win
Hola vs. No Trace Win
Sadistic vs. No Trace Loss
Mercenaries vs. No Trace Win
No Trace vs. Creepers Win

Finals
No Trace vs. Sadistic Loss
No Trace vs. JFK Loss
No Trace vs. Apocalyptic Dreams Win

Deciding Round for 3rd/4th Place
No Trace vs. Apocalyptic Dreams Loss

Tourney time is almost here, and I’m pumped!

Preparations include:

Finding extra guns and players and a camera man. In fact, we’ve got all this pretty well covered. We’ll be taking up an extra player (he mostly just wants to watch, which is why he’s not rostering with us), as well as two extra guns, both better than the ones that the three of us will be using. Ironic.

Our camera man is the third guy that we had to drop because of injuries sustained to his lungs, which they had to replace with twin carbon-fiber wrapped 68/4500 tanks. We’re hoping he can pull through and be well by the time spring tourney season rolls around.

Funding is always a problem, but Evan is the rich boy, so JP, our third man, fixed up Evan’s old Bushie and Evan’s paying his entry fee. I’ve got all my finances sorted, and will have just enough that if we place third r better, I might be able to afford food after the tourney.

Working out. Ahahahaha, okay so not really. But I’m doing a little bit so that I don’t collapse after my first run-through.

While on a temporary tangent about team philosophy, I’d like to talk about keeping a positive attitude.

In this upcoming tournament that Evan and I will be playing in, there will be better teams than us there. Of that, I have no doubt, I’ve seen some play, I’ve played against some before, and won as well as lost.

But I also don’t doubt that ANY given team can win on ANY given day.

Always think positive. I can’t stress this enough. Oliver Lang, arguably the best paintball player in the world, actually said in an interview with Monthly Paintball Newsletter:

“Play every weekend you can afford, keep a positive attitude, don’t get too cocky, and always look to get better by pushing yourself all the time.”

Keeping a positive outlook and shooting for first are key parts of becoming a winning team. If you don’t expect the absolute best from yourself and your teammates, then you aren’t going to win tourneys, you aren’t gonna get into first place. But if you really give it your all, time and time again, you set yourself and your team up for success.

Team Ultimate has one of the greatest philosophies that I’ve seen for a pro team. It’s available in it’s original form @ Team Ultimate’s Site.

Ultimate Philosophy

Ted Wolfson opened both a Paintball field and a store to subsidize team expenses on the tournament circuit. A few years ago, Ted and a bunch of kids fell in love with the sport of Paintball after playing in the 5-man rookie division at World Cup. Even though Ultimate is now a national competition team in the Open class XBall division, they are fundamentally a youth group, which is an extension of Ted’s life long duty as a Christian. “I came from a deeply religious background and I was a youth group instructor, so I wanted to do it for the kids as part of our ministry. The kids are not all religious but I at least try to have a positive influence on them,” he explains, “Our goal is to help the kids grow into young adults so that they can become positive examples within society.” Personality and character are very important to Ted. There is no time to worry about kids getting into drugs or trouble. At the Chicago PSP this season, he was forced to make a decision regarding on half of the team. “I had to let a few people go. The were good players but they didn’t mesh well. I don’t want any superstars. I just want to go and win and do it right.”

The changes within the roster started to show last winter. “They were followers rather than leaders. They are still good boys and I worry about what they are doing with Miami Effect and Infamous, but I will not tolerate a lack of respect towards the team or myself. My partner and I give everything we earn from the field store to the team; the kids never pay for paint or other expenses. To see the disrespect is hurtful and I fell that letting them go was the right thing to do because I don’t think that we would have progressed in the sport with them. The team chemistry was not there. Each player must be dependent upon the others because it’s not just about individual skill, but rather a team effort.”

To fill the void that the players left, Ted pulled up younger talent from Ultimate Kids, their farm team. After skipping the North East Open, Ted brought in seven young guns to compete at Cup. Although none of the players had ever played a game of Open Class Paintball, Ultimate still performed at the same level of intensity, taking the Naughty Dogs into overtime. “I played everyone and they gave it everything they had. I can’t wait till next year”.

Show some respect
One rule that the Ultimate roster must adhere to is respecting everyone. “I demand respect,” asserts Ted. “The drugs and alcohol aren’t even a thought to my kids, but the respect issue is very important. It not only emphasizes our professional status but it’s a good value that the kids will carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

Cussing, cheating and bad grades are also strict rules, but the majority of the kids are in accelerated programs at school or even in college so Ted does not fret over their grades, which also makes the parents very happy.

Ultimate has two girls rostered; one is a sister to two of the boys on the team and the other came from Femme Fatales. There is no special treatment for the girls nor is there any disrespect. Both have been playing a while and know how to handle male aggression.

Life lessons are a big teaching from Ted. Being a Christian, he passes along his knowledge on how to deal with life’s little hurdles in the way that a Christian should. Parents are made aware ahead of time that while playing with Ultimate, Ted will attempt to instill positive morals into the kids via his religious teachings. “The religious part is played up a lot because it is everything to me. I’m not telling the players that they need to attend church, but I am using my religious background as a way to teach them life lessons. I do not alienate people if they are not Christians, but I do try to teach them how to have better morals and deal with difficult situations involving stress and anger.”

Straight talk
Many of Ted’s teachings transcend Paintball. The kids on Ultimate learn how to be assertive and work hard to succeed in not only Paintball but also everyday life.

“Getting cheated on the field is the same as having someone lie to you in the workplace or trying to get ahead by doing the wrong thing. It doesn’t make it right for my guys to wipe a hit of to win a game. When you get mad in Paintball, are you going to yell at someone? Are you going to do that in the work place or with your wife? It’s just a game and they need to work things out and suck it up and play the game.”

Parents do not have a problem with Ted’s teachings; they have developed a high level of trust in him because he has helped to shape their children in a positive way. When the kids are at a tournament, parents know and trust that Ted is always with them and overseeing their every move. “The parents really like the level of trust and in turn makes them want to be more involved with the team. I see a lot of kids whose parents are not involved with their lives and their relationship suffers because of it.”

Like Doc, there is no monetary return for Ted. “Everything we make is put right back into the team. There are no financial gains. Emotionally there is a gain, but it might not be shown for a while. My reward would be for them to think back 20 years later and say, ‘I learned how to be a good man or woman because of the values that I learned from being on Team Ultimate.’ It’s just a game, it’s just Paintball, but life and working are for long time. The kids need to have enough self-esteem to do the right thing in everyday life.”

Sometimes, the Paintball lifestyle can take hold and never let go. The romance of being on the road and playing at the top of the sport can create an ego so big that it can consume a person’s humanity. A player can get wrapped up in the excitement and fail to see the negative effects until they make so many mistakes that they hit rock bottom. It may take more than a coach or other players to lift the person back up – sometimes it may actually take a little divine intervention…