Tips For Snipers

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Paintball Master

The well-outfitted sniper should have a ghillie suit or at least camouflage clothing, a good marker with sniper scope and lots of paintballs.  Your strategy can be improved by following some simple tips.  If you want to be a good sniper, you need to cultivate patience.  The best snipers constantly observe their surroundings and analyze what’s going on around them.  They’re also extremely patient, waiting for just the right shot.  For invisibility, camouflage clothing alone may not be enough; use whatever ground cover is around to your best advantage.  Follow a specific strategy and keep open the lines of communication with your teammates so you don’t accidentally shoot each other.  Partnering with a particular teammate while playing in a larger game is very useful, especially if your partner has a semi-auto marker to provide cover for you.  You can also watch out for each other, covering each other’s backs to improve your survival in the game.  You’ll be harder to spot if you conserve your ammunition and avoid loosing a volley without aiming properly.  A couple of well-aimed shots will work better and be less likely to give away your position.  Use your eyes and ears after firing off a shot.  Don’t move unless you’ve been spotted; you’re harder to see if you keep still.

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Try A Sniper Paintball Gun… You Might Like It!

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Paintball Master

“Before I took the plunge and bought a sniper gun, my friend took one to the field with us to play.  He was on the opposing team and when we walked out onto the field, I laughed at him because his marker was nearly as tall as he was!  After the first five minutes of the game, I wasn’t laughing anymore when he was accurately sniping every one on my team out.  When I was the last one left, he confidently shot me right in the center of my paintball mask.  He played like some of kind of pool shark; acting like he didn’t know much about pool, and then proceeding to skillfully pocket every ball on the table; one right after another.  After the game and a little kidding from my friend, I was excited when he let me borrow his sniper paintball marker to try it in another game.  I was delighted by it’s sheer power and amazing straight line accuracy.  At first, I was a bit nervous about using it as it was so different from the gun I was used to.  Needless to say, I was the only offender left standing on my team as I single-handedly eliminated all the enemy players.  I was shocked at how much difference a sniper paintball gun made; it made my game 10 times better than normal.”
Brendan Smith, Westchester Rise Paintball Team

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Serious Paintball Athletes Use Active Rehabilitation Training

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Paintball Master

While most people play paintball for the fun of it, some take their game a bit more seriously.  These are players who train, practices and competes with goals of making the ‘next level’ of competition; these are the paintball athletes.  Beyond just playing and practicing paintball related skills, there are certain other activities that should also be  practiced; these are called active rehabilitation.  In weight lifting, there are exercises to help you build muscle and get stronger and there are others that help you recover/rehabilitate your body so you can train again sooner – and therefore effectively increase your training load.  Active rehabilitation type exercises and activities will be different depending on your sport.  For example, massage therapy, trigger point work, deep tissue, A.R.T, ice/heat baths and jump stretch band mini-workouts are a few commonly used in powerlifting.  It’s also super important to visit your chiropractor often to make sure you don’t have any pinched nerves that will cause pain and poor performance for sure.  If you take your paintball game seriously, treat yourself like a professional athlete and take measures to actively heal after hard training sessions.  If you have an expensive paintball marker, you clean it, oil it, upgrade it and maintain it so it lasts longer and you get the most out of it…. do the same thing for your body and it will run like a fine-tuned race car as well!  Paintball athletes who are faster, stronger and more agile definitely have an edge over players who aren’t as physically fit.

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Transforming Your Old Paintball Marker

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Paintball Master

If your old paintball marker is beginning to bore you with its looks or performance, don’t despair!  You don’t need to dig deeply into your wallet for the price of a new marker when kits are available for a fraction of the price, especially for tactical/scenario weapons.  You only need to decide if you want to change your gun’s appearance, performance or both. Upgrade kits, for example, can produce an AK47 from your old Tippmann relatively cheaply. A total upgrade kit can change not only the looks but also the performance of a Tippmann A5 into the M4 Carbine.

But if you’re really attached to your old, abused marker, you can have the best of both worlds: You can keep the old gun while morphing it into one that has the appearance of a shiny new paintball marker.  Other kits that are available include AK47’s, CQB’s and practically any combination of these.  If you’re feeling adventurous, buy the individual parts to effect the transformation you want.  For instance, you can just change the handguard or buttstock, add some rails, a carry handle, a new magazine expansion chamber, or maybe a flashlight, scope or laser.  You don’t need to dispose of a piece that has served you well, not when you can simply transform it into a fine new weapon, and no one will be the wiser.

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Strategic Tips For The Paintball Beginner

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Paintball Master

If you are a beginner paintballer, here are some basic tips to improve your paintball performance.  Remember that a moving target is harder to hit than one that stays in the same place.  If you’re using a bunker for protection and stick your head out to see where the other players are, don’t look out from the same place every time.  Choose different parts of the bunker to peek out from, otherwise you increase your chance of getting a paintball in the face.  Move around and keep your opponents guessing.  Don’t get so focused on knocking out a particular opponent that you lose track of the others.  Scan the field frequently to avoid having another player sneak up on you.  Besides watching out for other opponents, don’t forget your own teammates.  In the heat of play, it’s all too easy to get carried away and either shoot your own people or get shot by them.  Study your opponent’s colors as well as your own team’s before playing.  Stay in touch with your teammates while playing as much as possible.  It’s also helpful if all the members of a team can fill in for someone else’s position in case of last minute changes.  Remember, you’re part of a team, not a solo player trying to take on all the opponents by yourself.  Team members are there to help each other out, so don’t hesitate to ask for assistance if you need it or to give assistance to others on your team.  Don’t get too eager to shoot your opponents.  If they’re not in range, you’ll just waste your ammunition as well as giving your position away.  Be patient and wait for the right shot.

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What Does a Chronograph Do?

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Paintball Master

To measure the velocity of a paintball gun, it is fired over a chronograph.  A good chronograph offers both timekeeping and stopwatch functions.  The technology of the chronograph is similar to that of the Doppler RADAR.  Chronographs displays a paintball gun velocity reading in feet per second.  In a way, a chronograph is a required piece of paintball safety equipment.  Paintballs hurt less (and cause less damage to the body) when they are shot from a paintball marker with a controlled, adjusted velocity.  Most fields have chronographs on site and require player’s guns to be set to a posted amount.  You can purchase your own chronograph from most shops and internet stores; they are easy to find and range from $80 to more than $200.  Setting and forgetting your paintball gun’s velocity is not the best procedure.  The velocity is affected by a number of factors including temperature (of the CO2 tank and the playing environment) and even the type of paintball used.  In order to get the most consistent velocity, test your marker with the chronograph several times during a day of play and adjust your gun accordingly.

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Paintball Gun Velocity

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Paintball Master

Most paintball guns feature some sort of velocity adjustment.  The way the velocity is adjusted is different with each particular model.  It’s smartest to first check the owner’s manual for the particular settings for your gun.  You can adjust the velocity of most guns by the twist of a discreet knob or screw; other guns require a tool to change the velocity.  Remember, when you turn up the velocity, it will make your paintballs hit harder and therefore become more painful upon impact.  It will also be harder on the paintballs, with too much pressure causing balls to bust before they leave the gun.  The accepted ‘safe and effective’ velocity for paintball guns is 300 feet per second, or ~204 mph.  Most paintball fields require your gun’s velocity to fire at or below 285 fps.  Fields catering to younger players will often lower the required velocity to 250 fps so it’s not so intense when hit.

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Common Paintball Injuries…

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Paintball Master

Many beginner paintball players are hesitant (perhaps terrified) when they start paintball because of rumors of how dangerous and painful its sometimes made out to be.  Paintball is not a dangerous sport!  Like any sport that’s played hard however, there are only a few mild injuries that are common to paintball.  Paintball is an active sport with much running, sliding, crawling and diving; scratches, bruises and sometimes cuts will occur from direct contact with the playing environment.  The most common bruise is made when directly hit by a paintball.  A high velocity paintball shot from close enough range will leave a gnarly bruise that can take weeks to disappear.  Other injuries from paintball mimic the same from other sports; fast movements and rough play occasionally result in orthopedic injuries.  Sprained ankles, knees, wrists; bone contusions and even fractures are all possible on the paintball field.  The least common injury, however most severe is being hit directly in the eye with a paintball.  While this has only happened a few times in the history of the sport, the resulting blindness is serious (and permanent) enough to warrant mandatory protection.  It should be noted… paintball is only a safe sport with the use of a certified paintball mask to protect the eyes; this game should never be played without protective eye wear.

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Paintball Gun Price Ranges

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Paintball Master

Paintball guns seem to range greatly in price.  You can probably get one as cheap as $50 or you could choose a marker priced at over $2000.  There’s obviously a vast difference between the lowest end and highest end marker, but I found my favorite gun closer to the $50 price than $2000.  I came into the sport picking up a used Smart Parts Ion, and it was actually a decent gun and moderately reliable.  As paintball usually does, it consumed my money and shouted that I needed a higher end marker to play competitively.  So my next paintball gun was an Invert Mini for $300.  The Mini never once let me down.  It’s simple, light, compact design made it reliable and very useful to me as a snake player.  It kept up with any of the Ego’s we played against and brought home a few tournament wins for our team.  After that I tried a Dangerous Power G3.  I can’t complain about the gun itself, but nothing felt “right” in my hands after using the Invert Mini.  So I eventually bought another Invert Mini.  I used this marker until I took a break from the sport for a few years.  Recently, I re-entered paintball with deeper pockets and a greater passion.  So I decided that I would try something from the higher end price range; a DLX Luxe; a $1500 gun.  Don’t get me wrong, it performs great.  Some of it’s features are similar to the Mini; however the Luxe can shoot faster, looks nicer, and the gun talks to me.  What more could I ask for but an improved Invert Mini; for some reason it feels right at home in my hands.  The moral of the story is when purchasing a marker make sure you try out as many guns as you can and pick the one that makes you feel comfortable on the field, not necessarily the marker with the most features, or highest price tag.
Mike Koehnke, Spherical Glory Paintball Team

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Dark Lenses For Your Paintball Mask

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Paintball Master

Dark lenses for paintball masks are like sunglasses; these are great for playing paintball when it’s extremely bright and sunny out.  Dark, smoked lenses can have a huge affect on a player’s ability to see well on the field in hot, sunny conditions.  His ability to see clearly (or without squinting) will of course greatly impact how he plays.  With standard clear lenses (non-smoked), the sun’s glare can be a constant annoying factor when playing.  However smoked lenses cut down on glare so you can see better, not to mention keep you somewhat cooler.  For the most part, a smoked lens is easy to put in or take out of any paintball mask no matter what brand or model you have.  All you have to do is un-hook your current lens and take it out, put your smoked lens in and hook it up.  Switching out a lens on your paintball mask is easy and generally takes less than a minute.  Dark lenses are great for sunny days and will definitely improve your performance when used at the right time.  If you have a paintball mask, dark lenses should most certainly be a part of your equipment repertoire.
Brendan Smith, Westchester Rise Paintball Team

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