Interesting Paintball Stats

[Mr. Frodo]

It's too bad it didn't mention the increase the in the number of paintball players.

[Target Practice]

Where did this come from?

[Mr. Frodo]

Where did this come from?

June 2004 issue of Playboy.

[Enemy]

its funny cuz i know for a fact that most if not all those injuries are twisted/broken/sprained body parts and is something that is common in almost all sports!!!!

[Destructo6]

I wouldn't dignify that by calling it "statistics." Rather, they are no more than two data points.

It isn't any more illuminating that saying, "This year, 500 more people died in auto accidents than last year." Sounds bad, unless you consider what they didn't tell you. Maybe last year, the raw death toll was abnormally low, maybe by a thousand. Maybe 500 is only a 1% increase.

There are lots of ways to lie with numbers.

[Target Practice]

June 2004 issue of Playboy.

Um...can you send me that issue? I would like to do some...uh...independent analysis.

[Z-man]

One of the great things that you learn in statistics is that you can make a set of numbers say just about anything you want.

One more reason I hate listening to political debates... same numbers but one says that we have rampant unemployment, the says that we can't hire people fast enough...

[emanjamin]

Hmm...I must have passed right over that in that issue...

[nt2004]

i beleive there was a thread about this on pbnation. A couple people actually made a good point that while injuries might have tripled, the number of people playing tripled also. When you have more popularity in the sport, more people are going to play and that leads to a larger chance of people getting hurt. I'm sure if the paintball community consisted of only 20 people that knew exactly what they are doing then it would be the safest sport in the world. Paintball has over 8 million players and the majority make good decisions and play safely but with walmarts and such selling guns, they get into the hands of a few morons who dont heed safety warnings

be an optimitst though, thats 2000 or so injuries in several billion games

[KRAKMT]

Does anyone have the statistics or where to look for the increase of players from 1997 to 2000? I noted the stat in playboy and scoffed at it but would like to send them an email regarding the somewhat sensational slant.

[deathstalker]

"Statistics don't lie; liars use statistics."

As has already been noted, those numbers, by themselves, are irrelevant. A good statistical analysis should show those numbers as being insignificant when you consider the number of players and the number of times each of those players hits the field.

That's my hypothesis and I'm sticking to it!

[coolcatpete]

I bet the paintball community sice then has more than quadripled
Pete

[Trunnion]

there was an article in PB2X(at least i think that's which one it was in) that used statistical analysis to show that the average recballer(which is admittably the majority of the paintball community) would be injured once every 500 years, based on an average number of games they would play per year. i believe it was one day every two weeks(which is about the average i see at the field at which i work).

[ICOM]

there was an article in PB2X(at least i think that's which one it was in) that used statistical analysis to show that the average recballer(which is admittably the majority of the paintball community) would be injured once every 500 years, based on an average number of games they would play per year. i believe it was one day every two weeks(which is about the average i see at the field at which i work).

Getting hurt is part of the sport. Happens in anything you play. Theres not one sport you can play without getting hurt.

[Trunnion]

i'm very much aware of that. it wasn't my point that noone ever gets hurt. my point was simply that getting hurt isn't something that happens on a regular basis. not unless you're playing outlaw with your velocity cranked or if you take off your mask on the field in the middle of a game. then you're kinda asking for it, and giving the sport a bad name in the process. i've kicked several people off the field in the middle of a game for pulling their mask up. they just don't get it.