Ah, summer camp – the fond memories of canoeing, eating cafeteria food, and singing around the campfire. I also recall gluing popsicle sticks together at arts and crafts time and playing embarrassing games designed to establish a bond of mutual humiliation between the campers. This summer, instead of learning more camp songs, why not hone your skills at paintball camp instead? My local paintball field, Line-of-Fire brings in a celebrity staff of paintball instructors each summer for their annual paintball camp. Anyone who has aspired to improve in a sport knows that game after game of trial-and-error isn’t the best way to learn any skill, but focused instruction by knowledgeable experts will put your game on the right path.
While some paintball camps require extensive travel and expensive accommodations, the Line-of-Fire camp brings top notch instruction to a convenient location. If you want to learn from the best, you can hardly go wrong with the teachers at Line-of-Fire’s camp. Mike Paxson of the world champion LA Ironmen brings tournament experience from the highest levels in the game. His wife, Bea Youngs-Paxson, is the editor-in-chief of Paintball Sports Magazine and brings a paintball pedigree as long as any in the sport. The third instructor, Rocky Cagnoni, was paintball’s first “rock star” player, and he knows the game inside and out. Together they teach everything from paintball fundamentals to the advanced techniques developed from years of playing at the professional level.
Line-of-Fire opens their camp to players of all ages and skill levels. Whether you play for a local tournament squad or you’ve just started in the sport, you can benefit from expert instruction. Campers should expect two days filled with activities and drills, and plenty of fun games to keep things light. Each day’s session begins with some stretching routines followed by activities geared towards the specific needs of those attending. The instructors cover game fundamentals such as breaking out, snap shooting, laning, gunning on the run, and formulating a game plan. They’ll also teach the aspects of paintball that you may have thought of as basics but are actually crucial skills that need to be developed to play the game at the highest level. Expect to learn proper body positioning, the best way to hold your marker to shoot accurately while keeping your profile as small as possible, and how best to reload given the fast pace of today’s tournament games.
Paintball isn’t only about on-field skills, and the Line-of-Fire’s friendly camp counselors are ready to meet those needs as well. They teach tech classes on how to care for and repairs some of the most popular paintball guns on the market. Players who fully understand their gear perform better on the field.
Following a second day of drills, instruction, and scrimmages, the camp culminates with a big meal, allowing campers and teachers alike to cement the friendships formed along the way. In the past they’ve also been treated to photo and video presentations documenting the campers’ accomplishments. There will also be plenty of opportunity for autographs or individualized instruction time with the celebrity instructors, and by the end of the experience, the campers will have gotten to know those top players as more than faces in a magazine or on television. Space in the camp is limited, and the chance to learn from the best is one that doesn’t come around very often, so make your arrangements now.