speedball --- dont like it

[oldschooler]

When I first played paintball most of the "kids" playing now were infants or just in preschool. I remember the days when paintball was all about simulated combat. Good people having fun in the woods shooting it out wearing camo and making skilled moves and judgements. When honesty, good decision making and a straight shot actually meant something. We all looked like something out of the movie FULL METAL JACKET. While I am NOT BASHING people who like speedball I find it to be not in the original spirit of the game. I guess that if I were one of the big paintball companys I would want all these kids shooting as much paint as possible and spending all their parents $$$ as fast as they can empty the hoppers. Some of these guys look more like circus clowns with all that yellow and red coloring. Spending my day in the hot sun on a dirt field shooting at inflatible barriers waiting for the "luck" to hit a player looks more like a cartoon than a sport. I just dont get it. it seems to be more a contest of who can empty their hopper the fastest and carry the most paint. While I'm sure diehard speedballers will disagree, there just isn't as much skill involved as there is luck. Of course some "team" skill is required in speedball as it is in woods play and surley some teams are better than others. Speedball is of course the brain child of the big companies to get this "sport" of speedball on TV and to make even more money. And like most americans a lot fell for it. Like I said if speedball is your thing than good for you, no matter what type you play its good for all of us to get more people into the sport. However wearing a bright yellow or blue dye jersey DOES NOT make you a better player, just more visible. And YES I did try it, did very well too, but it just isnt what true paintball should be, for me anyway.

[BajaBoy]

speedball is Nothing about luck.. infact if you play it torny level, you will take more time scouting the field then the game itself

[penguinpunk555]

Please ignore his ignorance.No one should be biased about diffrent styles of play.It takes as much skill to take someone out on the speedball field as in the woods.I play both styles and love them both.Have you ever played speedball im guessing not.Try it once and see how u like it.

When i'm playing speedball i love the adrenline of 20 balls flying over my head and trying to ge threw a wall of paint.

When im playing woodsball I feel the adrenaline of staying quite trying to take over the other guys base.

Both styles are great try speedball once and see how u like it

[Brak]

you have a few good points, but you obviously arent grasping the idea of speedball. yeah, you empty your hopper, but why? too keep the other guy down in his bunker so your teammate can execute a flank. i believe the higher levels of speedball has FAR more teamwork than any type of woodsball. speedball is all about executing very specific moves, plays even. that is what its about. one wrong move, one inch of your "brightly colored" jersey exposed, your out, and your whole team may lose because of that elbow you had sticking out.

it is WAY more than luck. luck is nailing that guy whos foot was hanging out in a couple quick shots. is shooting 15bps in your firing lane and nailing a guy running full speed to the 50 while having 3 other guys laying paint on you just as fast luck? i dont think so. and SOME teamwork? why do you think most people HATE recball? because speedball is ALL teamwork, and its not very fun playing with people who dont match your style and communicate with you and do their own thing.

you should look more into speedball before you make judgements like that, because you are dead wrong. im not a diehard speedball player, and i totally agree on you with the use of overly "flamboyant" clothing used to make people think one is a better player than they are. i actually play more woodsball than i do speedball, basically because its cheaper and from my experiences far, far, far easier.

[joeski206]

Some good points, and very true, some are off...... I myself dont play speedball, nor do I want to. But I wouldnt say speedball is mostly luck, come on oldschooler .... BRAK had a good point about woodsball, people often do their own thing and no teamwork is involved, can be very frustrating. I play woodsball with 2-4 longtime friends and we work as a team, often WAYYY outnumberd, but I find that the most challenging, even if its 25 guys doing their own thing against us we do well. A lot of the younger guys could learn something about WORKING AS A TEAM by watching speedball and apply it to woodsball. I dont think you were trying to bash speedball per se' but some may view your thread as such..... if it isnt for you thats cool, it isnt my thing either.... but ease up just a tad and youll be OK.

Good point about the colored clothing though, man i love it when im in the woods and the other team has players who wear yellow and white, I can see em a mile away......

[TheDuelist]

You know whats the worst thing about what is going to happen with this thread? Its going to turn into a war. Give it up and live like this.

Just play ball.

Its all paintball. Some like woods some like speedball a lot of people like them both. I appreciate the right for someone to voice their opinion and respect their opinion, but jeez. Can we give this whole woods vs speedball a break.

Play the game. Play the one you love to play and one day I hope to meet you in the middle.

[Muzikman]

I have given the same type of thoughts. For some reason over the past two years or so I have lost interest in playing. I have recently started to wonder if it was because of the huge explosion of speedball and the lack of woods ball. I have also wondered if it was the additudes of the people currently playing. Which ever the reason, I can honestly say I had more fun in the early/mid 90's playing woods ball every Saturday and Sunday then I do now when I might play once every few months.

[~WarpedRT#2~]

I agree with Dualist. Just play. Whatever your personal preference is, jsut play.

Yes, most peoples version of speedball is to empty your hopper as fast as possible, but other people have a different style of play. I dont shoot real fast,(atleast I didnt unitl I got an Angel) But there is alot of stategy in speedball. movement and firing must be executed almost perfectly to ensure a win.

Woodsball on the otherhand is playing against not only just another person, but their mind as well. I've sat less than 20 feet way from someone (red tank cover and all) oin the wood, almost directly in front of him,a nd it took me more than an hour of slow, steady movement to actually get around behind him. He just layed there, staring off into the woods never even knew I was there. If that doesnt get your heart pumping, nothing will.

Two different games, for different people. It's all paintball.

[coolcatpete]

just an observation I have made over along period of time... I have noticed that all people who make fun of speedball or say that it is stupid all have below 20 posts this doesnt mean anything is specific. But an inference can be made that their newbs and most newb want to be (snipers) or just like woodsball and not speedball. I have also noticed from working at my course the people who play speedball their first time and light everybody up like it and come back to the course and they play lots of speedball and then end up entering our tournaments. However when I see a newb get lit up on the speedball field they ussaly say its gay and barrely come back if at all or just play woods alot. My first time playing I played speedball with advice from a skilled player who was reffing, and he told me to bunker people as well as move so I did so and I bunkered everyone off the break. Now I love speedball like most people and I enter lots of tournies. So I am an example of on of these types of people. This one guy I know some people on here may know who I am talking about, but is your on sernaio and woods guy and will ony play speedball if everyone has pumps. He said the first time he played speedball he got shot off the break. Now he is only woodsball guy. I think I have illistrated why people may have different opinions about this. I know one is not better than the other neccisarly and it is all preference. I think that all of the advanced speedball players may agree with my theroy but hay it just a theroy.

P.S. oh yeah I noticed people that started paintball when it was only in the woods and they were all ready old and now they like woods and speedball about the same or woods more.

[Konigballer]

I love all these reflective post by "oldschoolers" who gripe n' gripe about how great the game "used to be". About how all of them posessed supreme skills that dwarf players on the field today and "they could do [blah blah blah blah] with just their trusty Nelspot while wearing their lovable tiger stripes". Get over yourself, seriously. The sport has grown and expanded in a so many different directions since the time "you played the game" and your going to have to except that 'cause its not going to regress, only progress. If you just cant handle the changes then theres always golf. I'm sorry we all are'nt sneaking around the woods playing soldier with pumps looking like a bunch of militia rednecks, theres always scenario games. I didnt "fall" for speedball, I like it. So do alot of others. No one wants to hear your griping just because your mad that speedball is more marketable, popular, and is the standardized tournement format across the nation.

[Python14]

I prefer woodsball over speedball actually, but I'll be a monkeys uncle if I said I didn't enjoy speedball. I just like paintball and will play it whereever I should roam

[Vash02]

MY GOD...i cant believe someone described speedball as pure luck...Trust me there is TONS of teamwork involved in speedball. I would say just as much if not more than woodsball . I am a back man and so you go ahead and tell my front men that are tucked behind a tiny bunker that we dont need teamwork and they can do it all by themselves. How do you think those front guys find out where the other team is? DUR, its me shouting commands and letting those guys know where the other team is. I like to play woodsball every once in a while but the thing that turns me away is that most of the people that play woodsball generally have a horable outlook on speedball.

[Lohman446]

Actually... and I will say first of all that I really really enjoy paintball - both woods and speed.

My Rookie 3-man tournament team and I play woodsball on Sunday mornings, Sundays PM is speedball. When playing in the woods we take our standard positions - me in front, one midman, and one backman. You would be surprised how much the game changes when you use Speedball tactics in the woods, we do this often. I am often picked into a woods team with the words "he shoots A LOT of paint".

I guess this is it, woodsball requires more patience to play conventionally, patience i have but seldom use with the lure of the speedball field. I shoot a lot of paint, I love the rush of the combat more than the rush of strategy, but can easily see the lure of the woods.

BTW - my next marker (if not an e-mag) is going to be an illusion pump, so its not all about throwing paint.

[hitech]

What I have noticed (I started playing in 1986) is that speedball is a subset of woodsball. You loose some of the game. You really can't move like you can in woodsball. Stealth is gone. It really has turned into mostly a game of elimination. There are two basic skills required in speedball. That ability to not get hit and the ability to hit someone else. Sure, there are other skills that come into play every now and then, but the better you are at those two the better speedball player you are.

[iownamag]

Most all the articles I've read in magazines have sad differently because to most people speedball requires more skill and coordination for a team to win. This is because more often in speedball than in rec ball you see teams with specific moves and plays with particular bunkers. Not to mention that not only does it actually take skill not just luck to hit a good opposing player in speedball, but it also takes skill to not get yourself hit when wearing bright colors and hiding behind a bunker often just about 20 feet or so away from your enemy. It also involves more athletecism (is that how you spell it? oh well) and agility to run around at such close range and not get shot. Of course this is all my opinion, I just played speedball myself for the second time in my life last weekend because I'm joining a team with my friends and I love it.