How To Improve Your Paintball Game

Paintball offers exhilaration and an adrenalin rush for anyone who loves extreme sports and it doesn’t matter if you’re into woodsball, speedball or mil-sim, the quick reflex actions, strategic movements and tactical thinking can really push the game to another level.

But if your aim is not true, and you find yourself splattered with paint more than you splatter others, you’re not gonna be having much fun.

Luckily, there are ways that you can improve your paintball game and have a good time. From using pro level paintball markers to having the right face mask to honing in on your skills, you can take your game up a notch. Here’s how.

• Your Gun. The first and perhaps most obviously factor that you need to consider when it comes to how your game is going is what type of paintball marker you are using. There are endless paintball guns on the market and it is possible that you did not purchase the right one to suit your needs.

• Speedball vs woodsball: Are you using the correct gun for the type of game you are playing? Speedball requires electronic markers where woodsball does not, but instead usually requires rails.

• Gun power: The three main types of guns are pump-action, gas-powered, and electronic. Pump action is slower, but forces you to be more accurate, electronic has settings for firing, and gas-powered is the preferred choice for woodsball.
• Your style: If your paintball gun does not match your style of play, you are going to have a hard time on the field. Renting a gun at a paintball field might let you play around to know what is more comfortable.
• Practice. As is true with just about anything, the more you practice at something, the better you are going to be. This means you might want to go to a shooting range or another safe place and practice. You can work on your accuracy, the functions of your gun, and any attachments that you might have added on after you bought the marker. This is a good idea if you have added on a new attachment and need to know how to use it well.
• How you aim. If you have a gun you like and have tried practicing, but are still not hitting the target that you would like to, you might need to work on how you are aiming. Make sure that you are aiming straight by lining your marker up with your body and eyes. Otherwise it is hard to determine how you are shooting. Keep in mind that if your gun is too close to your face when you fire there is a risk of the gun hitting you in the face if it has recoil.
• Lead your target. Very few of your targets are going to be just sitting around on the field. Most players are going to be on the move and you will need to be too. Hitting a moving target is harder than hitting a stationary target, but not impossible. The best method is to lead your target. This means tracking a moving target in the direction they are going, judging his speed to predict where he is headed. If you have practiced well, you should know how long it will take for your paintball to reach a target in the distance. Use these mental calculations and fire.
• Your posture. Outside of aiming, double check your posture. It is too easy to slump forward, putting yourself in an awkward position that will make it harder to aim. Proper posture will make it easier to angle your gun and fire accurately. In paintball, the right posture is to keep your chest and toes pointed forward with your gun at the center of your body.
• Destress. While paintball is fun and exhilarating, excitement can meld into anxiety. If you are too amped up on the field, you are not going to be able to focus well or shoot well. Sometimes even too much coffee in the morning can give you some extra jitters, making it hard to concentrate and perform well.

When you are taking aim, just take a moment to breathe and focus. If you are camouflaged, your opponent won’t see you right away and you firing quickly will draw his attention to you. Instead take a moment, breathe out to relax, and take the time to aim properly. It might feel like wasting time, but this takes mere seconds and gives you a better chance to defeat your opponent.

• Have fun. Another factor in destressing is to enjoy what you are doing. If you get too wrapped up in fine details, you might not actually get to enjoy the game. Let yourself go and have a good time on the battlefield. Being relaxed can help you improve your game while allowing yourself to not take the game so seriously.

If you are part of a paintball team, working with your team can also improve how you play paintball. A team or even just a paintball buddy can help you practice, work on your skills, and let you relax enough to have fun.