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Paintball
Articles > 9 Ways A Newbie Paintball Player Can Learn
Everything They Need to Know
9 Ways A Newbie Paintball Player Can Learn Everything They
Need to Know
Paintball is a great game for getting a lot of exercise,
challenging yourself and having fun. But as a beginner, you
may find yourself embarrassed because you don't know the rules,
or you're intimidated by more experienced players. You may
be hesitant to go out and play your first game because you're
not sure what to expect. If you do some research first, you
will quickly find that the information you need to feel a
lot more comfortable and a lot less like a newbie is easily
found, especially online.
But first a note of warning for all newbies.
Paintball is Not a War Game!
Many people mistakenly believe that paintball is a "war
game." However, it's really more like hide-and-seek,
with the marking of the opposing team being the way to tag
the person out. This is especially true of recball, woodsball,
jungle paintball and scenario games. It is advised that you
do not refer to the opposing team as "the enemy"
or a mark as a "kill"! Some communities have shut
down paintball because players engaged in "war"
talk during and after a game.
How to Quickly and Easily Find Useful Information About
Paintball
1. Research the Internet
The World Wide Web contains a vast storehouse of information
on paintball. To make the best use of the Internet, search
Google or Yahoo for specific paintball terms like "woodsball
tactics," instead of the general term "paintball."
Look for sites that list paintball
rules and offer hints, tips, tactics and strategy.
You can also check out sites that review paintball equipment,
but beware: a newbie doesn't need an expensive paintball gun
to get started. Many of the expensive guns don't work any
better than a good newbie gun. This is what I say in Paintball
Heroes, "If you're a newbie, buy a good quality semiautomatic
gun, but don't spend a fortune on it. And for goodness sake,
learn how to clean it, load it, take it apart, and put it
back together again. in your sleep!"
2. Read Books
Go online and visit Amazon.com
or BarnesAndNoble.com (Chapters.Indigo.ca in Canada). Search
for books on paintball. Check out the reviewers' comments
carefully before you buy. Or better yet, trot down to your
local bookstore and see if you can find copies of the paintball
books you found online. Take time to browse through them and
see which ones appeal to you most. Check the local prices
against the prices online before you buy.
Now you can trade
in your regular paintball marker for a real action gun!
Wow!!
3. Read E-Books
You may find a few paintball e-books online, too, but these
are harder to find than print books. Paintball
Heroes is a great e-book for beginner
paintball tips and tactics. It was written by a teenage
paintball fanatic!
To find other e-books, try searching for "paintball ebook"
on Google or Yahoo. Ask around in the forums and pay attention
to advertisements on paintball sites.
4. Study the Forums
Also search for "paintball forums" and you will
find experts and newbies alike sharing information about paintball
equipment and strategy. However, be aware that much of the
information shared on forums is misleading, if not just plain
wrong. Pay attention to what is said by forum leaders and
well-known players, but take everything said by anyone else
with a grain of salt...or a shaker of salt, for that matter!
5. Subscribe to Paintball Magazines
There are several good paintball magazines, both in print
and online.
For print magazines, go to your local bookstore and spend
some time at the magazine racks. Pick the magazine that appeals
to you most and look in the front for their Web address (URL)
or subscription address. Subscribe online or by mail. It's
a lot cheaper to subscribe to a magazine than to buy it each
month from the newsstand.
For online magazines, search on Yahoo or Google for "paintball
magazine online" or "online paintball magazine."
Several online magazines are listed in the Resources section
of the "Paintball Heroes" ebook, including:
6. When You're Out of the Game, Watch the Experienced
Players
So, you just got marked, eh? Disappointed? Well, don't be,
this is your opportunity to quietly observe those more experienced
players from the sidelines. Pay attention to:
- The way they hold their gun
- The way they move from bunker to bunker
- The way they signal to their teammates.
See if you can figure out their plan. All good players go
into every game knowing the plan their team decided on before
the game started. Here are some questions to ask yourself
as you observe experienced players:
Keep mental notes of everything you see. Later, compare
what you noted with the information you've been researching.
Where does it match? Where are there differences? Can you
figure out why? Does it have to do with:
- The terrain
- The type of game being played
- The player's age or experience
- The rules of the field
- The player's style of play or position (point man, safety,
sniper, back man, front man, rover, etc.)?
7. Buy, Borrow or Rent Paintball Movies
You can learn a lot by watching videos of pro teams playing.
Always be asking why the player chose a certain move. Try
to anticipate what they will do next. If you can do that,
you're starting to think like a pro. Here's a great paintball
video on how to be a
paintball sniper.
8. Watch How the Good Teams Play
No superstar can outperform a team that acts like a well-oiled
machine. Go to local tournaments and watch how team members
interact. A good team player will follow the game plan, play
fair, and support their team members. Watch the part each
person plays in the execution of the game plan. See if you
can figure out what the game plan is as the play progresses.
9. Volunteer
Later, when you have a few games under your belt, volunteer
to referee at your local field. This is the fast way to becoming
an expert paintball player, as you are able to observe not
only the great players' methods, but all the newbie mistakes,
too.
Pay Attention to the Experts, Not to the Know-it-alls
Online
All in all, paintball information can be found easily and
quickly, especially online. Just remember to go to the experts
for help (books, e-books, magazines, forum leaders, pro players,
etc.) and to stay away from the newbie-talk and ramblings
of know-it-alls that fill many of the forums.
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Heroes eBook Only $9.00! |
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