One of the main objectives in most paintball games is to eliminate the enemy. Find out how to play to win here.
Eliminating other players seems straightforward enough - splatter paint on them. But when someone is out on the paintball field playing, things aren’t necessarily that simple. First, paintballs don’t fly straight - and the farther away the opponent is, the more one’s aim needs to be modified. To add to the frustration, even when a shot does hit the opponent, that doesn’t mean the paintball will break. No break, no paint splatter. No splatter, no elimination. This article will show beginning paintballers how to improve the number of actual eliminations one gets.
Breaking Paintballs
Whether the paintball will break when it hits its target depends mostly on two things: the speed at which the paintball is going when it hits, and the hardness of the material it hits.
Paintball Speed
Both as a safety measure and because performance decreases at higher speeds, paintballs should not leave the gun at speeds over 300 feet per second. The chrono speed is how fast the paintball is going right when it leaves the barrel.
The farther the ball travels, the slower it goes. So one way to increase the number of breaks you have is get closer to the enemy. Many beginning paintball players get trigger happy… they shoot at anything that moves, whether it is a good target or not. Boldness in paintball comes not from the “spray and pray” strategy of shooting, but from being willing to close in on the target.
DO NOT jack up the speed of the paintball marker after chronoing:
- It will cause more barrel breaks.
- It will cause the paintballs to fly erratically, actually decreasing the chances of a good hit.
- If anyone finds out, the cheating player could be tossed from the game or even barred from the paintball field.
- A close hit at high speeds can cause serious injury.
Improved Aiming
Another way to increase breaks is to hit hard surfaces. This can be challenging in a game where people are covered with baggy clothes that paintballs tend to bounce off. (Dressing Hint: Wear baggy clothes!) Still, there are plenty of hard surfaces for to aim at, if a player knows what to look for:
The head: Getting a head shot looks cool and because there’s so much hard surface, there’s a good chance that the paint will break. However, there are definite downsides to going for an opponent’s head. There’s also a good chance that the player will end up eating some paint or - worse yet-get hit in the neck, which is quite painful. If players don’t change their lenses as often as they should (and few players do!), a hit to the lenses may cause them to break. To avoid these problems, do not take close-up head shots.
Paintball Gear: Paintball guns, hoppers, and sometimes even harnesses and pods are great places to hit. They are hard surfaces, so balls are likely to break on them and they are exposed much more often than the rest of the player.
Elbows, knees, and shoes: Not only are these surfaces harder than other body parts, but players have a bad habit of letting their elbows, knees, or feet stick out from behind their bunkers. Remember, the feet may be sticking out on the opposite side of where the player is shooting from.
These target areas are small and may seem tricky at first, but with practice a paintball player will be able to reliably hit them - and reliably see that satisfying splatter. Just remember that what works against opponents works against any player, so play tight and keep as little visible as possible.
