Back in the game

Yesterday I found myself on the paintball feild for the first time in four years. I had a wonderful time, and my old 98 was up to the task (mostly). I had expected to feel like a complete newbie all over again, but I think I did very well considering.  Before I left for alaska (the reason for my four year hiatus from the sport) I managed to play and enjoy the game on almost a weekly basis for over six months.

The players present at my feild (Rocky Creek Paintball, Gainesville FL) were a wide mix, ranging from lower Tourney level to a birthday party group of ten to fifteen-year olds, not to mention a range of speed/woodsballers inbetween.

The newbie kids were impressed by my CAR stock and non-stock barrel and the fact that I dressed the part. (I love BDUs) Which is cool, a moderate ego boost. But what really made me feel good about the sport is that while I wasn't 'good' good ... I don't have an effective snapshot or anything fancy. I do have the basic grasp of being agressive, moving from bunker to bunker, and watching the angles ... not to mention trying to communicate effectively with my teammembers before and during a match.

I was also painfully aware of the difference between myself plus some of the more experienced woodsballers and those people (kids mostly) who really were brand new to the sport. Some things you just have to learn with experience ... no amount of respectful encouragement on my part would convince some of these people to try anything different other than huddling behind the startoff bunker almost the entire match.

In a woods game I managed to flank around the entire feild (supported by advances and feilds of fire by my teammates) until I was able to charge to a rear bunker on the enemy's side ... I found four kids ... four huddling behind one hill. If they had taken just a little more time spreading out to the bunker I had gotten to, securing there own flank ... I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to spray paint at all of them, marking two ... causing the others to scatter. The match was a complete rout.

I felt good about it, but I also felt a little bad for employing what amounted to enfilade fire against little kids.

These forums are a huge rescource of information about the technical aspect of the sport. What marker should I buy? What upgrade should I get? How do I fix this?  SpecOps paintball ... among other places (like Wikipedia) have good pages on paintball strategy.  But one thing that I haven't found anywhere is how to get over the inital newbie hump. I remember what it was like sitting on the speedball feild for the first time ... paint hitting my bunker ... and I was too scared to move ... much less peek out to see what was going on.

I only improved as quickly as I did ... because I wasn't afraid to try playing with experienced speedballers (I got my ass kicked a lot in those days, but looking back it was worth it) ... I kept coming back to the feild week after week ... and a few of those speedballers were willing to coach me through concepts such as movement, observation and communication.

I'm considering putting up a post directed to the newbie ... if he's motivated enough to to come here to look for info about how to get into the game ... then somone should give some hint or warning about what the first-time experience is like ... and how to get through it and improve.

Edited by c4cypher - 25 March 2007 at 10:21am

SSOK wrote: I say the best way to get better is to play more. ... Mostly because half their stuff is great, and the rest is a ploy to buy ... so it "makes you a better player".

I couldn't agree with you more ... You can read about strategy all you want, but it doesn't really help you until you're able to try it on the feild and the actual improvement happens in the doing. Knowledge is experience.

Nothing will make you a better player more than playing, period.

I was just wondering if there was anything I could write that would help encourage the newbie to play, rather than huddle in the start bunker ... that is almost spectating until the other side comes to eliminate you.

I just push them, and don't let them back in the bunker I know it makes me seem rude but it gets them to see that if they move from the first bunker that they have less a chance of getting shot. Sometime I also follow them and keep them moving depending on where the other team moves so they can stay alive longer and understand that moving helped them.

prolitesniper wrote: the best thing to do for a new kid is to try different things, doent just hang out with the guy that looks like a pro, cuase most are just wanabees, and think about who you fallow, if your playing woods dont fallow the guy with the angel he will most likely be out ranged by the guy with a 98 or a5

 

Umm... ignorant comment?... All paintball markers have the same range unless you use a barrel system (Apex or Flatline) that creates a backspin...which creates all new issues that could be discussed. The Angel line of markers from WDP is undoubtedly a better marker than the 98, and definitely better than the A5.

The only point I that makes any sense is that alot of people who dress up w/ their jerseys, pants, and $1500 of equipment, usually wish that they were tournament players, but yet again another fallacy. Just because they don't play in tournaments, does not mean that they aren't good at paintball, and then they are at an advantage since their marker is superior to the others on the field (given the idea that they are average players).

How about before you post next time you think long and hard, "is the post I wrote stupid", and then decide not to post it.

 

Oh and given your account name, and your comment abvout the range of 98's and A-5's....I have to inform you...snipers do not exist in paintball.

Edited by Commander_Cool - 26 March 2007 at 7:58am

haha, wow i guess that your one of the guys i mentioned above, well think a minute why oh why would somebody with a high end marker play a woods field, hmm.... oh ya cause they play speedball and get stomped then play woods a crush little kids, i said it once an i say it again, 1 shot is all it takes if you need 30bps to take 1 guy down wow thats mad skill i wish my daddy would buy me a nice new angel for me to use, oh wait i started playing with i first got a job so i could afford it on my own and with your name commander_cool, you are obviously the guy that got picked last in gym class.
i picked my name 4 years ago, when i had a prolite so maybe you should take your own advice there. oh an i would take an a5 over angel anyday,cause my friend bought one an that was that he wont play because its tempermental with everything; so kiss it

Edited by prolitesniper - 26 March 2007 at 6:21pm

Do we really need to get into the PB sniper debate? I just wanted to know if people who had never played before visit these forums, and if they do ... and they're interested in playing ... I mean really playing, if any words of advice would help, the really simple basics, like movement.

I personally refuse to take a position on whether or not 'paintball snipers' exist. I wear camouflage, I use a stock, and I'll be experimenting with a sight ... and I just know that will cause some people to assume my red dot is some kind of sniper scope. I don't snipe ... I focus on moving forward, using cover and providing fields of fire, either at the front of the line, just behind it ... or preferably on the flank. I don't care what I look like, I'm not a sniper. Other players can call them selves snipers if it makes them feel happy, I could care less. As far as I'm concerned, it's a matter of semantics, and a pointless one at that.

Meh, I may be many things, but 'Old timer' ... here I'm not.  I started playing paintball over the summer of 2001 down at Rocky Creek Paintball, Gainesville Florida. I had a wonderful summer, heading down to play either weekly or bi-weekly, my T98c in tow. I had to stop playing around March 02 ... when I left for Lackland AFB, AF Basic Military Training.  I spend a great four years as an airman, stationed in Anchorage AK ... but without a car or a local field and other interests (such as a healthy PC gaming habit) I didn't manage to play, despite my continuing interest in the game. I separated from the service last April, and I've finally managed to get up off of my keister and start playing again. The upgrades to my Tippmann I've been planning for a long time, but honestly, last weekend was the first time I've played since winter 01.

I have to smile, I don't know if my encouragement will make a difference, but I remember having Tourney players take me under their wing ... and it DID make a huge difference. Last Saturday it was painful to watch people afraid to move bunker-to-bunker ... I didn't expect to see myself being the one looking down on the newbie, considering how long I've been out of it. (I also have some selfish motivation for helping the new guy ... if the new kid is afraid to move up on my team ... it leaves my flank exposed and me outnumbered )

That said, I like the community here ... I didn't expect to find a fully seperate and thriving forum community at Tippmann.com ... but there's a wealth of information, experience and humor here.  My  opinions on the game are a mixture of my old pre-service paintballing, what I've read online, and my fresh experience last week.

I like it here, you guys seem allright.