7 Ways A Newbie Paintball Player Can Learn Everything They Need
By Andrea Wilson, Fri Dec 9th

Paintball is a great game for getting a lot of exercise,challenging yourself and having fun. But as a newbie, you mayfind yourself embarrassed because you don’t know the rules, orintimidated by more experienced players. You may be hesitant togo out and play your first game because you’re not sure what toexpect. If you do some research first, you will quickly findthat the information you need to feel a lot more comfortable anda lot less like a newbie is easily found, especially online.

But first a note of warning for all newbies...

Paintball is Not a War Game!

Many people mistakenly believe that is a "war game."However, it’s really more like hide-and-seek, with the markingof the opposing team being the way to tag the person out. Thisis especially true of recball, woodsball, jungle andscenario games. It is advised that you do not refer to theopposing team as "the enemy" or a mark as a "kill"! Somecommunities have shut down because players engaged in"war" talk during and after a game.

How to Quickly and Easily Find Useful Information About Paintball

1. Research the Internet

The World Wide Web contains a vast storehouse of information onpaintball. To make the best use of the Internet, search Googleor Yahoo for specific terms like "woodsball tactics,"instead of the general term "paintball." Look for sites thatlist rules and offer hints, tips, tactics andstrategy. You can also check out sites that review paintballequipment, but beware: a newbie doesn’t need an expensivepaintball gun to get started. Many of the expensive guns don’twork any better than a good newbie gun. This is what thepaintball players who wrote "Paintball Heroes" say, "If you’re anewbie, buy a good quality semi-automatic gun, but don’t spend afortune on it. And for goodness sake, learn how to clean it,load it, take it apart, and put it back together again...in yoursleep!"

2. Read Books

Go online and visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com(Chapters.Indigo.ca in Canada). Search for books on paintball.Check out the reviewers’ comments carefully before you buy. Orbetter yet, trot down to your local big bookstore and see if youcan find copies of the books you found online. Taketime to browse through them and see which ones appeal to youmost. Check the local prices against the prices online beforeyou buy.

3. Read E-Books

You may find a few e-books online, too, but these areharder to find than print books. "Paintball Heroes" athttp://www.paintballheroes.com is a great e-book for beginners.It was written by two teenage fanatics!

To find other e-books, try searching for "paintball ebook" onGoogle or Yahoo. Ask around in the forums and pay attention toadvertisements on sites.

4. Study the Forums

Also search for "paintball forums" and you will find experts andnewbies alike sharing information about equipment andstrategy. However, be aware that much of the information sharedon forums is misleading, if not just plain wrong. Pay attentionto what is said by forum leaders and well-known players, buttake everything said by anyone else with a grain of salt...or ashaker of salt, for that matter!

- Air-Powered.com (Autococker Owners Group) - http://www.air-powered.com

- Atomix Forums - http://www.atomixpaintball.com/vb

- BSG Forums - http://www.bsgpaintball.com/forums

- Calgary Forums -http://xtremepaintballcanada.com/calgary/forums

- Epic Forums - http://www.epicpaintball.com (Click on"Forums.")

- Fat Bob’s Forum -http://www.fatbobsdirect.com/forum/index.php

- Force of Nature Forums - http://www.forceofnature.com/invision

- New York City Forums -http://www.nycpaintball.com/forums/index.php

- P8ntballer-Forums.com - http://www.p8ntballer-forums.com

- Addict Forums - http://www.pb-addict.com

- PaintballArizona.com Forums -http://www.paintballarizona.com/modules.php?name=Forums

- Paintball.com Forums - http://paintball.com/pb/forums/index.cfm

- Central Forums - http://www.pballcentral.com/forum

- PaintballCow.com

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Forum (Oregon) -http://paintballcow.ipbhost.com/index.php

- PaintballForum.ca - http://www.paintballforum.ca

- PaintballForum.com - http://www.paintballforum.com

- PaintballForums.com - http://www.paintballforums.com

- PaintballForums.net - http://www.paintballforums.net

- Paintball-Forums.com/BGnM’s Forums -http://www.paintball-forums.com

- Paintball-Guns.com - http://www.paintball-guns.com/forums.htm

- In 5 Forum - http://www.pbn5.com/paintball_forum

- Review Forums - http://www.paintball-review.com/forums/index.php

- PballCanada.com - http://forum.pballcanada.com

- PbFreak.net Forums - http://www.pbfreak.net

- PbNation - http://www.pbnation.com

- Phoenix Forum -http://www.paintballuk.com/phoenix/forum/default.asp

- Southwest Forums (UK) -http://www.southwestpaintball.co.uk/forum/index.php

- Utah Forums - http://www.mypaintball.com

- Vancouver Forums -http://xtremepaintballcanada.com/vancouver/forums/index.php

- WARPIG Rec Talk - http://www.warpig.com/forums/rec

5. Subscribe to Magazines

There are several good magazines, both in print andonline.

For print magazines, go to your local bookstore and spend sometime at the magazine racks. Pick the magazine that appeals toyou most and look in the front for their Web address (URL) orsubscription address. Subscribe online or by mail. It's a lotcheaper to subscribe to a magazine than to buy it each monthfrom the newsstand.

For online magazines, search on Yahoo or Google for "paintballmagazine online" or "online magazine." Several onlinemagazines are listed in the Resources section of the "PaintballHeroes" ebook, including:

- Action Pursuit Games - http://www.actionpursuitgames.com

- Crossfire Magazine - http://www.crossfiremag.com

- Force of Nature - http://www.forceofnature.com

- Games International -http://www.p8ntballer.com/magazine/index.shtml

- Sports International -http://www.paintballsportsint.com

- The Times - http://www.paintballtimes.com

- 2Xtremes Magazine - http://www.paintball2xtremes.com

6. Watch Experienced Players

So, you just got marked, eh? Disappointed? Well, don’t be, thisis your opportunity to quietly observe those more experiencedplayers from the sidelines. Pay attention to:

- The way they hold their gun

- The way they move from bunker to bunker

- The way they signal to their teammates.

See if you can figure out their plan. All good players go intoevery game knowing the plan their team decided on before thegame started. Here are some questions to ask yourself as youobserve experienced players:

- What are they wearing?

- How do they shoot from a bunker?

- How do they steady their gun?

- What bunkers do they choose? See if you can figure out why.

- How do they keep from getting marked?

Keep mental notes of everything you see. Later, compare what younoted with the information you’ve been researching. Where doesit match? Where are there differences? Can you figure out why?Does it have to do with:

- The terrain

- The type of game being played

- The player’s age or experience

- The rules of the field

- The player’s style of play or position (point man, safety,sniper, back man, front man, rover, etc.)?

7. Volunteer

Later, when you have a few games under your belt, volunteer toreferee at your local field. This is the fast way to becoming anexpert player, as you are able to observe not only thegreat players’ methods, but all the newbie mistakes, too.

Pay Attention to the Experts, Not to the Know-it-alls

All in all, information can be found easily andquickly, especially online. Just remember to go to the expertsfor help (books, e-books, magazines, forum leaders, pro players,etc.) and to stay away from the newbie-talk and ramblings ofknow-it-alls that fill many of the forums.

About the author:Andrea Wilson is a writer and the mother of a teenage paintballfanatic. To learn more about paintball, she recommends you takea look at http://www.PaintballHeroes.com andhttp://www.PaintballPicks.com.