Psychological Aspects of The game of Paintball

[Exodius]

The Psychological Aspects of the game of Paintball

By Automags Online Member Exodius

Disclaimer:

I am in no way, nor have I ever been, a psychologist.

The contents of this post are my own thoughts and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Air Gun Designs or Automags Online.

I am in no way, shape, or form, affiliated with Air Gun Designs or Automags Online.

[Exodius]

As with many sports, there are four (4) major things that affect each individual player. While this list can vary, these are the three most common. Thay are the player's playing style, financial situation, equipment, and their enviroment.

The player's equipment plays a key role in that person's playing style. While it is common knowledge that the gun does NOT make the player, that part is entirely true. Although, the player's attitude is directly affected by the quality of their equipment. This does not mean that a better gun will make a better player. The same is true in anything.

A while ago, when I first started playing, I started out with an $80 dollar Spyder. Anyhow, on my first day of playing the thing started acting funny and not working properly. At that time, two Mag users offered to assist me in finding out the problem. Once the three of us figured out the problem, one of them allowed me to use their EMag. Compared to playing with my spyder, the EMag did indeed change my attitude. At first, the trigger, being so short and light, screwed me up. After the first game though, I became more used to it. Despite the
EMag's weight, and the warp feed, which I at first thought was stupid, I was more aggressive. Now, I was still conservatively when in comparison to playing with my Spyder, but I still had a difference in attitude.
.
This same scenario has been heard a few times before, but I feel that it deserves its own attention. Now, for the bad part about that theory. When a more experienced tournament player is using different markers, the only difference to them is the amount of paint which they can fling. Other than that, in the hands of an experienced player, a marker makes almost no difference to them.

Now then, the enviroment of the player.

Most newbies tend to have a stereotype of paintball. Most think of it as a long, drawn out game in the woods. Not anymore. While woods ball is still very popular among many players, most fields find it easier to open an arenaball field enviroment. When many players arrive, they expect to play a game of sniping, a game of crawling, and a game of stealth. They come WANTING to play war. Well, now because of technological advancement, they can usually see a small, brightly colored field of inflatable "bags"(some actually refer to Sup'Air as such). THis is not what many expect to see.

What most people think is that this is caused to sell more exotic markers and more paint. I feel that the paintball companies are merely capitalizing on what the players want.

Back to the topic, this can cause fear in the player. Thus, this affects their attitude. Thus, their attitude affects their playing style.

Now, on to the playing styles.

Most newbies can be categorized into one of the following.

Some players are paintball junkies. The junkies will spend whatever they can afford each weekend to play paintball. A majority only last about 6-8 months, then they become bored and quit. Some last longer, some less.

Others can be considered conservatives, who buy lower priced equipment, use less paint, and desire to be in the sport for a substantial length of time. They are sometimes shy on the field, other times agressive, but they do become long time members of this sport.

There are many other types of playing styles, but I am just too darn lazy to list them all :)

Anyhow, all this factors in to how they will play on the field.

Edit - I fixed the error for our royal highness

[Exodius]

Now, what causes fear?

Fear is usually caused by seeing an opponent's equipment and thus feeling insecure on the field. An Angel will induce more fear than a Tippmann. Some people use this purposly to their advantage. Others try not to.

At a tournament I was once at there was this paintball team. Urban Legend. These were kids who were at their first tournament, a Young Guns tournament. They felt that they were surely going to win. Before they were even at the tournament they talked about what they were going to do with the prizes.

Anyhow, once they got their, they saw all the other kids had Angels, Impulses, and Shockers. They were instantly engulfed in the atmosphere and felt insecure as to how they were going to do. One of the team members went outside to their car and cried. Their dad, being a win or die type of person, shoved him back in there.

The first game came around, and one was bunkered. After that, the last two stayed in their bunkers and would not move. They were both eliminated. Anyhow, the one that was bunkered was severly overshot, and points were deducted from the opposing team. After that, the bunkered one, to be known as Bob(not real name). decided not to play the rest of the tournament, except one game. The one who had a win or die type of dad, went to the bathroom and pretended to be sick. The one who was sick shall be known as Joe(not real name.) Everyone knew Joe was pretending, so there were some pretty harsh stares directed at him.

The Captain, Tom(real name) went on to play the rest of the 3 man young guns tournament solo. Everyone was supportive of Tom, even though he had picked a horrible team. Tom and his team lost miserably, but at the end they won the sportsmanship award. Now, since Tom had gotten that for the team, everyone on the team put their paws out to get some of what was awarded. Not cash or anything, but a hat, a magazine, and a free field fee.

Anyhow, Joe was at the cafe next door for the entire length of the tournament, just sitting over there in the corner, sipping on a glass of water.

I was Tom, the captain. And I failed as a captain. I let greed engulf us to the point where fear had just ripped our hearts out.

The moral of the story is that fear can kill. It slices like a knife, but acts like a scalpal. Nothing is removed except for the heart. And in the heart is the will to play.

When you see a newbie, and he is obviously engulfed in fear, do your best to help him. Stay with him on the field for a game or two. Teach him some tricks. Cover his butt. It is a miracle what one person can do to a player. The owner of the field who ran the tournament changed the way I played, and the way I looked at the game. He was able to help me when I went out to their field the one day. He taught me things like proper technique, and proper attitude. If one could do this, what could we as a paintball community could do.

Psychology, along with skill, plays a huge part in our sport.

[Exodius]

Epilogue

Flame suit on, ready to take.

Conclusion of my paper
-Exodius

All comments would be appreciated, whether good, or bad.

[Exodius]

lol I know wat chu mean.

But I love writing and I love reading.

Just hate summarizing, so don't expect one :)
lol
I just can't summarize something...

[Angry Man]

No way I'm gonna read all that. And before worrying about summarizing, worry about not using the longest, most redundant terms possible..."the game of paintball" as opposed to just "paintball" and stuff. Just because it makes you sound smart, doesn't mean it adds anything....I'm sure the content is good, just no way I'm gonna read it.

[f3rr3+]

I love reading, and wrighting (if im inspired) and i read the whole thing, and damn you for taking my sunday night before school :P, and i say bravo, good work! (not a i, claudius, but very good none the less! )

[fcpchop]

wow, that all i can say, but in a good way

[Exodius]

ya know

If I wanted to make it sound "Smart" I could have doubled, or even tripled it's size. But then that truly would have been a waste of time. Besides you can always skim it.

I myself skim everything at first. To skim, it takes me maybe 3-5 minutes to read that post. Others are definitaly faster. I knew not everyone would like it. I knew I would be flamed. But, I knew that it would appeal to that select few that truly would enjoy it. No one can please everyone. We all know that. But many still try.

Just look at politicians.

And Angry Man, I did not use the longest, most redundant terms possible. A lot of people on this forum could make your head explode(along with mine, and probably many others).

I use terms which are not as common as other terms simply because of my vocabulary. I have read more books in the past 5-7 years than some will read in a life time. I read novels, but I read history. I read mechanics. I read economics. I will read anything. Now whether I enjoy it, that depends.



You spend half your life sleeping. You spend the other half doing something. Some do good things in that other half, others don't. Doing good things does not cut it. Doing great things, now that, is what separates us as a culture. You only have one chance at life. Make it diversified, and make it count.

-My former English Teacher



No way I'm gonna read all that. And before worrying about summarizing, worry about not using the longest, most redundant terms possible..."the game of paintball" as opposed to just "paintball" and stuff. Just because it makes you sound smart, doesn't mean it adds anything....I'm sure the content is good, just no way I'm gonna read it.

[wobbles82]

Mmm, good writings man. So wait, you are Tom right and this happened to you? Lol, just wanna make sure. Anyway the story and the "essay" make a lot of sense and you point out the truths of paintball. Every weekend my team plays pro teams like Redz, and whatnot and no matter what we all think were going to win. But we haven't always done this, before when I was just starting to play I STRIVED to get a hopper hit and get the hell out, lol. Fear is an aspect of the game that has to be overcome, for some reason I get it sometimes still, but I always try to help new players to get over it. Its always good to let them play with your team and say get a win, let them feel good and thrive for more. Well thats all for me, but good analysis man.

[Exodius]

ya, I am Tom

and I chose my friends because of their being my friends.

Not because of skill. Not because of will. And Not because of their ability to advance.

Just because they were, and still are, my friends

We had a great time there, just wish we all played together and one wasn't in the cafe the whole time

[GaryWV]

I liked that alot, and I too love reading. Anyway, what I liked best was that you played the tourny by yourself, it shows you have major heart.

[Exodius]

ya but wat sucked was this one team was taking it easy for some reason and I kept telling them not to. they finally got the point and whooped my butt good

that was some freaky crap, a whole load of it

[SIGSays]

reading isn't that bad.. so why not?

pretty good... i wish i could write that well..

good stuff man...

i enjoied reading it.. i learned things here and there.. that i never really thought of before

[Exodius]

lol

ya know whats funny?

I'm only 13 1/2

[Polish]

Good read... you coulda went on longer though.

[Exodius]

ya i could have gone much longer, and in more detail

But I have already been flamed for going on "too" long

Sad thing is, If I went into extreme detail, it could be about ten times longer

[Carbon]

Bump!

Word! its nice to know there are 13 1/2 year olds with extensive perscapacity to write such an elequoent thread. Anyway...

The most basic addage to fear ive heard is..."everybody gets scared, its what you do with that fear."
If govenments and armies can condition people to go head on, incoming machinegun fire despite certain death, it should be no large feat for the "common" paintballer to accept and bear the humility of getting bunkered. I too, as many ballers out there, had fear. The fact of the matter is, when your mature as a paintballer, you will realize the fun, for the most part, is well worth more than the agony.

A buddy of mine just got his Dye "suit" (pants and jersey) last week, I jokingly said, "yer gonna scare the kids"... He replies, "intimidation is part of the game."

"sure is" I replied.

I thought about it a moment and realized, if yer gonna play amongst people who are afraid of what you appear to be, you oughtta play in a more advance group, if not have at least a disadvantage. I dont know thats just me.

Its like life. Its easy to have confidence when your in/have control, but to me its what you do when you dont have control. What means do you take to manipulate youself (your physical body) and your comarades to get the situation in a bearable light.
I step out on the field and ask, how well i can wade though this krap storm?

[Exodius]

bump for the night

maybe this could be stickied(classic)


thanks for the compliments guys!

I think Carbon has it down pretty well about fear, and it's manipulation.

I really don't understand why people must resort to such tactics to win in rec ball.(my assumption based on Carbon's post)I think that intimidation, while it is part of the sport, is not something that we should be proud of. Sure, getting underneath your opponent's skin may help you in a tournament, but what is up for grabs in a rec ball game?

A trophy? Hardly...
A medal? Sure.... Yea Right..
Bragging Rights? Maybe...

But if earning bragging rights means that you must scare a younger kid ****less, then congratulations! We very well could end up losing a member of this sport, and mayber a future mag user:)

Another note on intimidation, an addition if you will, usually kids are intimidated by people older than them, not younger. Sort of like the bullying concept. But that's not what this discussion is about.


Bump!

Word! its nice to know there are 13 1/2 year olds with extensive perscapacity to write such an elequoent thread. Anyway...

The most basic addage to fear ive heard is..."everybody gets scared, its what you do with that fear."
If govenments and armies can condition people to go head on, incoming machinegun fire despite certain death, it should be no large feat for the "common" paintballer to accept and bear the humility of getting bunkered. I too, as many ballers out there, had fear. The fact of the matter is, when your mature as a paintballer, you will realize the fun, for the most part, is well worth more than the agony.

A buddy of mine just got his Dye "suit" (pants and jersey) last week, I jokingly said, "yer gonna scare the kids"... He replies, "intimidation is part of the game."

"sure is" I replied.

I thought about it a moment and realized, if yer gonna play amongst people who are afraid of what you appear to be, you oughtta play in a more advance group, if not have at least a disadvantage. I dont know thats just me.

Its like life. Its easy to have confidence when your in/have control, but to me its what you do when you dont have control. What means do you take to manipulate youself (your physical body) and your comarades to get the situation in a bearable light.
I step out on the field and ask, how well i can wade though this krap storm?

[Marek]

I've seen the same thing happen in music in public education. Students learn and study some music for 3 months or so, and freak out and drop the ball before a competition because of the enviroment. Anxiety plays a big role in competition, and learning to control and deal with it is something that is a valid lesson to learn in life.

This is more what I think that you are referring to. Not necessarily psychology (which is the study of the mind and behavior) but the mentalites that people can have on the field. It happens in everything that derives from competition. An All-State Saxophone player walks into the room and all of a sudden kids freak out and forget their game plan or what they had practiced. The All-State student has confidence from being an All-State musician (and other things, but that's off the subject) while the other students are afraid of losing, and/or being beaten by this student. Similar to a kid seeing an Angel on the field over a Tippmann (which is also another topic, but off the subject)

I commend you for playing by yourself when your team didn't, as that is something that I would hope that I would do if the situation arose. My team consists of friends as well, and even though not all of them are serious about paintball, it's all in good fun.

Oh, and by the way, it's not long at all. I don't see why people think it is long though.

[MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata]

Very nice essay, anyway i think one of the key physcological keys to paintball is just not being afraid to get hit, because once you do you will not make be making as many moves to new bunkers, and you will be getting pinned down.

[dinger]

Originally posted by Exodius
As with many sports, there are three (3) major things that affect each individual player. While this list can vary, these are the three most common. Thay are the player's playing style, financial situation, equipment, and their enviroment.

well, i assume that you mean FOUR THINGS!! AND ITS THEY**** NOT THAY

what grade are you in?? because you give the effect that you cant count :(

[dinger]

if my computer wasn't so RETARDED i would copy the entire thing into word, and then fix all of your spelling errors, grammatical errors, and punctuation errors. :)

btw that other post wasn't a flame :o

[Exodius]

Dinger,

When you type with a keyboard, do you not make mistakes? Now, don't give me any crap about your not, because every person on this planet does.

Now, if we ever were to invent neural-interface computers, then perhaps that kind of thing would be eliminated. But, we do not have neural-interface conputers, so errors are obviously going to occur. May those neural-interface computers would screw up computing even more, with the mentality of some.

This was not going to be perfect. This was just a topic for discussion on this forum. If I were to dot every i and cross every t, then I would still be typing that.

As far as the counting thing, so I added financial without going back to change the number three(3). BIG DEAL! Mistakes do happen.

That first post of yours was indeed a flame, no matter what you may perceive it as. Maybe you think of it as a compliment?

When you type fast on a keyboard(50 or more Words per minute)mistakes are bound to happen.

Before you start insulting others, perhaps you should go and reread every post that you have ever posted. You will be bound to see grammatical errors. Clean out your own closet before you decide to touch mine.

For your information, I am in eight grade. Now, before I get some kind of flame back from you, let me ask you one thing. How many eight graders do you know can write a topic on a level which is above theirs. Psychology is a complex science, so you cannot expect me to get everything correct.

Now, if you would like, I could attach a text file of this. But, we do have the ability to copy and paste text. Highlight the text in each of the posts, then paste into Microsoft Word. Repeat for the remaining text.

A note for our Royal Highness King Dinger. This paper is not for school, nor is it for a business. Thus, I do not feel the need to dot every i and cross every t. I will do my best to, but I will not waste my time editing if it were not midnight. Now, maybe tommorrow I will take care of it, but not now

[GoatBoy]

What grade are you in when you're 13?

(counting on fingers... ok, I guess around 7th grade)

I'd give you an 'A' for effort at least. It's good to practice your writing skills and try to communicate with other people on a level higher than "NO WAY BUY A HALO LODAR THEY R THE BEST MY BROTHER HAS 1 IT KIX ***!!!"


That being said, I'll go into my criticisms, since you are wearing your flame suit.

For starters, it does not appear that you are trying to actually make a point until the 3rd 'paragraph' from the end. (I'm judging this from the catchphrase "the moral of the story".) The essay isn't long by any means. It just feels long because people are probably reading it and wondering, "What is your point?"

Your paper needs to be driven by purpose. If it's not, then it's just a bunch of rambling. You need to tell the reader point-blank the conclusion you want them to draw. Then the rest of the paper should build up and support your argument.

Given a clearer purpose, it will be easier for you to logically organize your thoughts and make the essay more readable.

Surprisingly, I've still seen college-level students fail to grasp the fact that you're supposed to be making a point every time you write. My friend graded some essays from supposedly college-ready students, and, well, his analysis of the situation was similarly depressing.

Editing your work isn't a waste of time. It isn't any more a waste of time than bathing regularly, or trying to correct bad habits. Your communication skills for the most part are going to be directly related to your success in a real-world work environment. Yes, you will have the occasional anomaly where someone is successful without having polished communication skills, but I'm a firm believer in averages, and for every one person who succeeds without these skills, you can probably find at least 50 who are held back by their lack of said skills.

Even if this essay isn't for business or school, there are two main reasons to make sure you dot your 'i's and cross your 't's.

First, it simply makes you look bad. You don't want that, ESPECIALLY when you're trying to make a point. You want the reader to believe you are a thoughtful and thorough person. At the very least, you can avoid buttholes like Dinger right off the bat.

The second, and probably most important reason, is that you don't want to get into the bad habit of poor writing. Writing is a skill like any other, and it needs to be practiced. It's simply a bad habit, and it will unfortunately carry over to situations when you do "need" to have everything correct.




So uhm... in your own words, in one sentence, what is the point of your essay?

[Tyger]

Hey, Exodus :

http://www.p8ntballer.com/classroomcontents/r21032002.shtml

An article I wrote a while ago on the same topic. Kinda heady stuff, but it's still there. Read what you had to say there too. IMHO, I think your buds got into it not knowing exactally what they were getting into. If your one firedn could go wihtout his dad, I think he'd be better off in the short term.

Actually, I'd get everyone together and just play for a while, get used to playing together, then try again.

Keep writing man!

-Tyger

[Exodius]

mayber I will go over and redo some of it. Will post later...

[Jeffy-CanCon]

My comments:

It was good of you to write this, Exodious, to share your experiences and your thoughts. It is rare to see such thought and such effort put out by a person your age. I am sure you will become a very good writer as you get older and more experienced. Your willingness to attempt something like this on your own intitaive, and to ask for feedback shows unusual maturity for someone so young. Kudos to you too, for your behaviour in the tourney, and to the field owner who helped you.

Napoleon once said "The moral to the physical is as three to one". I.e., warfare is 75% mental. Similar things have been said by others about sports in particular, but it's the Napoleon quote that always come to my mind, for some reason.

Our game more so than others is largely mental. We are not chasing a ball, or shadowing a receiver. We can't afford to focus on the person or thing immediately in front of us. The number of things to keep track of in your head in a pball game is enormous. How much paint do I have left? How much air? How much time? Where are my team-mates? Are they doing OK? Where are the other team's players? Who is shooting at me? Where is the flag? Did that ball break? In addition to all that, there is the intimidation and fear factors that you so ably described. "Those guys look like Pros - we're gonna get spanked".

Allowing for a basic level of competence, confidence makes the biggest difference in a paintball game. Fear and the mental paralysis it brings are a result of a lack of confidence. Confidence comes from combinations of many things. Familiarity and trust in yourself and your team- mates. Knowing your strengths and limitations. Having reliable equipment. Understanding the game itself, knowing the tactics and how the games develop during play. Equipment you can buy, everything else comes from practice and experience.

-----

Carbon, you are totally right about your friend's actions. If he feels the need to intimidate kiddies playing rec-ball, he is pathetic.