Mike Paxson shares the ten most common mistakes that he has seen beginner/rookie paintball players make over the past 14 years that he’s been playing paintball.
Since I started playing back in 1995, I’ve seen rookie paintball players make the same mistakes over and over again. The “Ten Mistakes Paintball Players Make” List below is in no particular order and is meant to help prevent players just starting out from making these common mistakes. These are not just mistakes I’ve seen players make on the field, but mistakes that are made in the staging area, and things they could’ve prevented by working on them at home. There are probably a dozen more mistakes that paintball players make, but these are the most important ones that I felt deemed mentioning.
Ten Mistakes Paintball Players Make:
1) Paint Mistakes
2) Forget to Maintain Gun
3) Forget to Stay Hydrated
4) Forgetting to Chrono
5) Take Goggles off on Field
6) Forget to Turn On Equipment
7) Running to Same Bunker
8) Lack of Communication
9) Take It Too Seriously
10) Forget to Clean Up Afterwards
1) Paint Mistakes
If you just purchased a case of paint (hopefully from your local paintball store), be sure to store the paint where temperatures are between 59° and 86°F (15° to 30°C) and between 40-50% relative humidity. Otherwise, be prepared to have brittle (too cold) or bouncy (too warm) paintballs.
How do you know if your paintballs are “ready” to go? Do what is commonly called the “drop test”. What you do is take a paintball out of the bag you just opened, hold it about six feet above a concrete surface, and let it drop, being prepared to catch it on the way back up, in the case that it doesn’t break on the first drop. Usually if it breaks on the first drop, the paint is on the brittle side. If it doesn’t break, repeat the drop from six feet. If it finally breaks after 3 to 5 drops, then it’s safe to say that it’s good to go. A quick way to skip the process of the drops if you feel that your paintballs may be on the bouncy side, see how hard you can throw it onto the ground. If it doesn’t break the first time, try and second and third time, and if by then, it doesn’t break, well, that’s one bouncy ball.
If it’s too brittle, almost like “egg shells”, then you’re probably going to have a bit of a problem with the paint breaking in your gun. To remedy this, you’ll probably have to keep the paint out in the sun, or in a car with the heater running. Closely monitor this process and once the ball is good, put the case of paint in the shade, away from the sun, and out of closed vehicles.
If the paint you purchased is extremely bouncy, hopefully you didn’t spend a lot of money on the case. Even if balls are bouncy, it still makes for good practice paint. In practice, you can ask your opponent ahead of time if you “bounced” him, and hopefully he’ll be honest with you. If the paint is really bouncy, you can try and refrigerate the paint, but for about 30-60 minutes. Do your best to prevent the paint from getting any worse, however, and again, always keep the paint in the shade and out of confined, hot areas. Keep paint enclosed in the plastic bag it came in, in its case, and in the shade, preventing any humidity from entering.
When you fill your pods, be sure to pack it tightly. In doing this, fill the pod, then tap the bottom of the pod on a table. When you do this, you will compact the balls, giving you some more space to put a few more paintballs in there. Don’t pack it too tight, however, because this can cause dimples. If that happens, the dimples in the ball will cause the ball to travel in a not-so-straight direction. The other thing is that you don’t want to have paint that’s rattling in your pods. The sound of it alone can be a dead giveaway, giving off your position to the opposition.
Player Tip – Don’t Run Out of PaintBe sure you don’t run out of paint on the field. Carry enough paint to last you an entire game. If you’re playing a 5-on-5, bring about 5 pods onto the field. Playing a 3-on-3, bring 3. If you shoot a lot of paint, however, bring as many as your pack will carry, but not so much that you look like you’re going to be playing a 24-hour scenario game the entire 24 hours!
Always be aware of how much paint is left in your hopper. If you’ve got a clear or smoke colored hopper, you can see through the hopper and know exactly how much paint you have left. If you can’t see because your hopper is of a solid color, give it a little shake and try and listen for how much you have left in there. You don’t want to be caught as the last one standing and run out of paint. You also don’t want to call yourself out if you do run out of paint, either. Look on the ground for as many paintballs (in a decent condition) as possible and try to fight off the enemy that way. Sit tight and wait for them to come. That’s better than just walking out. If you’re in a practice and a buddy is standing on the sidelines watching you duke it out, maybe he’ll throw you an extra pod. But by all means, finish the game and never call yourself out.
2) Forget to Maintain Gun
Gun Maintenance is the first thing you should learn how to do. When you’re not on the field and have some free time at home, take care of your gun. Get your gun’s manual out and look up “Gun Maintenance” or do a Google search on the internet for basic tips on the particular gun you own.
Now I am not saying learn how to take apart your gun and put it back together again. No! Sometimes that can actually make it worse! If the gun is broken and you’re not an expert gun tech or have any sort of mechanical know-how, bring the gun into your local paintball shop and have the gun tech fix it. Hopefully you bought your gun from a local shop, because sometimes, they have a free program that if you buy the gun from them instead of from online, they give you free maintenance since you bought the gun directly from them (ask your local store ahead of time about it before you buy).
What you can do without completely ruining your gun by taking it apart is by simply keeping it clean from paint and dirt right after usage. If you forget to clean off the paint and dirt after practice, be sure to clean it up before you go to the field. Make sure all of your stuff works and if you do end up having any gun issues, have a back up gun in case your primary gun goes down.
3) Forget to Stay Hydrated
Make sure you bring enough water with you to last you throughout the day. Get a .50 cent gallon of water or purchase a couple of bottles from your local convenient store. Gatorade is also a good source of hydration, but nothing beats a good ole fashioned bottle of water. Sometimes those energy drinks can have way too much sugar in them, so opt for water, instead. Bring a snack with you, too, if you plan on being at the field the entire day.
Don’t eat too much. Eating a big lunch can mean a sluggish second half of the day, so stay in that athletic mode and stay away from eating too heavily. If you’re at the field and it’s your friend’s birthday and they just brought in pizza and cake, give yourself about a half-hour before you get back onto the field again. Give your body some time to digest, preventing it from coming back up.
4) Forgetting to Chrono
Every field has (or should have) a chronograph. Some fields go as low as 250 and no higher than 300, so be sure you know what the legal velocity is and stay within that parameter.
5) Taking Goggles Off on Field
Even if you think the rules at your field are gay and you’ve heard them a thousand times, they’re still important and for your own good. When you hear, “Player! Get your goggles on!” I know it’s annoying, especially when everyone has their barrel bags on and their guns off, but you never know, there could be that one kid who forgot to turn his gun off and accidentally shot off a ball, hitting you directly in the eyeball. So, be sure to always have your goggles on, no matter what, when you’re on the field. The only way that you can get really hurt from a paintball is if you don’t have your goggles on.
To get Mike’s list of the last 5 Mistakes Paintball Players Make, get your own copy of Paintball Sports Magazine in print. The rest of the article will be printed in PSM’s May issue. If you want a copy of the first 5 (that you just read here), April’s issue is available now.
The Last 5 Mistakes to look forward to in May’s Issue
6) Forget to Turn On Equipment
7) Run to the Same Bunker
8) Lack of Communication
9) Take It Too Seriously
10) Forget to Clean Up Afterwards
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Southern California born and raised, Mike Paxson has been playing paintball since 1995 at the age of 15. His professional career started in 2004 with the California Bushwackers. In 2005, he went to Chicago Aftershock to play in the NXL and during the ’06 season, he played alongside a team he coached during their rookie/novice years, Las Vegas LTZ. He has been teaching paintball camps and clinics since 2003 from not only within North America, but overseas in Hawaii and as far away as Australia. Want to be a better paintball tournament and/or scenario player? Mike and friends can teach you how. Go to http://www.paintballschool.com/.
Currently, Mike is in his third season with one of the best pro teams in the world, the Los Angeles Ironmen, the ’07 & ‘08 World Cup Champions, ‘07 and ‘08 NXL Series Champions.
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