About.com

Paintball Sportsmanship

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:14:50 +0000

Sportsmanship is not very popular to talk about. Not only do people not really get excited to have another sportsmanship lecture, but they don't go and read about it on their own. (I know that because I can look at page views of my articles, and sportsmanship articles are never very popular - similar to safety articles.) It is, though, something that people need to be reminded of, so here I go again.

...

Read Full Post

Equipment Maintenance: A Necessary Evils

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:51:45 +0000

A somewhat unique aspect of paintball, compared to other sports, is the sophistication of the equipment that is required to play the game. Even an extremely basic setup requires a gun with many moving parts, a hopper, a mask and a tank filled with high pressure CO2. A higher-end setup will likely include a motor in the hopper, a high pressure air tank (basically a small scuba tank) and a sophisticated circuit board in the gun. Because paintball requires these complicated parts working together in harmony, you have to keep everything running in peak condition, which requires some effort.

...

Read Full Post

Warming Up

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:17:48 +0000

Most people think of warming up as it relates to getting ready to play a sport: stretching, jogging, etc. For me, though, warming up means that it's getting ready for paintball to begin. Not in a matter of minutes or hours, but in a matter of weeks or months.

...

Read Full Post

Paintball in Nature

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:54:44 +0000

There's a lot to like about paintball. Action, adventure, exercise, strategy, tinkering, etc. One of the overlooked sides, from my perspective, is that paintball encourages me to get out and enjoy nature. While there are indoor paintball facilities, I prefer to go outside where there's the wind, sun, trees and grass. I, like many Americans, spend most of my working hours indoors and when I do go outside, it's often in my backyard or around town, where I'm constantly surrounded by well-developed modern society. When I go to a woodsball field, though, I have a chance to experience a more natural environment. While the game of paintball itself is not very conducive to studying nature, the time between games and before and after is a great time to be in environment. In fact, I quite enjoy increasing my time before playing by a day and camping the night before playing. It's a great opportunity to connect, for a time, with nature.

...

Read Full Post

Paintball in 2013

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 11:34:58 +0000

Another year has come to an end, but paintball carries on. No one knows for sure what's in store for paintball in the coming year, but here are a few things that you might consider for you. The first, is to try out some new equipment. If you're a new player and using the same mask that came with your first gun, I highly recommend an upgrade. Otherwise, it's time to look for a new gun. There are many models to choose from, but make sure you try to get a good deal and save money, and get one that suits your playing style.

...

Read Full Post

Thankful for Paintball

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:23:33 +0000

During November, like most Americans, my thoughts are brought towards Thanksgiving and thinking about what I'm grateful for in my life. Paintball has played a significant part of my life, so I thought that I would think about what parts of paintball I'm thankful for.

...

Read Full Post

Keep Paintball Safe

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 07:22:00 +0000

Paintball is a very safe sport. Actually, let me make a caveat: paintball is a very safe sport if you wear your mask. There are occasionally other injuries in paintball, ...

Read Full Post

Paintball Basics

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 06:55:56 +0000

Paintball is a pretty basic sport. In the years I've been actively participating in the sport I have helped hundreds of people play the sport for the first time. While some understand quite well what they are getting into, many really don't know and I break things down for them. I explain that you need four pieces of gear (a mask, a gun, a tank and a hopper) and then you play the game like tag but just shoot instead of tagging with your hand. While paintball can become infinitely more complicated when you get into details, complex strategy or game variations, it's really a basic, safe game. And since everyone can understand the basics almost intuitively, it's a great game for everyone to try.

Paintball in the Future

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:03:24 +0000

Paintball, like much of life, is in a state of constant flux. New players join the game and old players leave. New fields come and old fields close. People do stupid things (and sometimes show up on the news) and positive depictions will get picked up by the media. With all this change, though, there is a general trend where the sport is evolving. The 1980s saw the framework laid for the sport as we now know it while the 1990s saw the development of a more formal competitive framework and the 2000s have seen extensive growth in the technology backing the sport. With competing approaches from aficionados of woodsball, speedball, and other, forms of the game, different visions for the future are seen. What, though, is the future of the sport?

...

Read Full Post

Should Paintball Be an Olympic Sport?

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:24:55 +0000

Four years ago, at the start of the Beijing Olympics, I posed the question as to whether paintball should be included at some future point. It drew a range of comments both supporting the concept and others not so sure. My general opinion is that it could become one, and that it could help the sport, but that is not obviously the best option for the sport. Let me explain.

...

Read Full Post