The game of paintball is more than 28 years old now and with so much change happening every year it’s easy to forget where we came from. There are many people that contributed to the game of paintball in a meaningful way. Whether it is as a player, industry member, inventor or founder, paintball is truly a game that has been influenced by some brilliant and talented people. Starting this month we’re going to take a look at some of those responsible for the growth and maturity of our great game. 

MR. BOB GURNSEY 

 Charles Gaines, a writer from New Hampshire, Hayes Noel, a New York stockbroker, and Bob Gurnsey, a ski pro-shop owner, organized the first ever game of paintball that was played in New Hampshire in the summer of 1981. Using Nelspot markers found in a farm catalog by a mutual friend George Butler, the three played with nine other invitees and the game of paintball was officially born. Later that year, with his ski shop failing, Gurnsey borrowed $20,000 and started a company he called The National Survival Game (NSG).Although he struggled to make ends meet early on, Gurnsey and the Nelson Paint Company forged a worldwide distribution agreement for their paint and markers. Within two years his company helped more than 350 people start paintball fields under the NSG name. And in the fall of 1983 Gurnsey ran the first ever paintball tournament. NSG also designed and made the first paintball-only marker, the Splatmaster in 1985. Gurnsey and his NSG remained in the game until 1993. Later he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Amateur Open for his contributions in the game of paintball.

The aim of the game is very simple: To grab the flag of the enemy while shielding his or her own.

Here are numerous reasons why paintball has become a popular sport:

1. Physical contact is not required for this game. The fears of getting physically injured can be put to rest. There is no need to hurt your opponents for eliminating them from the game. The only thing needed to be done is marking them with paintballs. 
 
2. Fairness exists among the players.  In paintball, nobody is big or small. Everyone is equal. Both men and women are given equal opportunity in this game. The only thing that differentiates one player from the other is experience.
 
3. Even if you are an amateur player, you can still enjoy the game. In paintball, even a first time player can eliminate an experienced player.

4. You don’t need to have an athletic physique to play paintball. Paintball requires negligible physical contact.
 
5. The best part of playing paintball is that the players get to use a lot of gadgets. These gadgets get you back to your childhood and the fond memories related to it.

6. The truth that one can just eradicate players is a joy in itself. Eradicating one’s enemy is even encouraged, while shielding the team’s flag.

7. There is a threatening sense of peril. This stems from the fact that you can get eliminated from the game in just in a fraction of a second, and no one is unshakable. The fear of elimination definitely brings a bit of nervousness but not enough to make anyone so anxious that he cannot carry out his tasks.  

It is beyond doubt that paintball happens to be the most exciting sport ever. This game brings joy while sharpening your communication skills. Paintball also increases alertness of mind and makes you mentally stronger.

The first among different varieties of hoppers are the Gravity Feed hoppers these hoppers are just the way their name describes. In these hoppers, the paintballs are kept in a slot that has only a plastic holding container and lid. A feed tube joins the hopper to the gun; the feed tube can send only one ball at a time to be dropped in front of the bolt. The adjoining sides of the hopper have slop so that the paintballs can easily slide down to the region of the feed tube. Even tough the gravity feed hoppers are the cheapest of all hoppers due to the simplicity of design and low-cost materials. However, the gravity feed hoppers have severe disadvantages.  Paintballs can get stuck in clusters causing a jam at the top of the tube. This problem can be solved by shaking the gun a bit; however, this will waste some invaluable time giving the opponent an opportunity to strike at you. Too much shaking of the gun can also break the paintballs. If they break then your entire gun can get spoilt along with your reputation in your team. 

The next variety of hoppers is the Stick Feed hopper. These are situated corresponding to the position of the barrel. In these hoppers, the paintballs are held in a line. For loading the balls, the player has to shake the paintball forward then bring the sights to stand for the shot. A better version of the stick feed hoppers are the vertical ones, however, they are not allowed at certain tournaments.
 

The third type of hoppers are the Force-feed hoppers. These are the most famous and well-liked of all hoppers. Unlike the wasteful gravity feed hoppers, force-feed hoppers are very less time consuming and user-friendly. They have feed systems which force the paintball into the gun then the paintball is grabbed and loaded. Electronic models of the force-feed hoppers have even more user-friendly as they keep the account of the number of rounds left in the hopper.

The fourth type of hoppers is the Agitating hopper. These hoppers make use of a propeller to avoiding the clogging of the paintballs at the top of the feed tube. Even though these hoppers make use of gravity for bringing the balls down the peril of having a jam is reduced.

My twelve year old son and two of his pals participated as a team in one of
their first paintball tournaments this weekend. Many other players participating in the tournament did wonderful things for encouraging this young team.

There was a moment when the gun used by one of my son’s friends stopped functioning. However, another participant gave his guns so that all the three boys could continue competing in the tournament as a team.

A lot of the referees and participants from the other teams also praised the young team all throughout the day.  They also gave tips to the young boys for improving their performance and skills.

The consequence of this encouragement had numerous constructive effects. The young team played better with every game. Instead of getting a feeling of dejection after losing the tournament, they analyzed their strengths and weaknesses.  As a result of the motivation received during the previous games, the young team felt motivated to continue playing paintball games. The young team won the final game! They are eagerly waiting for the next paintball tournament after the amazing experience and encouragement received in this tournament.
Are you motivating anyone? It is not important whether you are paintball expert or not in order to provide encouragement to others. You can motivate and encourage anyone living anywhere to play paintball sports. You just have to think the best possible method for doing it. It can be done by becoming a good listener, by using some highly motivating words, through a handwritten note or by providing any help need by the person. It can be anything, big or small, little or more whatever you can do. Someone will surely thank you tomorrow for making their today happy and cheerful.

Manpower can be described as the knack of a player to play wisely and strongly in this sport. This article embarks upon stealth and how it can help you to succeed in games.

Furtiveness is the skill to merge with your environment.  By employing diverse methods to accomplish this, stealth will perhaps designate who the “novice” is in a paintball milieu.

Furtiveness is all about moving in the correct direction. At the time you have to make a swift rush, it is best to simply adhere to the tracks that are devoid of twigs. Twigs are the most horrible objects to walk on as they will crack, rupture, and blast. It is advisable to move through such an area patiently and gradually.

With the help of the correct equipments, furtiveness can be best achieved. Proper shoes and appropriate clothes immensely aid in reducing the noise made by you while moving ahead. Shoes with soft soles are best in comparison to army combat boots as they generate a smaller amount of noise, since they are equipped with natural sound absorption property that facilitates in arresting the sounds made while walking.
Rough clothes tend to make plenty of noise when encountered with branches as well as the foliage. Soft outfits will perhaps be a benefit over rough clothes. They are far better than rough ones for noiselessly crawling to reach to the preferred place.

Besides this, the clothes should also have a comfortable and tight fit. This comprises harnesses and holsters. You must keep away from placing anything including the reloads and ammunition in the leg area, in order to be able to walk and run smoothly without causing noise.

The other important technique includes proper blending into the surroundings. This can be achieved by wearing colors in accordance with the plant life of the battlefield. It will help you to perfectly disguise yourself from your opponent’s watchful eyes.
When you have to move about, it is suggested that you learn how to creep in the appropriate manner along with the capability to continue to fire when necessary.
Furtiveness requires plenty of time to study accurately. Yet practiced players make blunders and with these blunders they find out how to keep away from them.

Paintball is such a game that needs to be played with tactics and techniques. You should be very well aware of your enemy’s strengths and weaknesses in order to capture the game. Along with this, you should also be aware of your own key points and weaknesses. You must work on your own flaws so that you don’t become an easy target for your enemies.

Other than this, it is crucial that your team has a solid attack and defense plan to conquer the game. Who has to be the sniper (leading shooter), the commencer (attack starter), should be decided before hand. These are just the basic strategies of your assault plan. Your team will need many more refined and super-assault tactics in order to win the paintball game.

Paintball is such a sport that brings out the creative instinct hiding inside you. Your battle plans should not be alternation proof when there is a need for one. If any mistake happens then you should be able to alter the plan to your advantage. It should be understood that a dedicated and amazing paintball player or leader knows the exact strategy that your opponent will use to counter your attack. You should be prepared for all types of reactions from your opponents. You should not get confused, shattered, shocked or nervous if the opponent uses some unknown technique. You should maintain level-headedness and go for another strategy.

Flexibility is an essential part of playing paintball. Even if you are not the best shooter of your team, you should shoot the necessary shots when needed. Your team’s leader must understand each player’s strong and weak points while assigning tasks and positions. If any of your teammate falls then other team players should be able to carry out the job assigned to that player with grace.

While playing paintball games, good communication should be established between team players. You should be able establish a good bond with your fellow team players so that you can understand even the blink of their eye.

Paintball is not only about winning it is also about losing as a team while learning the key points and negative points of your team to conquer the next game.

For this purpose, a paintball team leader must possess great reputation. Nobody likes taking orders from anybody. Therefore, the person whose orders the paintball team players need to follow must be respectable enough. He must have mastery in organizing the game strategy. He must be prepared to crack any kind of battlefield. Courage and bravery must be his key assets so that when the time comes he can go into the frontline.  A good paintball team leader is the one who is very well-liked and respected by the team members. Along with this, he should also have effective communication skills and clear language.

Below you can see the key qualities that a paintball team leader must possess:

1. Practical know-how and sharp wit:

Practical know-how is a must thing and it does not come easily. To become a paintball leader one must invest a good amount of time for gaining proper knowledge of various strategies.

2. Physical Vigor:

He should be capable of getting into the skin of things. He should also be capable of finding any region where his players can go. Mobility and flexibility are both crucial qualities of a paintball team leader.

3. Majestic appearance and respectable personality

When it comes to any leader his team members must be able to idolize and respect him. If the team members don’t respect or idolize him then they are unlikely to take his orders. Therefore, it is a must that a paintball team leader has an impressionable personality and charismatic aura so that he is respected and followed.

4.  Effective communication skills and amicability

A strong leader speaks with power and confidence. He has got the capacity to make people listen to him.

A paintball leader should be able neglect his own performance for sometime in order to analyze his team’s performance. He should endure every battle.  He must minutely observe the flaws of his team and fortify the strengths. He must have the intelligence to come up with flawless plans when previous plans fail.

He should prove to be an inspiration, a motivating factor for his team members. Once the team is inspired by his presence, the team will definitely win.

The game begins with both the teams have equal quantity of arms. Paintball game usually lasts for a very long time. Therefore, it is crucial for every team to make the most out of each shot. Players shouldn’t waste their shots or else they will be left without any ammunition at a crucial moment.

Spreading across a particular region is a great defensive technique irrespective of enemy’s direction. In case, any opposite team member is able to see any of your team member then a player having a clear vision of the enemy’s position must silence him.

If the team loses most of its members during the first few minutes of the game then the team must go back to the base and get reorganized. A boundary must be put in to restrict the opposite team from breaking the organized players of your team. Also, the boundary is essential for sending patrols in search of the enemy. 

In case, a patrolling player spots the enemy, then that player can throw the enemy out. Consider a situation, where a group of opponents is moving towards your base then the patrolling player must go and inform the group members for retaliating against the enemy with the equal amount of players. However, this plan can backfire if the players are not able get rid off of all the opponents and one of the opponents informs his base members about the site of your base.

In order to catch the enemy unaware your team members must be amazingly disguised and covered-up. As the guns have a restricted range, the time of fire is best when the opponents reach the “kill zone”. However, it should be taken into consideration that the shooting should be done before getting hit. 

At the time of the firefight the player’s position is exposed. When the enemy starts firing, you can still survive if you get proper cover.

In case, this is not possible then moving to a better region is a nice technique. This should be done by informing the other players so that they are able to provide proper cover.

It takes immense planning and strategy for the plan to function. A good way of successfully executing the plan is by making use of effective communication.

Previously, this game included the use of non-powder guns. It was during the 1970s when the non-powder guns were put in use for launching paintballs.  As per the reports, about 21,000 American people were badly hurt during that period. 

War games were called as friendly games by the skirmish in their catchphrase. Skirmish, were one of the first paintball fields in America. Later on, the War Games Products first brought in the paintball capsules which could be released by pressured air or CO2. These are much safer and less perilous for the one hit by them.
 
Data collected by the Associated Press, stated that there were 21,000 cases of physical damage reported every year since from the time it was introduced. However, a recent survey done by American Sports Data Inc has relieving news for paintball fans. The figures of this survey state that 8,700,000 people played the game in 2002 and very less number of people were injured during that period. This great change has been brought out by the standardization of the strict safety rules. Also, it is mandatory to follow the rules. A lot of people believe that playing paintball is much better than playing basketball or baseball in terms of the injuries caused while playing these games. 

In accordance to the figures collected by the American Sports Data Inc. survey, public participation in paintball games has overpowered public participation in snowboarding. Constantly increasing popularity of the paintball sport has made it the fourth largest alternative sport in America.

New guidelines and rules have come into play in this sport for ensuring the safety of the players. This sport now reports lesser or very few injury cases due to the compulsory use of improved safety gears. Therefore, this puts the paintball sport in a good light. So, go for it, if you haven’t yet gone for it. There will no regrets, only sheer enjoyment.