How to win at paintball

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Win at paintball by knowing how to prepare, plan and protect your team

Paintball is one of those games that’s fun to play whether you win or lose … NOT! If you don’t plan to win, you’re going to lose. There are a number of things you can do before and during the game to improve your chances of coming home with a win at paintball.

Before you enter a game, make sure you know your equipment. You don?t have to buy expensive gear if you want to win, but it pays to invest in a paintball gun that?s sturdy and reliable. Practice until you?re comfortable with the feel of it, your aim and the gun?s range.

Make sure you?re using the right size paintball for your gun?s barrel. Put on your protective vest and wear it for a while to get comfortable with the fit and with your access to pockets and straps. Test your mask for both comfort and field of vision.

While you’re at it, check out your physical condition as well. Winning at paintball requires speed, endurance, strength and agility, so work out and do some walking or running regularly. For tips, ask experienced players and watch videos.

Even more important than knowing your equipment and fitness is knowing your team. Practice with them to learn your strengths and weak spots, then strategize to make best use of what you have. Before a game, have the team walk the playing field to study the angles and find the best places to get cover. This is a good time to check out the other teams as well. Observe how well they know each other, what type of equipment they have and whether they seem to know the field.

Once the game begins, your actions and thinking must work hand in hand. Instead of focusing on one spot, try to be aware of as much that’s going on around you and your team as possible. Try to always be on the move because a stationary player is the best target. Shoot first, then move while your opposition is taking cover.

Always try to move up field – retreat is rarely a good winning strategy. Once you arrive at a new position or cover, take a moment to check the field around you – you may spot opponents or a better spot to move to.

Teamwork is key to winning at paintball, so learn ways to communicate with your team. Hand signals are best when on the move, especially if you’ve developed a simple code that can’t easily be deciphered by opponents. Scouts should be able to give information to the team quickly so that new plans can be made. “Keep it simple” is good advice when it comes to team movement as well – fancy moves are easy to screw up and that puts your whole team in jeopardy.
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Work together to attack hard and fast. It always helps to have a few tricks up your sleeves, like using decoy clothing to set a trap. Look for unconventional hiding places – remember, most people look down rather than up.

These tips will help you win at paintball — sometimes. But the best tip is to learn from losing.

Always meet with your team after the game to discuss what when right, what went wrong and what you can do differently next time. Keep at it and you’ll win, make friends and have fun too.