Here are some important ground rules regarding safety and good sportsmanship when playing paintball.
Paintball Safety Rules
Do’s
- ALWAYS wear a paintball masks when they are on a field, regardless of whether or not there is a game going on. Accidents happen, and a paintball mask could save someone from losing an eye.
- Listen to the ref and follow the rules of the paintball field. Rules exist for player’s safety. When everyone follows them, people can concentrate on the fun stuff – playing paintball.
- Use a barrel plug or barrel sleeve when paintball guns are not in play. These simple safety devices can protect someone from serious injury if a paintball gun accidentally goes off. Also a barrel plug/sleeve lets other people know that someone is out of play so nobody gets unnecessarily shot up.
- Dress appropriately. Long pants and long-sleeved shirts provide protection against the impact of paintballs. The right clothes lets players run, slide, crouch and do other maneuvers more safely, as well.
Don’ts
- Crank the velocity of a paintball gun up. Guns should chronograph at no more than 300 feet per second (fps), or even lower if it is a small field. Velocities that are too high make paintballs burst inside the barrel more often, and increase the chances of a paintball injury occurring.
- Shoot people if they are too close. Paintballs can come blazing out of marker at 300 feet per second! It’s important to give them time to slow down. Commercial paintball fields normally have rules about how far apart players have to be to shoot someone. When in doubt, play it safe: don’t shoot at anyone closer than 15 feet.
- Shoot at anyone or anything that is not part of the game. It’s cruel and it gives paintball players a bad reputation.
Paintball Sportsmanship
Do's
- Have a positive attitude. Things aren’t always going to go a person’s way during a paintball game. But players can always learn something from every game. Soon enough, a player will have another chance to play, and improve on their mistakes. A positive attitude will make a person a popular teammate among fellow paintball players.
- Work as a team. Coordinated assaults work much better than solo efforts. People can: provide cover for each other as each paintball player takes turns moving ahead, communicate information and objectives, and give each player a clear mission or objective (e.g., one or two guard the flag station, two try to flank left, etc.)
Don’ts
- Cheat. People who wipe paint off instead of admitting they have been eliminated make the game unfair for everyone. A wiper will get caught sooner or later and risk getting kicked off the paintball field. Nobody wants to play with a cheater.
- Give up. Even if a player runs out of paintballs or air, they can still be useful to their teammates. Players can try pretending they can still shoot; this will keep opponents at bay for a while. When that stops working, players can relay information about the opposition to your teammates, sacrifice themselves as a distraction while someone else tries to accomplish a goal, etc.
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