1. Check out the field before playing it. Walk it
with your teammates and talk through everything you want to do and where NOT to
be.
2. Go to the bunkers, make sure they are sturdy, use the cover, kneel down at
them see if you like that certain bunker. Does that bunker give you good cover,
and good visibility?
3. Find your next bunker to go too. Can you make it running, crawling, etc
4. Do a run through with all your gear, all your pods loaded. Have one person
run through where they are going to go. Have someone from your team/group watch
from your opponents perspective and tell them if they aren't tucked in enough,
if thier pods are sticking out etc. Run through it a few times untill they get
it down correctly.
5. Remember your teammates movements, along with your own. Where they will be,
you need to watch each other, along with your own..
....on the field with the enemy....
6. ~ Practice with another group.. with the same
experience and/if not better then your own.. that's the only way you'll get
better...
7. ~ Eyes open!! Look at what your team does and your opponents.. watch how
they play.. then after the game.. tell each other what you did..or didn't do..
and work on it...
8. ~ Now after a hard fought match~up.. going home tired and dirty.. go order a
pizza and pop open some budweizers.. kick your feet up with your team mates..
talk about what happened on the field.. turn on the VIDEO and watch your games
you played together...
the importance of video i can not stress enough..
Take Photos of the speedball field that you usually play... and set up an exact duplicate field some where and practice there.. try and get the bunkers to look as close to the real thing.. play on a friends backyard who has acres of land who don't use it much.. >like we have done< And set up a 3 man vs. 3 man team , "if you don't have too many people in your group and practice against each other"... what better way to practice, then to battle against someone from the same team who knows how you play on such fields.. and learn from each other... VIDEO tape these also... BASICALLY VIDEO TAPE EVERYTHING YOU DO.. it becomes very helpful in the long run..
<Fridaddy note: Remember the movie TOPGUN, where the pilots would sit and watch a 3-D video of their air combat. That was the real deal, filmed in the real TOPGUN video room at Fightertown, Miramar NAS. The real pros do it, so should we.>
If you have a group of friends that also play paintball, but who are not on your team.. battle them with your entire team..
An exact replica of the speedball field, does work.. unfortunately.. fields often move around there fields bunkers.. so UPDATE your mock field as such... try and get distances to and from every bunker.. try and get the shape of the bunkers.. and the height and width...
I know what your saying when you read this... DAMN
that's a lot of work... but believe me... ITS WORTH IT! just measure the bunker
first. ..and take a pic of it.. from the starting points.. both ends.. and take
singular pics of each bunker.. you'll need maybe 3 rolls of film.. Not very
costly..considering the outcome of having a Duplicate field to play on and
practice...
~Bring your measuring tape..a marker "pen".. note book.. and a
camera, "video is good too.."
<Fridaddy note- Take digital pics and make a virtual field on your computer. Then you can refer to it quickly while not at your field.>
....Another cool thing to do....
Is to set up Scenarios and such on the speedball
field..~the one you made.. or on the field~ what ever.. a Game we play is
called "Gauntlet"..
it simulates a last man on the field against multiple odds..
Example..
1 guy with a full hopper and 3 pods.. against 5
guys!
So there's two men on the field at first,
1 guy.. with just 50 rounds.. and you..
Every minute.. another opponent comes in.. the other caring 50 rounds more then
the previous guy and so on... so you have to take out the people before getting
overwhelmed.. and if you don't..oh well.. grin and bare it baby!
And the last 2 opponents come in at the same time.. and if you still have 3
other people on the field still.. well.. its 5 on 1 now... This teaches you to
be alert.. a fast paced player. teaches you to move.. and work an opponent..
little games like these are not only fun.. but keep you on your toes...