Rebooting my game

[Timmee]

Ok, a friend at work wants to put together a local tourney team (just for CT tourneys right now) for next year. My friend has stated that everyone that he wants on the team needs to go back to basics (including him). He's currently setting up a training schedule, that will have us working with stock class markers until we get the basics down (at which point we'll move up to semi's).

Now here's the thing. I've pretty much been playing the same way for the entire time I've been involved in paintball(since '98). I've tried to modify my style of play, following tips that other people have suggested, but I keep going back to my original style. I'm hoping to find out if anyone else has re-invented their game, if they find themselves occasionally reverting back to their old play, and if there's any tips to help me avoid falling back on my old style.

[dinger]

go read some paintball mags

such as Paintball Games International, or P8nt, and maybe Action Pursuit Games

[speedyejl]

Buy Xmags for you team, use that as a start

[MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata]

Originally posted by speedyejl
Buy Xmags for you team, use that as a start

sure they will get them by then, and whats your old playing style that might help others help u

[Timmee]

My old style of play pretty much has me growing roots (little to no movement), communicate very little, shoot a lot of paint (compared to some other people), and stay out too long before trying to duck back in.

I can usually avoid doing ALL of those things at once, but trying to avoid doing ANY of those things is pretty hard for me to do.

[gibby]

Hey Timmee. Granted, I've never played with a team before, I don't think you should worry much. I think once you get into the swing of practicing and playing with your new teammates, you'll start to develop new playing styles. I can see how easy it is to go back to your old playing style simply because you played for yourself. It's different now, you'll be playing with a team.

It's very similar to when I started playing basketball with my coworkers at lunch. Before then, we played but we all had our own styles. After a while, we got used to how we played and we adjusted our game towards that.

Just go with the flow. Before you try to focus on everything all at once, focus on one thing at a time. My guess is, you'll probably make a great back player. Just worry about your communication. I'm sure you'll do fine.

[Duke Henry]

It is all about drills

A team that is pretty well organized will be able to break its members out of the bad habits you have described.

I have always been extremely vocal on the field, but at the beginning of this year I had minor problems with movement. For me, I would take a good position off of the break, and then not want to move up into an inferior position, where I couldn't see the entire opposing team.

After running drills designed to force us to move, and after developing confidence in my teammates, my problem is gone and I have no fear of moving up during a game.

Some drills I would recommend:

15 second drill. No player can stay at a bunker for longer than 15 seconds. Yes, there will be chaos, plenty of mowing, but it can be really fun as well. Back players can practice running back and forth between back corner bunkers, front players can roam the field, always trying to get to an optimal bunker.

target/communication drill. Have multiple targets set up on the other end of the field. Have some stationary, and have some that can be moved (either have a teammate put a target on a stick and move it around), or by some other means. Have your team set up in a breakout (maybe do some breakout drills beforehand), and then have the back players call out bunkers/targets to be focused on. You can have players on the other side "expose" the targets at random, or have them all exposed, and let them back player choose at random. You can spice up this drill by adding players to the other side to shoot out any of your players that are posting, or hanging out of their bunkers...