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Making it to the middle or end game is always fun but some players tend to lose all of their advtanges here because of a few
bad ideas or mistakes.
The most important part of paintball is communication. A lot of beginners don't like to communicate because they tend to think
that they're giving away information to the other team. which is the glass is half empty approach. The positive side is that
with communication, you're whole team can be aware of what is happening. Imagine your team of 10 players knowing exactly what
the other team is doing compared to if only a few players knew bits and pieces of what's happening with the other team. What
if one of your best players runs up the side and gets shot out but he could have been saved if you had communicated with him?
Sounds like a good trade off. You should also try to tell your team mates what you're planning on doing even if you're vague
about it.
If your team mates refuse to communicate with you during the game, you can watch the trees or bunkers that they're shooting
at in order to get an idea of where the opposing team players may be.
A lot of players always come up to me asking me how I knew where players on the other team were when no one was communicating.
It's actually pretty simple... during the g ames you can hear where shots are coming from. Also, you can just look and see
where the shots are coming from. If you're under heavy fire, have your back facing your opponent and look straight. You can
see the paintballs flying past you and just use your mind and trace them backwards.
A problem with a lot of inexperienced players is also that they don't like to shoot excess paint because they feel as if they're
wasting it. Firing off extra paint allows you to play more offensively. In every sport or combat situation, it's said that
offense is the best defense. If you can put a lot of pressure on your opponents, you can confuse them or scare them off. How
would you react to lines of paint flying in your direction? Sometimes I see lots of players who go a whole day shooting less
than 500 paintballs. That's less than 100 paintballs an hour! One of my team mates would always tell beginners that if they're
not shooting about a hopper a game, then somethings wrong. Sure paint prices might be an issue for some people but that's
how everything works. If you can't afford to fire more, you can always try to compensate for it with more communication or
more offensive tactics.
If you're playing an offensive role and running down the field and taking out every sucker in your view, good job! Just be
sure that you don't go crazy running straight down to take out a few players and then get yourself shot out because you didn't
stop. In speedball games, I would always make run throughs and take out several players before I was shot out but I've started
training myself to stop getting shot out on the run throughs. If I can manage to take out a few players then manage to keep
myself still in the game, then I've just helped my team out a lot. Just remember that each player you take out helps your
team and the longer you can stay in the game, taking out mroe players, the more good you're doing for your team!
Trading places is also a very important part of the game when you're trying to be offensive. Like chess, you try to push against
your opponent and take the middle of the field as you slowly surround and take them out. When you have players moving up,
you should have other players or yourself try to fill in those gaps. This allows your team to move together as a whole. Doesn't
having your team 15ft away from each other, offering cover fire sound much better than everyone being 50ft apart and not seeing
or knowing what's going on?
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