cover effectively. Whether you are hiding behind a big tree or a bunker, there are some specific practices that will help you keep an eye on the field without being hit every time you stick your head out.
First, remember those geometry classes you dozed through? Well, they could come in handy now. The closer you are to the bad guys, the less time you have to react and the tighter you want to lean into your cover. The farther you are away, the more time you will have to react and you can play a little fast and loose with the tree. It’s a matter of angles, reaction time and the general inaccuracy of shooting on a rec field. Of course, the same principles apply to pro play as well.
When you lean out from the tree, present the lowest possible profile to see and to be seen. Keep your marker tight against the side and in the same angle as your face. Beginners often exhibit what is known as “lazy hopper syndrome,” where they stick their marker and that big 200-count hopper out of cover … and get it blasted right away. You only need one eye to look for movement and targets.
Get a move on. Unlike that very first game of paintball back in ’81 where the winner never shot a single ball and only skulked from cover to cover in the woods, you’ve got to move if you’re going to win in today’s game. On the other hand, with the super high rates of fire most markers are capable of even on semi-auto mode (20+ balls per second), you do have to spend some time thinking about your moves before you jump out of cover. The important thing to keep in mind is that you can’t freeze in the open. Do that and you are dead. Like a deer in the headlights. Practice your quick moves. Practice sliding legs first and head first. Sure, you can get scraped up. So?
Use cover effectively. This right-hander is switching to the left side of the bunker and shooting left-handed. He may not be quite as accurate, but this is good shooting technique to keep the opposition off guard.
Now, if you know anything about the field you are playing on, you can anticipate where the paint is going to be concentrated. After all, most fields today are tight and certainly the narrow airball fields have shooting lanes.
In rec ball, you will often go out without a team. Everybody who is a walk-on is kind of grouped into the player mix. Don’t be shy. A good tactic is to recruit a buddy or, in a pick-up game, even somebody you don’t know and become a team: one moves and one covers. At the end of the day, you will both wear less paint.
Shoot and shoot some more. That’s what you are out there for. Face it. There are a lot of different styles of shooting your marker. You are going to find yourself in many different situations on the field whether it is rec play, a scenario game or a tournament, so why not practice for them? Practice being pinned down and needing to get off a quick shot (called snap shooting) by putting a pie plate on a string 15 to 20 yards away. Then, from behind a wall or tree, practice leaning out and taking two or three fast shots. The more you try this, the better your hand-eye coordination will become. It’s all about staying “alive.”
Get a move on if you are charging over the top! Marker up, crouch and fire as you go.
Try shooting with both hands. Say 85 percent of us are right-handed. This means when your opponent leans out from behind the bunker, the chances are that he or she will lean out on their right side – the left side as you are looking for them. You can plan your shooting for this. People tend to exit the bunker running on that side, too.
In tournament play, the term “sweetspotting” or lane shooting is a very big consideration. We carry a lot of balls and we have high-rate-of-fire markers. Balls are cheap and we know the opposition has to move across “that lane” to run for the flag. So, fill it with paint. The clock is running and they have to move. So do you!
Finally, try shooting blind and shooting on the run. You are preparing to make a move. Slide your marker around the corner, keeping it level to slightly elevated and squeeze off a couple dozen shots. ‘Course, if one of your guys has moved out in front you’re going to waste ‘em, but you can shoot accurately on the run can’t you? If not, get some cheap paint and practice. Run and gun !
Talk to me! This means you have to communicate to your teammates on any paintball field. In competition, your team will have practiced giving signals on the field … and responding to them, too. In NPPL and PSP play, you cannot have anyone on the sidelines coaching or calling out positions or information. In the NXL and some collegiate play, however, this is actually encouraged.
When you are shooting from behind cover, present the smallest silhouette you can to look and fire. Lean out only long enough to get off your shots and then duck back. The next time you lean out to fire, choose a different spot to prevent your opponents from remembering that a right-hander will almost always lean out the right side to fire.
The problem with communication is adrenaline. It blocks your ability to hear, respond and react. It also blocks your ability to give directions. Everyone has seen the newbie hunkered in his bunker and just beyond there is an opponent approaching, intent on blasting him. The newbie’s buddy, who is only 20 yards away but equally pinned down, yells at him again and again, but the newbie doesn’t react. He has gone into a shell where nothing comes in and nothing goes out. It’s adrenaline in its extreme form.
If you are on a team, practice giving and responding to signals. If you are not on a team and are playing as a walk-on with a group of players you don’t know, you may want to pair off within the game for better attack and defense tactics and survivability.
TEAMWORK
Battle Drills or Immediate Action Drill
You can play paintball forever on recreational fields and in scenario games. At some time in your life you may get tennis elbow from doing chin-ups or maybe bust a tendon in your foot from running road races, but attacking and defending, dodging and shooting paintballs is practically a lifetime sport.
What takes your play to the next level, however, is putting together or joining a team. In a team, you can really move around the U.S. in tournaments and perhaps – if you are good enough – pick up some sponsors and make a little money, too. Or maybe make a lot of money.
Working together in a scenario game makes for good team practice. Most generals are only too willing to have a good team on their side. It gives everyone confidence that at least part of a big group of players will work together.
According to Jon Harris, a retired U.S. Army NCO and specialist in small unit tactics (www.tacticalmarkers.com), small unit routines can mean the difference in staying alive and getting splattered in paint. In the military or on a SWAT team, where they use live ammo and a hit is much more serious than a washable mark, such drills are a regular part of combat readiness and preparation. “I can tell you from experience,” Jon says, “these drills work. They are not hard, but coordination is the key. I remember practicing crossing the same road maybe 50 times in a day until I was satisfied that our squad had it right. Then, we did it again with everyone occupying a different position in the squad. Everyone had to know someone else’s job.”
Jon says an immediate action drill is used to rehearse reactions to contact with the opposition. Basically, they involve practicing your immediate reaction to a threat until it becomes an automatic response. In combat, you may only have seconds … if that.
