Become a Tournament Paintball Player

With good discipline, you should easily become a great player in no time.

Steps

  1. Find a paintball marker that you will use to start your tournament career. If you want to play speedball tournaments make sure your marker (gun) has the required tournament modes of fire, is easy to maintain and that you are comfortable with it. If you are more interested in recreational play than tournament play then investing in a more entry level setup may be a better idea, but later on, you may want to upgrade your marker or purchase a better one. In the Paintball industry, new and better products are released every year and the sport is ever-changing. Many products that are two years old are now considered outdated but are still capable equipment none the less.
  2. When purchasing new equipment it's always best to head to your local pro-shop. Here you can get a good feel for what type of equipment you'd like to purchase.
  3. Buying from a local shop offers many benefits over buying online, such as: local warranty coverage (many shops offer a warranty to those who buy at the shop to make any repairs much more simple), package offerings (local fields are far more likely to be able to work out a deal with a player who is at their fields a lot than an online company), you support the paintball community in your area, lets face it if you buy off the internet you are not supporting local paintball and if we don't support local shops the sport could die.
  4. If the local shop doesn't carry the brand of marker or other equipment you wish to purchase talk with players at your local field. Many are very willing to let you test out their equipment and give you advice on future purchases.
  5. When you first start playing don't be upset if you aren't asked to join a team, get sponsored, etc... these things require lots of hard work.
  6. Practice. Practice, Practice and did I mention practice?
  7. There are tons of valuable drills you can practice both at home and at your local field.
  8. If your local field has a sponsored team ask them if you can join them for some drills, don't expect that they have to allow you to do so.
  9. Some things to practice:
  10. Snap shooting: Snap shooting is where in a second you pop out of the bunker, fire a single shot or small burst of shots and checking back into your bunker.
  11. Playing tight:
  12. Playing tight will make it more difficult for your opponent to eliminate you.
  13. Running and gunning:
  14. Practice keeping your shots on target as you run. The ability to eliminate people while you move to another bunker is an advantage over the other team.
  15. There are many other aspects of the game that will just come over time with experience. Field awareness, adapting to the field, timing, teamwork, and communication all come with just playing on the field. When practicing, do not just focus on playing other teams. Drilling is very important.
  16. Conditioning. You should be fit to play paintball. Speed and endurance can give you an edge over the next guy. You can use a boxing guide for workouts and dieting. Eating right and exercising on a daily basis are essential parts of paintball.
  17. Network. Playing at local fields and being social with the other players is key. Get to know the local teams and field owners as well as the regular players and any sponsored teams those fields have.
  18. Show your skills. Playing with or against your local teams will increase your visibility. The better you play with these teams the more likely other teams will be interested in playing with you.
  19. Find a team to join or make your own. If you made a good enough impression, some teams may invite you to join or offer you a tryout. There are usually many local teams that give tryouts. But if you are fairly new to the sport and have not participated in any tournaments, it is not a good idea to start a team. Starting and maintaining a team is hard work. Just go to your local field and play as a walk-on. Do not worry about joining or starting a team off the bat. Once you are a good player, things will fall into place (teams and sponsorships).
  20. Be sure that you know how to communicate with your team, come up with code words for bunkers, people and problems before games.
  21. Make sure that the division and league you are in fits your style and experience.
  22. Make yourself invaluable to your team. Harnessing a sponsor is the best way. If a family member or friend owns a shop or business, a sponsorship would make you a god to your teammates. Because of the high cost of tournament paintball, sponsors are a must. Word of caution, there are not many sponsors outside the paintball industry that will give you a sponsorship. Even if you get a paintball company to sponsor your team, they mostly give discounts on their products unless you are a highly ranked divisional team. Most teams do not get any financial sponsorships and national tournaments are very costly (plane tickets, hotel rooms, entry fee, paint).

Tips

  • Watch videos on TV and online to pick up moves from the best players.
  • If you are serious about playing tournament paintball, you'll probably get new markers and gear every once in a while. That can get pricey, so unless you are serious about playing do not spend too much on your gear at the start.
  • Play better teams and players. You'll never get better playing people worse than you.
  • Make sure you know the field before you play. This will greatly increase your chances of winning.
  • Never be scared to do anything on the field. Courage and confidence will let you make key moves on the field.
  • Practice every chance you get. But, it can get expensive.
  • Always keep your barrel up.
  • Play every game all out.
  • Never get discouraged. You will not do so well the first few times you play good teams, but keep at it.
  • Never yell at a ref. Their job is difficult and provoking them will not help you out. If you have a problem, calmly explain the situation to them.
  • Look around try to avoid tunnel vision (focus on one player only) because you may be being flanked.
  • Paintball is competitive, but should always be fun.
  • Find a place you can practice the game. Make sure there are places to hide and plenty of space to move around. Have some friends play it with you and use something like water guns or small balls instead of the paint gun.
  • You're gonna get shot. It doesn't hurt. Move up the field as much as possible and deal with the enemies once you've made your way to a bunker in the combat area.
  • Buy paintball magazines (such as Action Pursuit Games) and study up on the latest gear and techniques. Other great magazines more geared toward tournament paintballers are Face full, P8nt, and Paintball Games International.
  • Play clean, and don't cheat.
  • Talk and update your team a lot! Communication is the key; it greatly increases the way your team will perform on the field.

Warnings

  • People may be scared that paintballs hurt. They do sting, but the more you play, you'll get used to it.
  • Gets expensive
  • Speedball can get hot, drink lots of water, unlike woodsball there are not as many trees to shade and protect you from the sun.

Things You'll Need

  • Paintball mask
  • Fast electronic marker that is light
  • Fast electronic hopper
  • Carbon-fiber or steel compressed AIR tank (most high-end tournament markers should not be run on C02
  • Elbow pads
  • Knee pads
  • Paintball pants
  • Paintball jersey (optional, but for tournament play you must have your arms covered
  • Paintball gloves (optional)
  • Slider shorts (with soft cup)
  • cleats (Optional but highly recommended) Soccer cleats are best as most tournaments do not allow the use of steel spikes, check the rules for your league to be certain.
  • Suggestion: Read up on what markers are best for the price, easy to maintain, and easy to understand when you are starting off. Try avoiding companies that use proprietary parts (Smart Parts and Spyder) such as threads, and fittings so that if you need to replace something or upgrade, there is a wide variety to choose from. Youtube, PbNation, Google, and even reddit can be helpful here. Try visiting Paintballtechpb on Youtube. Mike has thousands of tips that have helped paintball players in every skill level.
  • Lots of money..if you wanna go a lot it is an expensive sport

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  • www.pbnation.com
  • www.pbreview.com
  • www.pbstar.com
  • www.warpig.com
  • www.nppl.tv
  • www.pspevents.com
  • source of image
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