How to Become a Good Paintballer

I found a good article from wikihow website for who want to become a good paintballer and i would like to share with all of you.Have fun reading it 

1. Make sure you know the weight of your own equipment. Your equipment should not be too bulky or heavy, as this will put you at a great disadvantage on the field.
2. To learn the basics you will need to learn "marker" positioning. First put on your mask (to make it more realistic). You can use a little laser pointer taped to the barrel of the marker to represent were you would hit if you fired a paintball. Now, with the pointer on and the mask on, put it into firing position. Learn that position. If you can, (put the marker barrel-down) and try to estimate were the shot would hit before you even bring up your marker. Quickly bring up your marker into firing position. Practice this for a while, and then without the laser pointer.but do not let the opponent see the light or else the opponent can trace it back it you and tag you if too many opponents notice you before you realize it and then have another target.
3. Even expensive paintball guns can have bad firing rates(you can fix that). Take your middle and index finger and place them in the air as if they were a pair of scissors. Position your thumb straight and pinkie and ring finger like you're holding a gun. Take your middle and index fingers and place them on the trigger. Start pulling the trigger slowly back and forth, then get faster and faster. This is called "walking the trigger". You will have to put more pressure on those fingers in a real marker trigger. Try this out with different guns, and find the one that you can fire with the fastest. There are market triggers available for almost all guns. (This will only work for markers with a "double trigger." That is, a trigger that has room for two fingers.) This technique is also called "spray and pray" since you are not usually concerned with accuracy; only with getting a lot of paint into the air quickly.
4. Running and shooting: not much to say here; it's mandatory in paintball. With the laser pointer, put the gun into firing position. Then aim the laser pointer at a wall inside your house. Try to keep the laser on the wall steady as you go from walk, jog, to running. You will feel comfortable after a while.
5. Master the art of bunkering. When you're in a three-on-three man match, get into a bunker! When you find your man, start firing. After you do get your man, make sure he is the only threat shooting at you. Keep him in or let him run out of paint then run towards him, fire off a couple rounds and make sure you hit him. You can try to bunker him when he is least supecting it or have your teammates pin him down, then bunker him.
6. Learn how to snapshoot (this is where you are in a gun fight and you pop out of a bunker just enough to get some shots off and go back in). Watch your position. One way to perfect your shapshooting is to practice in front of a mirror. Get behind an object in front of the mirror and practice making accurate shots by popping out of the object, or as called, bunker.
7. Be prepared to reload in a gunfight. Make sure you have paintball pods in your harness. Relay information to your teammate(yell "reloading, COVER ME!"); "Cover me" is the key phrase and not too loud because then if you yell through the sky it will echo and then it could bring opoments when your reloading making you vunerable Now open your hopper. Keep a finger on the trigger, take a pod out then pop the top of the pod, and pour in the paint into the gun. Throw your pod on the ground(don't worry, you will get them back), close the hopper and start firing. You may not want to yell "reloading" because the other team will hear as well, and try to bunker you. Practice reloading and you won't have to ask your team to cover you.
8. In speedball, most parks will make you put your barrel or gun on the dead box (the place you go behind or in when you're hit), then they will say 3,2,1 real fast or normal take off to your position front, middle or back. Start firing now.
9. Position info. There are 3 main positions in speedball: front, middle, and back. The Front man is the one who relays information about what is going on to the middle and looks for windows or openings to bunker or take out a player. The middle player relays the info from the front to the back. they shoot a lot of paint, so they should have a good hopper and be great snapshooters. Back men shoot a lot of paint to try to get men out and help out with the openings for the front man.
10.  Walk the field and have a game plan.
11. In woodsball, sometimes called recball, strategy and communication are key. Have a strategy and communicate with your teammates. Two of anything beats a single ace. 
12. Go have fun out there paintballing
13. Try really, really HARD not to be terrrrible 

6 tips for Trying out for a New Paintball Team

Trying out for a new paintball team

The off season is over and you’re looking to tryout for a new team. Here are a few paintball tips that may help you make the team.

Most paintball teams host an open tryout after the off-season. These tryouts tend to be on a Saturday or Sunday and in some cases both days. Potentially there may be a lot of competition, so it’s your job to separate yourself from the rest of the pack.

Tip 1.
Be Prepared. As you get ready for the big weekend - MAKE SURE and I mean MAKE SURE that all your equipment is functioning and ready to go (clean gun, fresh batteries, clean lenses etc.) The last thing you want to be doing is borrowing parts, guns and everything in between. Have functioning equipment shows that you are responsible and serious about winning.

Tip 2.
Meet & Greet. When you first arrive to the tryout a good first rule of thumb is to make sure you go out of your way to meet and greet all the current players of the team. Let them know you’re proud to be there and looking forward to the tryout. This will help alleviate any tension or anxiety you may have around a new group of guys. Remember a good attitude and personality goes a long way.

Tip 3.
Walk the field. Spend as much time as you can walking the practice field, typically I like to be the first one out there. Walking the paintball field builds up your confidence and shows that you are serious about winning. Look at all angles of the field, you never know where they may stick you during a tryout.

Tip 4.
Be Confident. Once you walk on the field you need to be confident in your abilities. Confident players are what teams are always looking for. Be willing to play any position on the field or try any game plan the tryout calls for. Tip 5.
Don't Brag. There's nothing worst than a player trying out for a new paintball team and bragging about how great their playing. Let your game speak for itself. Be confident but humble, trust me coaches and current team players are paying attention and can't stand cocky players.Tip 6.
Have Fun. This is the most important tip!!! Paintball is fun, go out there and give 110%. Show your a team player, show that you listen, show that your always willing to learn new things. I can assure you when your having fun, your playing paintball at your best!!!

Paintball Skill - Snap Shooting

Snap Shooting is one of the most important skills for a paintball player to master. The good news, it's one of the easiest paintball skills to practice. Snap Shooting can be easily practiced at your local field, backyard, or even in the comfort of your home - more on this later.
 

Professional paintball players and teams spend countless hours practicing snap shooting drills, they understand the importance and benefits on how this skill set can make or break winning a game.

Paintball Snap Shooting improves the following:
1. Comfort with your marker
2. Body mechanics3. Confidence in gun fighting
4. Switching hands
5. Accuracy

1. Comfort with your marker. Snap Shooting is actually one of the best skills in helping a player setup their paintball marker. Quick example - Gun setup that is too long, will now allow to tuck properly in your cover (bunker). Gun setup too short drastically decreases your accuracy. Click on my gun setup article to learn more about proper setup.

A comfortable gun setup will help a player feel very fluid with their paintball marker and give them the ability to switch hands instantly.

2. Body Mechanics. The more your practice snap shooting the more you will develop and train muscles in the core of your body. These muscles are very important to develop in order to help you snap shoot longer and drastically helps with accuracy.

3. Confidence in gun fighting. The more you practice the better you are, the more confident you will be. As you develop your snap shooting skills, adding another player to your snap shooting drills will help build confidence in your next snap shooting game situation.

4. Switching hands. Snap shooting drills allows players to also practice switching hands. Switching hands effectively and efficiently is an art in itself which world class professional paintball players have mastered. Always practice switching from your dominant to your non-dominant hand during snap shooting drills. It will feel real ackward at first, but you will be amazed how fast you will pick it up.

Big reason to master this skill is due to exposure. When players dont switch to the opposite side of their bunker and dont switch hands, you expose yourself more to getting shot and don't shoot your marker nearly as accurate.

5. Accuracy. Accuracy has been really a big theme in all the prior points, the better you are at snap shooting the more accurate you will be. This could make a HUGE difference in how quick you take out your opponents.  

Dave Pastore
dave@trainhardpaintball.com