This is an article I recently wrote for a front page blog contest over at http://okcompanypaintball.com. I've decided to shamelessly cross-post it.
Paintball. It's such a widely varied sport, with equipment, game types,
rules, and types of players, that it is almost impossible to master.
Maybe you can become an expert at one or two aspects of the game, but
when the game type switches you can find yourself lost in an instant.
So, in a sport with so many variations, how do you become better? How
do you excel and dominate at every game you play? The answer to that is
fundamentals, and in this post I'm going to try to break down a few
things into 3 simple rules that I think are the most important to take
your game to the top. Keep in mind, these aren't necessary to play.
Anyone can go out there and have a blast, but if you really want to
excel, in my opinion, these are the most important aspects to practice.
Rule #1 - Cardio.
Now when you look around the field, the first thing you'll notice is
that paintball players come in all shapes and sizes. Lets be honest,
you don't have to be in great shape to play, but it certainly does
help. The one common trait you'll find about all of the top players you
meet, though, is endurance. These guys are able to run circles around
the field and still pull up energy to fight when they need to. All of
this comes from a workout that is heavy in cardiovascular activity. If
you really want to put yourself to the test watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y8tbS8Lsbc
of some professionals running snaps hooting drills, and then try it
yourself. It's not as easy as it looks, is it? And snap shooting is one
of the most important skills to be able to do if you want to excel.
What are some good ways to build this? Well, snap shooting drills are
one. This builds up the muscles needed, trains muscle memory, and gives
you a good cardio workout at the same time. Running and biking are some
obvious exercises. Recently, my favorite has been hitting the
Stairmaster hard at the local gym. It gives you a cardio workout, and
builds up the leg muscles that make the foundation for the rest of your
body. You'll also need an extremely strong core, so get at those
crunches and leg lifts. The quick, controlled movements that you see
them doing in the video are far more demanding than they look.
Rule #2 - Trigger Time
No soldier just picks up a gun and becomes a sniper. Likewise, no
paintball player will pick up a gun and become a pro. Especially
important in paintball, where you don't really have sights to speak of,
is muscle memory. This is the repetition of an action until it's a
reflex. A lot of athletes refer to using muscle memory as "being in the
zone". It's where you don't think about the action, your body just
reacts to what you want to do. You need your gun to be an extension of
your body if you expect to be able to hit a mask or a hopper at 50 feet
with only a split second to react. The only way to achieve this is by
constant practice with your gun. A good investment is some Reballs. You
can shoot them hundreds of times, instead of having to buy all that
paint. If you don't feel like that, you can just use my method.
Visualize a target somewhere in the house, and practice snapping in and
out of doorways and popping off a couple of (imaginary) shots in it's
direction. That way you're taking care of your snap shooting drills and
trigger time in one exercise. Of course there is a down side to this,
you get no immediate feedback on your accuracy. I'd only suggest doing
this with a gun you're already extremely familiar with. The main reason
I'm doing this at the moment is to get proficient with my left hand.
Did I forget to mention that? If you really want to be unstoppable,
you're going to need to learn to play with both hands so you can pop
out of cover and keep the parts of yourself that you expose to a
minimum.
So, now that I've sprung that one on you, you're probably holding your
gun in your off hand now, thinking just how "wrong" it feels. Oh man,
does it ever feel wrong those first few times. Just pay careful
attention to how you hold the gun with your regular hand and try to
imitate that with your off hand. How are your arms positioned? Is the
barrel directly in front of your nose? The best way to get this down is
to start practicing in front of a mirror. It will help you get the
barrel straight, and pretty soon you'll be able to "feel" where the
shot will go, just like you do when you're using your normal hand. Once
you have that down, practice switching back and forth between hands,
firing off a couple shots as fast as you can with each.
Fire-Switch-Fire-Switch for a few minutes at a time. Within a matter of
weeks it will be feeling natural shooting with either.
Just remember that quote from Full Metal Jacket. "This is my rifle.
There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best
friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless. I must
fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is
trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me."
Now that your gun is an extension of your body, and you've been gotten
the hang of snapping in and out of cover, you'll not only be a hard
target to hit, but you'll be a target that shoots back just as
accurately, if not more accurately than that poor sucker laying prone
in the grass.
Rule #3 - Confidence
There's only one way to go about this one. Experience. You've got to
get out there and play. Get in situations that really suck. Get shot
up. You have to be calm and thinking clearly at all times on the field.
This means never being afraid. After all, what's the worst that can
happen? Get shot in the neck from close range? Well, if you've been out
there enough and got enough games under your belt you've probably
already survived that, so there's no reason to worry anymore.
This reminds me of my return to paintball after a 6 or so year hiatus.
I was terrified out there on the field. Not to mention I wasn't in too
good of shape either. I was breathing heavily and fogging my mask up to
where I couldn't see a thing, flinching all over the place, team
killing like no other. For the life of me I couldn't remember why I had
played so much before. But, after a few times out, building my
confidence and overcoming all the worries I started getting back into
the swing of things.
That's why I listed this as #3. If you're in good shape, and you're
good with your gun, then you're already light years ahead of a lot of
the competition out there on an open play field. Once you start putting
all the fundamentals to use, your game will start to flow smoothly, and
you'll have time to think tactics, communicate, watch how people are
moving, and generally have a lot of fun. There you go. That's
confidence right there. You know you can handle whatever gets thrown at
you.
The last game I played made me realize just how far I'd come in this
aspect. I saw video with some clips of myself pinned down by two people
behind a bunker of some palettes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0eaqpOwf2U#t=2m00s.
I remember the moment clearly, which was edited down in time for video
length. I wasn't scared and shaking. I was frustrated trying to get a
shot, and waiting for them to reload so I could do something. Checking
the bounces grazing my arm, calling for a paint check on my pods,
thinking about openings. Damn Pinokio hoppers. I popped out too soon
and took one in the hand when I thought he was reloading. But all I
could think was how far I'd come in confidence. That's one of the best
feelings in paintball, in my opinion. When I do something that I'm
impressed by, or see signs that I'm maturing in my game. Even though
there's a long road ahead to be a master, I can see that I'm at least
traveling in the right direction. That's what it's all about for me.
Brian Albrecht