Dynasty
Space Core
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2004
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Ok, today's sports are starting to frustrate me. Most are unexciting, rigged or you know whats going to happen/who is going to win usually. So read on if you want another decent extreme sport on TV, or to be a part of. As im being serious about what i'm writing, even if it is an essay lol, and as im doing it for the love of this sport, i expect you to respect what im about to try and describe to you..please :E
so here goes...
Tournament Paintball is a far cry from the general public's conception of the game. Teams of 5 or 7 compete for trophies and prize money on open, white-lined sports pitches with inflatable barricades (known as Sup'Air) laid out in a symmetrical pattern. Team strips are similar to that of an Ice Hockey strip, displaying the team’s sponsor's logos, along with team name, player names and numbers if desired by the team itself. Both male and female players compete on the same field. Simply, a flag is placed on or near the centre bunker, and 2 teams play it out to eliminate the other and hang the flag on the opponent team’s starting station. Now doesnt that sound more exciting than recreational Paintball at your local site, running through little huts and hiding behind trees 10 times too small for you? Thought so.
Anyway, now you have a slight understanding of what im on about, heres something to get you interested and to give you a brief history on how this great sport has developed, how Paintball has changed since your parents played it years ago, and finally how there is a 2nd side to Paintball itself...tourney/pro Paintball (breathes in again):
Fifteen vs fifteen. Forty-five minutes. Your field is roughly four acres. There are no bunkers, only trees and other natural features. You shoot less than 300 paintballs in that 45-minute game. Your gun shoots less than 10 balls per second, roughly the highest speed you can move your one finger. Welcome to Paintball, 1985.
A lot of things have changed in merely 20 years or so of tourney Paintball. Other sports havent changed that much; Basketball has a 3-point line now, and that line keeps getting farther and farther away from the basket. Big freaking deal. American Football has more rules to protect the quaterback, and a two-point conversion; big freaking deal. Baseball has a higher pitching mound and a designated hitter - big freaking deal. I am sure Hockey has something too, but i wouldnt know because i live in the South West of UK and hockey sucks.
Paintball on the other hand now has fully automatic, electronic-boarded gattling guns (metaphore, and certain software in the electronic boards can make markers fully auto. tournaments demand semi-auto or you dont play...simple) shooting 20 balls per second while small, fast athletic kids fly up 150ft by 125ft fields trying to steal the souls of everyone they come across within 30 seconds. Todays' markers now have longer triggers and magnets, meaning you double strock the trigger with your index and middle finger to achieve ridiculous 'ropes' of paint out the barrel. Suddenly youre ripping through upto 1000-2000 rounds per 5 minute game alone. with 14 people on the field every game...you do the math
Paintball is currently the fastest growing 'adrenaline' sport in the world and is attracting sponsorship from large multi-national companies. To name but a few major companies of the sport: Dye, JT, Empire, Proto, Evil, Kingman, Planet Eclipse, WDP, WGP, Sterling, Smart Parts, Bob Long...the list goes on. This is the golden era of tourney Paintball. How Paintball is evolving now is going to determine so much of the sport’s future. Game-shaping policies include how each league formats everything from the point system, the team classifications, to the allowed mode of fire and maximum rate of fire of the markers. The tactics of today dictate the fields and playing styles of tomorrow.
Paintball has even been considered for an Olympic sport by the Olympic Sports Committee and just missed out being included in the 2004 and 2005 Olympics. The Paintball World Cup is held in the UK each year and past venues have included the National Sports stadium at Crystal Palace, London.
If syncronised swimming can be classed as a 'sport', then tourney Paintball bloody well can, and can be slapped in as an event and put on TV.
Here's some examples of things Paintball has evolved through time.
1- Bunkering. As winning became easier, fields got smaller to increase the challenge. Therefore instead of say, running one guy past the bad guy hiding behind a tree for example, then having a second guy finish the distracted bad guy off, Bunkering developed. Bunkering proved much easier to coordinate; just run/sneak/walk upto the guy, not gun fighting, lean round/run past and shoot him point blank. Kapow!
2- Another cool development was when teams went from camo overalls to actual jerseys. JT Paintball was the first to issue tourney jerseys, and suddenly people started slapping team names aswell as their own on their backs. People began knowing each other and strong friendships follow.
Those were just a taste of the events that shaped the way we play Paintball today. But the things changing today, like the ever increasing faster rates of fire of markers, smaller fields requiring more athletic players, fields with far more bunkers, and other things will shape the Paintball of tomorrow. Paintball is in such an interesting place; so many players, such a popular sport no matter how much you or your parents disagree, and it still hasnt hit its stride yet. I can only dream of what Paintball 2015 has in store for us, and how many current techniques, strategies and technologies will make it through the next round of evolution...
Now if you got half way through and went back onto 'New Posts' then fine. If it doesnt appeal, it doesnt appeal. Fair trade. But if it does, get your arse into gear and find out how to become a part of it. Join us in the sport of tomorrow! You cant imagine the potential of this sport, and how far it can go with some decent world-wide exposure. Try and find some 'walk-on' events in your local area or a short drive away. Just go down and watch what its all about, and chat with the teams. If you seriously thought about it before but needed a little push, heres me giving you one. Theres a whole paintball community out there, get into it and help us grow...
By all means pm me with questions if you dont want to publicaly announce your interest, or post here with comments/suggestions/feedback etc. Oh and thanks for reading if you did. The more people that know about this sport the better...tell family and friends too
heres a quick link so you can browse some decent photos : http://paintball.com/photos/show.cfm?AlbumID=146
so here goes...
Tournament Paintball is a far cry from the general public's conception of the game. Teams of 5 or 7 compete for trophies and prize money on open, white-lined sports pitches with inflatable barricades (known as Sup'Air) laid out in a symmetrical pattern. Team strips are similar to that of an Ice Hockey strip, displaying the team’s sponsor's logos, along with team name, player names and numbers if desired by the team itself. Both male and female players compete on the same field. Simply, a flag is placed on or near the centre bunker, and 2 teams play it out to eliminate the other and hang the flag on the opponent team’s starting station. Now doesnt that sound more exciting than recreational Paintball at your local site, running through little huts and hiding behind trees 10 times too small for you? Thought so.
Anyway, now you have a slight understanding of what im on about, heres something to get you interested and to give you a brief history on how this great sport has developed, how Paintball has changed since your parents played it years ago, and finally how there is a 2nd side to Paintball itself...tourney/pro Paintball (breathes in again):
Fifteen vs fifteen. Forty-five minutes. Your field is roughly four acres. There are no bunkers, only trees and other natural features. You shoot less than 300 paintballs in that 45-minute game. Your gun shoots less than 10 balls per second, roughly the highest speed you can move your one finger. Welcome to Paintball, 1985.
A lot of things have changed in merely 20 years or so of tourney Paintball. Other sports havent changed that much; Basketball has a 3-point line now, and that line keeps getting farther and farther away from the basket. Big freaking deal. American Football has more rules to protect the quaterback, and a two-point conversion; big freaking deal. Baseball has a higher pitching mound and a designated hitter - big freaking deal. I am sure Hockey has something too, but i wouldnt know because i live in the South West of UK and hockey sucks.
Paintball on the other hand now has fully automatic, electronic-boarded gattling guns (metaphore, and certain software in the electronic boards can make markers fully auto. tournaments demand semi-auto or you dont play...simple) shooting 20 balls per second while small, fast athletic kids fly up 150ft by 125ft fields trying to steal the souls of everyone they come across within 30 seconds. Todays' markers now have longer triggers and magnets, meaning you double strock the trigger with your index and middle finger to achieve ridiculous 'ropes' of paint out the barrel. Suddenly youre ripping through upto 1000-2000 rounds per 5 minute game alone. with 14 people on the field every game...you do the math
Paintball is currently the fastest growing 'adrenaline' sport in the world and is attracting sponsorship from large multi-national companies. To name but a few major companies of the sport: Dye, JT, Empire, Proto, Evil, Kingman, Planet Eclipse, WDP, WGP, Sterling, Smart Parts, Bob Long...the list goes on. This is the golden era of tourney Paintball. How Paintball is evolving now is going to determine so much of the sport’s future. Game-shaping policies include how each league formats everything from the point system, the team classifications, to the allowed mode of fire and maximum rate of fire of the markers. The tactics of today dictate the fields and playing styles of tomorrow.
Paintball has even been considered for an Olympic sport by the Olympic Sports Committee and just missed out being included in the 2004 and 2005 Olympics. The Paintball World Cup is held in the UK each year and past venues have included the National Sports stadium at Crystal Palace, London.
If syncronised swimming can be classed as a 'sport', then tourney Paintball bloody well can, and can be slapped in as an event and put on TV.
Here's some examples of things Paintball has evolved through time.
1- Bunkering. As winning became easier, fields got smaller to increase the challenge. Therefore instead of say, running one guy past the bad guy hiding behind a tree for example, then having a second guy finish the distracted bad guy off, Bunkering developed. Bunkering proved much easier to coordinate; just run/sneak/walk upto the guy, not gun fighting, lean round/run past and shoot him point blank. Kapow!
2- Another cool development was when teams went from camo overalls to actual jerseys. JT Paintball was the first to issue tourney jerseys, and suddenly people started slapping team names aswell as their own on their backs. People began knowing each other and strong friendships follow.
Those were just a taste of the events that shaped the way we play Paintball today. But the things changing today, like the ever increasing faster rates of fire of markers, smaller fields requiring more athletic players, fields with far more bunkers, and other things will shape the Paintball of tomorrow. Paintball is in such an interesting place; so many players, such a popular sport no matter how much you or your parents disagree, and it still hasnt hit its stride yet. I can only dream of what Paintball 2015 has in store for us, and how many current techniques, strategies and technologies will make it through the next round of evolution...
Now if you got half way through and went back onto 'New Posts' then fine. If it doesnt appeal, it doesnt appeal. Fair trade. But if it does, get your arse into gear and find out how to become a part of it. Join us in the sport of tomorrow! You cant imagine the potential of this sport, and how far it can go with some decent world-wide exposure. Try and find some 'walk-on' events in your local area or a short drive away. Just go down and watch what its all about, and chat with the teams. If you seriously thought about it before but needed a little push, heres me giving you one. Theres a whole paintball community out there, get into it and help us grow...
By all means pm me with questions if you dont want to publicaly announce your interest, or post here with comments/suggestions/feedback etc. Oh and thanks for reading if you did. The more people that know about this sport the better...tell family and friends too
heres a quick link so you can browse some decent photos : http://paintball.com/photos/show.cfm?AlbumID=146
