The Strategy and Factors of Paintball

The game of Paintball has become popular in the last few years as more and more people are starting to play. Paintball started out as a hobby, a game you would play with a few friends. It is now a sport that has professional teams and even played at the college level. Some of the colleges that have paintball teams are, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Clemson, FSU, The Citadel, Georgia Tech and Auburn (9).

Paintball can be played as a team or individual sport. You win the game by eliminating your opponent(s) by hitting them with a paintball. Paintballs are soft gel like capsules filled with food grade, non-toxic, water soluble dye that is biodegradable and will not harm the players or the environment.

Paintball is an exciting game. Paintball combines strategy, action, team work and adventure. Paintball is also used by law enforcement to help in riot control training.

Strategy varies for each type of game. The strategy will depend on how many players and the type field you will be playing on. Teams will map out their plans before the game starts and as the game progresses. You will see how each team makes their strategy work.

Woodsball and Speedball are the two most popular types of paintballs. Woodsball is where teams compete against each other in the natural surroundings (such as in the woods). This is the way the sport started out being played. Speedball is played on a flat hard open space that has inflatable objects that can be used for protection or to hide in or behind. It is a very fast pace and more balls are used than in Woodsball. Speedball was started to make the game safer. Some players might be more prone to trip over things in the woods.

Paintballs are made by many different companies, each using a formula that...

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...mpared to other sports the injury ratio in paintball is low, it is estimated that there are 45 injuries to 100,000 players per year (11).

Most games have referees; these are the people that make sure the rules are being followed for the safety of the players. Some of the rules are:

You must have your mask on whenever you or on the field of play.

If a player is hit he must stop play and go to the sidelines.

You are not to wipe off the paint if you have been shot.

You must keep your marker (gun) barrel covered when not of the field of play.

If you enjoy playing paintball it can payoff in the long run. You if you are good enough you can get into college with your paintball skills and you could possibly become a pro and get paid to play. Just remember paintball is a fun game but it can also be dangerous if you do not follow the rules of safe paintball play.