7 Ways A Newbie Paintball Player Can Learn Everything They Need

Written by Andrea Wilson


Paintball is a great game for getting a lot of exercise, challenging yourself and having fun. But as a newbie, you may find yourself embarrassed because you don’t knowrepparttar rules, or intimidated by more experienced players. You may be hesitant to go out and play your first game because you’re not sure what to expect. If you do some research first, you will quickly find thatrepparttar 110938 information you need to feel a lot more comfortable and a 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 paintball is a "war game." However, it’s really more like hide-and-seek, withrepparttar 110939 marking ofrepparttar 110940 opposing team beingrepparttar 110941 way to tagrepparttar 110942 person out. This is especially true of recball, woodsball, jungle paintball and scenario games. It is advised that you do not refer torepparttar 110943 opposing team as "the enemy" or a mark as a "kill"! Some communities have shut down paintball because players engaged in "war" talk during and after a game.

How to Quickly and Easily Find Useful Information About Paintball

1. Researchrepparttar 110944 Internet

The World Wide Web contains a vast storehouse of information on paintball. To makerepparttar 110945 best use ofrepparttar 110946 Internet, search Google or Yahoo for specific paintball terms like "woodsball tactics," instead ofrepparttar 110947 general term "paintball." Look for sites that list paintball rules and offer hints, tips, tactics and strategy. You can also check out sites that review paintball equipment, but beware: a newbie doesn’t need an expensive paintball gun to get started. Many ofrepparttar 110948 expensive guns don’t work any better than a good newbie gun. This is whatrepparttar 110949 paintball players who wrote "Paintball Heroes" say, "If you’re a newbie, buy a good quality semi-automatic gun, but don’t spend a fortune on it. And for goodness sake, learn how to clean it, load it, take it apart, and put it back together again...in your sleep!"

2. Read Books

Go online and visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com (Chapters.Indigo.ca in Canada). Search for books on paintball. Check outrepparttar 110950 reviewers’ comments carefully before you buy. Or better yet, trot down to your local big bookstore and see if you can find copies ofrepparttar 110951 paintball books you found online. Take time to browse through them and see which ones appeal to you most. Checkrepparttar 110952 local prices againstrepparttar 110953 prices online before you buy.

3. Read E-Books

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

To find other e-books, try searching for "paintball ebook" on Google or Yahoo. Ask around inrepparttar 110954 forums and pay attention to advertisements on paintball sites.

4. Studyrepparttar 110955 Forums

Also search for "paintball forums" and you will find experts and newbies alike sharing information about paintball equipment and strategy. However, be aware that much ofrepparttar 110956 information shared on forums is misleading, if not just plain wrong. Pay attention to what is said by forum leaders and well-known players, but take everything said by anyone else with a grain of salt...or a shaker of salt, for that matter!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Paintball 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

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

Is Paintball the Safest Game in Town?

Written by Andrea Wilson


5 Ways To Prevent Serious Injury When Playing Paintball

The chance of getting seriously injured while playing paintball is on a par with getting seriously injured while bowling! Bicycle riding and golf both have higher incidents of serious injury. And if you play lacrosse, your chance of being seriously injured is more than 700 times what it is if you play paintball. You can get allrepparttar statistics here: http://www.f4og.com/safe.html.

1. Insurance and Waiver Forms

Regardless ofrepparttar 110937 above, paintball fields will still require you to sign a waiver for insurance purposes. You can find an example of a waiver here: http://www.paintballtogo.com/waiver.htm.

If you're a player orrepparttar 110938 parent of a player and you're concerned about personal injury insurance, contact your insurance agent. If you're a paintball field owner concerned about insurance, you can check out this Web site: http://www.nsera.com/paintball/index.htm.

2. Eye Injury

Your required equipment includes a mask with built-in goggles. You need a mask for playing on any field or arena where you pay to play. This mask will include coverage of your full head and your eyes (goggles). You can’t wear shop glasses, or other types of safety glasses, asrepparttar 110939 force ofrepparttar 110940 paintball may crackrepparttar 110941 lens and send glass or plastic fragments into your eye.

Masks are not often found in exact sizes. However, you can wear a knit hat or baseball cap under a mask to keep it from sliding around if it’s too big. A backwards baseball cap also givesrepparttar 110942 back of your neck some protection from paint as many masks lack adequate neck coverage.

When do you have to wear your mask? You need a mask as soon you enterrepparttar 110943 playing field, when you’re waiting for another game to be finished and when you’re inrepparttar 110944 staging area. Masks must be worn throughoutrepparttar 110945 entire game, no matter what. You can’t lift or take off your mask, orrepparttar 110946 referee will take you out ofrepparttar 110947 game.

If you’re having problems with your goggles fogging or something obstructing your vision, call for a referee. Do not remove your mask! The one way you can get seriously injured in paintball is by getting shot inrepparttar 110948 eye. If this happens, immediately call for emergency medical attention. Do not try to treatrepparttar 110949 injury yourself!

Washable field paint is essentially non-irritating to eyes. However, if you do get paint splashed into your eye, flush your eye thoroughly with water for fifteen minutes. To be safe, you should also call for medical attention or travel torepparttar 110950 nearest medical center, clinic or hospital emergency room.

3. Knee and Ankle Injury

Many paintball sources recommend sneakers, tennis shoes, running shoes or other soft footwear to ensure you can move around as quietly as possible. However, if your ankles are weak, you’re playing in really rough terrain, or there are a lot of hills onrepparttar 110951 field, wear hiking boots!

I’ve seen a player wreck his knee from running uphill in sneakers. After seeing how much pain he was in, I now recommend choosing safety over stealth every time. After all, it’s just a game! And, hey, don’trepparttar 110952 military wear combat boots?

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