To be successful at speedball (and thus, at paintball tournaments) you have to know how to snapshoot.
The ability to snap up and quickly shoot several rounds at your enemy without getting hit yourself is critical. Because it requires speed, aim, and a “feel” for the game, snapshooting is a tough skill to master. Eventually, it will get easier – but you have to get out there and play first.
The good news is that you can practice snapshooting tactics almost anywhere – even if you don’t have a paintball gun. For instance, you can practice snapping around corners or memorizing scenes from just a half second glance. However, the more realistic you can make your snapshooting practices, the better. Try going one-on-one with a friend and doing team snapshot drills with several people on each side.
Here are tips to help you whether you are practicing snapshots or playing an actual paintball game:
- Try different positions. You need to be flexible enough to adapt to whatever bunker you find yourself behind. You should be able to snapshoot standing, crouching, kneeling, or even crawling (particularly helpful if you are playing on a snake-like bunker). Whatever position you’re in, you are going to have to move quickly.
- Be ambidextrous. To be competitive on the paintball field, you need to be able to shoot with both hands. This doesn’t come naturally to most people, but practice makes perfect. Plus, it’s a good skill not just for snapshooting, but for paintball in general.
- Know the field layout. True, it’s not necessary to know a field before you play in it, but it helps build your strategy. Each bunker gives you relatively easy targets to aim at and leaves you open in some way.
- Play tight. The less of your body that’s exposed, the longer you’ll stay in the game.
- Think ahead. Before you snap up, you have to know exactly where you are going to look. You cannot waste precious seconds figuring out which paintball bunker you should be aiming for.
- Double snap. The first time is to assess the situation (do you have a shot?) The second snap is to actually shoot.
- Look quickly. You have to be able to snap up, see if you have a shot, and burn that imagine in your mind as you are snapping back behind your paintball bunker. It’s not easy assessing the situation in less than a second – at first. But as you practice, you’ll be surprised at how natural it becomes.
- Shoot, then aim. Don’t wait until you’re in the perfect position to start shooting. Shoot as you are snapping out of the bunker (make sure your paintball gun clears the bunker first).
- Don’t linger. Snapshots are done not just to get the other person out, but to keep you in the game. Take 1-4 quick shots, then duck back in. Don’t expose yourself for more than a few moments a time, no matter how irresistible the target is or how badly you want to see whether you hit your mark.
- Be unpredictable. Your opponent can’t know where you’ll pop up next, or you’ll be the one getting splattered.
- Don’t get tunnel vision. When you’re concentrating on taking one person out, it is easy to forget about the rest of the paintball field. But you can’t let that happen – someone else might get an advantage on you, or your teammates might need your help. Remember to assess what’s going on in the game. It may feel too crazy and hard to do at first, but with practice it will come naturally.
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