Paintball Tactics Good for Every Player to Know

The game of paintball is a fun recreational sport and can get pretty competitive. If you want to get into a game and have some fun it is good to know some tactics. The following tactics are some great basics that will help you improve your paintball game and stay alive and eligible for active play longer.

Solo or Personal Playing Strategies

These are good tactics to use when you are playing a free-play game or a solo play competition.

• Mobility: it is important to keep moving rather than finding a spot to hide and planning on staying there the whole game. Staying in one place for too long will give you away to other players.You also don't want to run around without a plan. Plan your moves accordingly, don't run out into the open in the middle of heavy fire. Plan moves before you make them. If possible get to know the layout of the playing field before the game.
• Cover: Cover is a life saver in the game of paintball. Cover is anything you can find to shield or protect yourself from being shot with a paintball. Be resourceful and use anything as cover: a tree, a bush, a tire, bale of hay, bunker wall, etc. Remember not to stay behind the same cover and to plan the next cover you will take before you leave the safety of your current cover. If you are playing multiple games in the same venue with the same opponents switch up the route you take and cover you will use so that no one will be able to figure out where you are going.
• Rate of Fire:  Some players like to fire as rapidly as possible (auto) and other players are more conservative firing one paintball at a time. The rate of fire for each player depends on their personal style and situation. If you are playing sniper you will want to use more of a one shot one kill method. A great time to use full auto is when you are providing cover shooting, a great strategy usually used in team play. Full auto is sometimes used as a last ditch effort to save yourself in an ambush.
• Confidence: this tactic is much like what is used in professional sports. Show confidence so that other players will take you seriously. Get your game face on and show you are a serious player.
• Sniping: This is the hardest position to play in the game of paintball. Sniping takes more skill and a gun that can shoot farther distances. Usually you will see a sniper in serious camo. They find a position to take a slow and sure shot from, and then they move on to remain undetected.

Team Play Tactics

When playing paintball on a team you have to protect yourself as well as your mates. The fewer teammates you have that are still alive the less your chances are of staying in the game.

• Leap Frogging: This is a widely used term that you may hear a lot. Leap frogging is the practice of the team covering players one by one as the whole team advances or retreats. The first player fires cover while the second player runs to the next point of cover. This is repeated until the last player on the team is safely to new cover. This technique requires great team work on everyone's part.
• Flanking: This is the practice of having some players stay in the middle while others go around the outside to attempt to surround the other team with the hope of catching the other team by surprise. This is a bold strategy that could cost a few players but end up winning the team the game in the end.
• Cover Fire Rushing: Several members of the team fire their guns providing cover while the rest of the team rushes the field. Rushers use physical cover while advancing. Some teams use this in hopes to intimidate the other team and get them to retreat.
• False Retreat: This is where your team begins to retreat in hopes of luring the other team out in the open in advancement. While the other team is advancing they meet the rest of your team’s fire. Some players frown upon this tactic but in some games it may need to be used as a last resort to win the game.
• Ambush: This is one of the most common tactics. The whole team quietly takes cover around an obstacle or trial way and waits for the other team to come through and then hits them with fire all at the same time causing confusion and taking the other team out. Be careful not to get caught in crossfire during the chaos.

The best way to improve at any type of paintball play, of course is practice. Keep at the game and you will get better every time you play. If you are serious about doing paintball on more of a competitive level you will need to practice regularly.

For more information on the game of paintball or tactical laser tag feel free to browse our blog. For some great paintball fun in Springfield come in for a game or contact us to come to you.