7 Ways to Win 7 ManBy: Alex Cadalso
Photography: Michael Neveux
Friday February 8, 2008
Most teams think being a professional means endless practices and tireless devotion to paintball. That's part of it, but it's certainly not the whole story. Sometimes being a professional is as simple as a white board, a case of water bottles or extra batteries. Sometimes it's about working smarter, not harder. Becoming a competitive tournament team takes more than practice — it takes hard work, preparation and a bit of know-how.
Preparation separates boys from men, and that's what this list is really all about. The following pointers are simple "slap-your-head" tips passed down through the ages by wise old men. They might seem rudimentary, but if you apply the following concepts to your game, I guarantee you'll see improvement.
1. Watch Games (Other Teams, Teams you need to play, pros)
Many people find it difficult to learn things without seeing them done; they are visual learners. Our first, most basic component of learning is observation. Become a student of the game by watching its masters. If you're serious about paintball, you should be fascinated by it. You should be thinking about it every waking moment. You should be passionate about it. Most of all, you should pay attention. Observe games with academic curiosity. What would I do in this situation? What should the guy in the snake do right now? Where's the last piece of the puzzle? Who's in the key position holding up the other team? Because you can see more of the field than all the players on the field combined, the answers to these questions seem obvious. Of course the guy in the snake should move to their side and shoot the guy in the right corner. If that were me, I'd be halfway down the field right now. If they could only bunker out the guy at the 50, this game would be over. Seems obvious, but this type of analysis will help you think critically on the field.
Before you ever play your first game or pick up a paintball gun you should go to a field or a tournament or buy a DVD or a magazine and watch people playing paintball. Many people don't do this, but you should. It's never too late to improve your game by watching players better than yourself. You'll notice certain players you like. Why do you like them? Is it the way they hold their gun? Is it the way they stand? How they dress? It's safe to say there are few true originals out there in any sport or pursuit. Everyone gets their style from somewhere, and your heroes had to learn from somebody too, ya know? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and there's nothing wrong with a little mimicry to improve your game. Your style will evolve as a mishmash of the styles of players you like. This type of observation will help you develop your individual style and the traits of your game from the experiences of others. While you're at a tournament, keep a close eye on the other teams in your division. Pay attention to who's doing well, who you'll have to play, who you might play in the semifinals, etc. Eventually you'll be able to objectively analyze another team's game and adjust your game to compensate. But be careful not to place so much importance on the other team's game that you forget your own. Bottom line: Always be watching.
2. Walk the fields properly
You need to walk the fields properly, whether it's during practice or a tournament. For a full guide to field walking, check out my article in the next issue of SPLAT. There's more to field walking than just picking spots for everyone to play. You need to look over the field, set up a game plan and some simple plays. If you're going to be playing the field multiple times you'll need to come up with different plans to try out when things stop working (i.e., you start losing). The first thing you'll need to establish on a field is your basic game plan. How are you planning to best your opponent on this particular field? Do you take the snake immediately? Can you delay into the snake? Figure out what side you want to push, where you want to hold and how you plan on winning the game. Next you'll want to establish field positions for each of your seven players. It's easier to position players with a basic game plan in mind. Figuring out where everyone's supposed to go makes the last step possible. Finally, establish simple plays and individual assignments. Who's keeping the other team out of the snake? If he gets shot, whose job is it to fill and watch the snake? Are your corners shooting down the tapes or are they watching inside? Individual units (snakeside tape line, far tape line, back guys, whatever) should meet and devise simple plays. Remember to keep it simple, stupid. You don't need to script everything out: "4.36 seconds into the game I'm going to pop up twice, then cover me and I'm going to the outside 40 aztec." Just set simple plays to leapfrog up the field and other basic movements. Break down moves and plays into simple tasks individual units can perform. Before you leave the field, reconvene in the starting box and compare notes. Draw out your game plan, player movements (including secondary and tertiary moves) and what lanes each person is watching. Walk through the game from the breakout to the endgame, exploring different outcomes and calamities. If you find any weaknesses in your game plan, note them and adapt accordingly.
3. Be Prepared
Paintball guns are simple machines; they're also notoriously unreliable. If you haven't experienced catastrophic equipment failure yet, you will. You should prepare for disaster and expect the worst. Bring spares and extras of anything you can. If you bring the right supplies and backups to the field you'll be ready for (almost) any situation. Here's a general checklist of things that you'll need: batteries (9-volt and AA); paper towels (soft cotton or microfiber cloth for wiping lenses); rags; water and sports drink; pods; squeeges; pod squeeges (in a pinch, put paper towels on the ends of squeeges to clean pods); full tool and spares kit. I outline how to build a kit in SPLAT #12 but, basically you'll need: Allen wrenches, crescent wrenches, screwdrivers, O-rings, gun-specific spares, teflon tape, etc. I also recommend bringing an old, comfortable change of clothes, bags for your dirty clothes and shoes and a gear bag to fit everything in. A spare loader always helps (they're less reliable than guns), as does a spare lens. You can bring extra paintball apparel, masks — anything. You'll use it at some point. How much you carry is really limited by what you're carrying it in. If you have a truck, SUV or large car, you can bring your gear bag along with a plastic bin containing items from the above list and any spares you may want to include. If you don't have space, pack a spares box and enough gear to keep yourself up and running. (It's great to have enough gear to help out your unprepared teammates, but they need to learn to fend for themselves.) It's hard enough to concentrate on your game with so many things going on around you. At tournaments it's even more difficult. Winning is hard enough. Don't make things harder on yourself. Each player must be responsible for keeping their own gun setup working throughout the tournament. Before the tournament starts, either in the morning or the day before at registration, get a couple cases of paint and have everyone put at least a bag of paint through their guns. You will not have time to run around and fix things during the tournament. Make sure all of your gear is in good working order before you step on the field! If you have an alternate, they should always come to the field ready to play in the event of equipment or personnel failure.
4. Settle Down and Recap
A lot of teams sit around telling war stories after their games, wasting time blowing hot air when they should be loading pods, preparing physically and mentally for their next game. To make your job easier, gear up right after you get off the field. Top your tank off at the air station on your way back to the staging area. Take off your pack and fill your pods. Clean your mask and fix anything that needs to be fixed. After you get the essentials done, you have all afternoon to sit around and tell war stories. There will still be plenty of time to talk and rest between games, so don't let it cut into your prep time. The staging area is your best bet for having a team talk. Everyone's in the same spot; adrenaline and emotions should be settled by the time you get back. Take a minute or two to analyze your game. If you have an alternate, or another person with paintball knowledge, have them watch your game from the sidelines. Always listen to this person and their opinion. Each of your teammates will have their own version of what went on during the game, as will you. Adrenaline clouds judgment, so it's safe to say that all your accounts of the game will differ wildly. Listen to your sideline coach. They have the best view of the game unfolding. Speak calmly and don't yell. If you lost, talk about how you can modify your game plan to sew up your weakness. If you won, talk about what you can do better next time and possibilities for switching it up. This is a good time to clear up any misconceptions and get everyone on the same page. Establish what went right, what went wrong and move on. Don't make the same mistakes twice, but don't dwell on them either. Gear up, get it together and get ready for the next game.
5. Communication
Communication is the key to any good relationship. We've covered how to communicate off the field. You also need to be able to talk to your teammates calmly and productively during a tournament, when emotions are running high. But that only scratches the surface; you need to be communicating during the game, too. Communication is something we work on every practice. Even the top teams don't communicate to their fullest potential; it's something we can always work on. Unless every team member knows the body count and positions of the other team from the breakout to the flag hang, you can work on communication. Try to focus on one guy right in front of you. Make sure he knows everything going on. Work on moving information across the field, not just in front of you. Remember to keep it simple; only communicate essential facts. Direct information where it should go. Your snake guy needs to be reminded that there's a player in his mirror, but he probably doesn't need to hear that the back center is hot every other call. Speak naturally, address players by name and breathe. It isn't really life and death out there.
6. Scrimmage Better Teams
There's nothing worse than being called a practice team. Some people have so much pride they refuse to lose, even in practice. They'll cheat. You shouldn't take practice that seriously, but it is a serious affair nonetheless. Always play teams better than you. You won't make it in the ocean of life if you're content to be a big fish in a small pond. It's OK to lose in practice. It's good to lose in practice, even. You gotta lose sometime, so you might as well lose when it doesn't count. Sometimes you'll need to play a team at or below your level. If everyone's trying to play the better team, sometimes you'll end up being the better team in practice. It's crucial that you use these practices against lesser competition to strengthen your team's weaknesses. Work on communication, have everyone play with their off hand, switch up positions. Use these opportunities to advance other areas of your game you aren't as comfortable with. Trying out new things and playing out of your comfort zone doesn't mean you can't play 100 percent all the time. Quite the contrary. Developing under-developed aspects of your game makes you a more complete player. Just because you wouldn't take the snake against a team like Avalanche doesn't mean you have to sit back against No Game Factory Team. Mix things up and use practice for practice, not ego stroking.
7. Improve Your One-on-One Game
Every sport has a few skills you can't practice enough. The free throw, the shootout, the two-minute drill and, for paintball, the one-on-one. It's safe to say your one-on-one game could use some work. Everyone's could. People are afraid of losing one-on-ones because they can't point fingers at anyone else. The one-on-one game is a completely different beast. Some players thrive in it; others don't. Whether or not you like playing one-on-one is unimportant. It's something you'll have to learn and it's something you'll have to do well under pressure. Before you can perform under pressure you'll have to perform without it, so drag your teammates to the field and take out some much-needed aggression while improving your skills and gaining needed perspective on your game. The only way to win those big match-ups when it counts is to lose a lot of them when it doesn't. Don't be afraid to lose in practice. Take chances. Play with your off hand. Play with half a loader of paint. If you go out and play to your strengths every game, trying to show off at practice, it'll catch up to you eventually. If you play just three one-on-ones after every practice, it'll add up over the course of the season. If you didn't and you lose that big one-on-one, ask yourself, "Who else am I going to blame?" There you have it. Try these things out. I know they'll work for you.
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