The Skill Gap (ohh yes its long)

[CodeMA]

well, Bro... I stopped playing true rec on a regular bases ages ago, I have the luxury of being near a feild with very few noobs ever showing, and generally with guys that have played longer then me, and have been in the tourney scean longer...if Im not playing with them Im off somewere else praticeing, so I guess that keeps me from ever being truely bored...

Ive also picked up a pump as you already know, not the best, but still quite nice(and nicer once I get it the way I want it) to play around with when Im not praticeing(and possibly when, depends what mood Im in I guess) for that extra challenge factor...

Im going to have to say keep 1 high end tourney quality marker and get a decent pump, drop more cash into each with the proceeds from the mid level markers, go find a local 3 man and start rocking the tourney scean, if nothing else, hit the pratices, step back from rec for a month or two... if you have the need/cash to play a little rec, do so with the pump...

Dont go to the same feild constantly, it will burn you out faster as well, play with diffrent people, diffrent setups, etc it helps, viriety is the spice of life after all...

Oh and if you find yourself playing rec, have them stack teams against you take two more, play 5 of them or something similar... Also find a place to reff some, theres something about it that seems to keep you fresh and wanting to play, I think its the getting shot up and not being able to shoot back factor


Sniper King, I dont beleive he was asking for playing tips at all...

[Lee]

been playing off and on for 16 years and pump is still where it's at. get a decent one (i reccomend snipers) and take on any and all.

[bryceeden]

I know what you mean, my team and I outnumber ourselves 6 to 1 in bith woodsball and speedball and still always win. The solution is SC phantoms the game is ALOT more challenging with a pump against all the trickd out tourney guns and you get alot better very quickly. I would however suggest you try afew big tourneys and see what you think.

[the electrician]

well you said something about money. if that is a main issue, along with wanting to improve your playing and still have fun, I like pump for that purpose. you can play against others who are using semi, it makes you improve your game, you shoot less, spend less, and it is an absolute blast. especially when you goggle someone with a (~insert favorite electro gun here~).

personally, I want to enjoy paintball on my own time, no team practices or have-to-attend events. I just plain can't commit to that, too many resposibilties already (new baby boy and such). most of the time it's about building something that does it for me.

you can try pump, see if you like it. it won't cost you alot to try it. you can always go back to semi, or try tournaments afterwards if it just doesn't do it for you.

[GT]

Awsome posts guys this is the reason I am an AO'er. I see a few action items here that might make a pretty concise summery (sorry guys my spelling is painfully bad, I have not had a chance to load Word on this rig)

Possible Action Items
1. Get a group of good guys togther for play (I think this might go nicely with a monthly AO-Tx mini-meets bewteen austin, houston, san antonio, and dfw. If we all stay at eachothers houses it would greatly decrease the costs)
2. buy a pump
3. start practicing with a few local teams
4. Go out of my way to help the noobs out
5. Start playing a few local tourneys this comming season
6. hopperball

Little note about money:
I dont think I made that point clear, its not an issue of afforability rather value. Inother words if I am spending 2-500 per month playing deep into the tourney season and seeing little return, I will become very concerned.

When a hobby becomes that expensive with little bennifit I become very concerned, besides I could go back to racing cars for that kind of cash.


p.s. I will catch you online sometime squid...

[MaChu]

Lets see, my first paintball game was when I was ten...so 1998? 3 years I played recball at a local place called Crossfire. Then the owners and the team were impressed with my aggressiveness that they put me up on their team. For 2 years I played some local tournaments, played in the Pure Energy 5 man, or was it the PMI, I forgot. Then I burned out. I haven't played for a year, it just got too expensive. But Im coming back in soon, hooray!

Advice for getting in the tournament mode:
1.Get Noticed
If you want to lighten the load on your pocket book then get noticed by a local team that has some store/manufacturer sponsorships. They will pay for your entry, air and sometimes if your lucky a few cases of paint for your team to split. To get recognized, play smart, make some impressive, awe inspiring moves.

2.Train
Yes, this may sound like overkill but it does help when your down 2 players and its 5v3, in the final minute of the qualifying round, and you have run yourself ragged. Go run some miles, do wind sprints(this helps alot getting to the fifty), diet, do some weight training, not a lot, you don't want to be bulky and slow on the field. Do some practices with local teams in their 1v1, 2v1, snap shooting exercises, 30 sec countdown, etc.

3.HAVE FUN
Even with all the playing tournaments, don't forget to have fun with your teamates. I burned out because I didn't, it just wasn't that fun to play when half the time you hate 2 people on your team that just curse and blame everything on something. I made a mistake of putting my team before my friends who played recball and I payed dearly for it. In the end, try to get some friends or make friends on that team, or you will burn out quick.

[bunkerhugger]

Pick skills to practice if - off hand shooting, crawling, small bunker, one bunker for the whole game - then do only that for weeks at a time.

You don't have to play tournaments to get the thrill - be a walk on at tourney practice. All the skill improvements at half the cost.

Scenario games - get on the goofy side of paintball. See what you can do with costumes, specialized gadgets, etc.

Renegade - it's always fun to go out and find your own field, and play while praying the cops don't come.

[slade]

Renegade - it's always fun to go out and find your own field, and play while praying the cops don't come.

my friend and i got kicked out of our outlaw field after almost a year of working on it... it was small, but was actually better made than most outdoor fields ive been to...

[judster]

well i guess ill go against the grain here and say try scenarios. ive been playing sence 92 and just like you and a bunch of others here, got to the point where rec play was boreing. i tried tourneys and it just wasnt my thing, however scenario ball is. its like nothing you have ever done dude. it will not drain your pocket book and its an entire weekend of fun with 100-500 of your friends. give me a shout if your intrested i can point ya in the right direction to scenarios and im here in houston as well.
email: [email protected]
AIM: atmcwedg
im always willing to talk about scenarios

[Lohman446]

I will have to admit that I am not at the skill level that a lot of you guys are at on this, and going to my local field can still prove to be quite a challenge. Of course my local field has some extremly good and extremely experienced players on it. The question becomes why do you play paintball - I play it as much for the friendships I have at the field as for the game - there are days I go to the field without a marker.

And I agree with what a lot of the people said on this one - when you play rec, don't be so serious. The moves that are desperation moves in tournaments are fun in rec - and they will get you noticed. Play a different position - I used to whine about my backplayers lack of communication until I played back a few games - its harder than it looks. Practice something different - play one game with your offhand entirely. I have gone as far as putting broken paint into my hopper to deal with or causing a barrel break before the start of a game - these are things you might end up dealing with on field, and skills seldom practiced. Pump play is great, you learn a lot about the field with it, at least I did. Play in the woods... try taking the flag while firing the minimum number of shots possible and try to improve on that (zero btw, I have done it with zero shots fired). Try to bunker as many people as possible in the woods and get them to surrender. Play scenarios - and get one good player who does not mind eliminations to hang with you - then be your own "team" and see how many objectives you can accomplish by doing things in an odd way. For example Excalibur in Battle Creek has a back way around the village - if you climb down the drainage ditch and dont mind going through some thick brush you can come up behind the first flag station, off to the edge of the reinsertion point and ambush everyone watching the other way.

[Recon by Fire]

Possible Action Items
1. Get a group of good guys togther for play (I think this might go nicely with a monthly AO-Tx mini-meets bewteen austin, houston, san antonio, and dfw. If we all stay at eachothers houses it would greatly decrease the costs)
3. start practicing with a few local teams
5. Start playing a few local tourneys this comming season

I'm your Huckleberry GTRSI, lets you, Jason, and I get together (and anyone else) and run some 3 man scrimages. I saw Jason last wekend BTW and we got in a few games.

I agree the rec-ball generally is not going to increase your skill level. Sometimes it is hard to get in any practice time with the teams when you are not on one, some don't want walk-ons interferring with their practice and some you'd just rather not socialize with anyway. I have always heard playing against those btter than you, is the best way to improve. Anyways, if you ask me the bottom line is all about the enjoyment factor.

[GT]

I'm your Huckleberry GTRSI, lets you, Jason, and I get together (and anyone else) and run some 3 man scrimages. I saw Jason last wekend BTW and we got in a few games.

I would have been there last weekend but I was in S. Padre. When I meet you out there about a month ago I had a blast.

judster:
Where the hell have you been, lol? I find more and more AO'ers live in houston that I have never meet.

Here is what I am going to do: I want to start an email list serve with all of our AO kin. We can send emails out to each other when alot of us will be out at the feild. This maybe a great opertunity for all of us to play with some of the more mature pb'ballers out there. It will also put some of us who may want to play tourneys intouch with eachother.

[brightman]

I agree with recon, we need to get out and run three man scrimages, no 15 on 15...recon we are going out on the 13th?...not this sunday but the next so you can shoot me a few more times...

[Vanced]

This is my 14th year playing Paintball ... and I played a little of just about everything ... and the only advice I can say is no matter what level or style of paintball you are playing just always ask yourself are you truely having fun ...

I have seen tourny guys get totally caught up in numbers, odds, stratigies, and win at all cost and start fighting among teamates and long time friendships get busted up ... or spend every penny they got or have paintball cause major family problems at home...

I have seen guys obsessed with their skills and kills that they have ran many a newbie off the field bonus balled nearly to death only to send them home crying never to come back ...

But I have also seen teams of "FRIENDS" that play a few tournies every year and still love it... or the same group of guys that for one weekend put their lives on hold to go grab some rentals and cook up some hot dogs for a day of it...

Or Guys who loan their higher end gear to so and so's little brother so he can have more fun as they play with their pump or what ever...

I am a very laid back person by nature... and I can say I have been blessed to have a circle of a dozen or so guys I have been playing on and off with for years... and it is just all about friendship and bragging rights... and bottom line having fun...

So when you go to field ... try all the suggestions made by others... they will over all cost you little if anything at all ... and just ask yourself are you having fun ... and adjust what you are doing one way or another ... and this will change often... as you get older and your proirties change...

If it is playing at a higher level ... against better players or against better gear... or taking the time to help out the less experinced or younger players to bring them up to provide a better challege for you ... It just all boils down into what type of person you are and what pushes your buttons about the sport... For me it is now mainly just hanging out with friends that as we get together very rarely since we gotten older and our lives have taken us in differnt directions... and of course the bragging rights from lighting one of them up... and telling bad stories of the "ole" days...LOL ... not to mention we are all very competitive by nature... so it is always a lively game when we are at the field.. and try to make it as fun for everyone around us... because when it comes to this game as so many others... I have found that the fun and enjoyment is contagious....

[Jeffy-CanCon]

There's a lot of good advice in this thread!

I'll echo what I have found best for me, to keep loving rec play over the years:

1) When you play with walk-ons, go lower-tech. Pump, or even stock-class
2) Play different fields, and different formats - try a big game, or a scenario
3) Find (or start) a group of experienced players to play with.

All these work well, especially together. My club has a core of a dozen or so guys who all play like that, and are still enjoying paintball (and still learning) 8-10 years on.

Every now and then, if you wonder if you are still learning, try another tourney. :)