Paintball NPPL (How do I become a professional paintball player?)

Paintball NPPL

How do I become a Pro?

Every kid that's ever strapped on a mask and picked up a marker has wanted to play paintball in the NPPL. We're talking speedball NPPL here, mind you. I remember my very good friend Rafe, who was once a semi-pro paintball player, tell me about the first time he played the legendary Ironmen Team in an speedball NPPL setting.

"Everybody fixed their own gun. You brought your bag and you had whatever tools you could get and you might have to borrow tools or parts if you're gun went down. I remember sitting around talking with some guys I was trying to borrow something from and this big truck came in... a diesel. We thought it was there to drop off supplies to the vendors... chips, sodas and all that. When the back came up it was full of stuff. The guy that came around to open the truck was wearing an Ironmen shirt. The WHOLE truck was for the Ironmen. They had a complete tech station inside. If one of their guns went down they gave it to this guy and he'd disappear inside and return 20 minutes later with a fully operational gun. It blew our minds. How much did something like that cost?" he said to me, his eyes wistful, his details full of clarity as if it only happened last week.

He went on, "We had to play the Ironmen later, this was before Dynasty, and back then even Pro teams would come to paintball NPPL tournaments with gear that was cobbled together over time. Some guys would have matching jerseys, a few would not. Different guns, different hoppers, different stickers and everything else. We were waiting on the field and these guys game over this small hill over from where that monster truck was parked... it was like a movie or something. I'm not kidding. In a line... they all wore exactly the same thing. It was amazing. Same masks, markers, even their barrel plugs were the same. They all had their names on the back of their jerseys." He shakes his head remembering.

"I'd like to say we gave them a good fight, but they smashed us... Best day of my paintball life."

How do you, a new player, get to walk onto the field and play against guys like Oliver Lang, Rich Telford, Alex Fragie and the killers that make a living at this sport? It's going to sound crazy but the answer is practice.

But you have to practice the right things. You have to have the right form. You have to understand why you're doing the things you're doing in order to get to the NPPL. Speedball has no room for errors, it isn't like the recreational paintball you might have played. It's faster, even than the local speedball games you've played. Paintball at the highest level requires complete dedication. Probably you're going to have to practice every weekend and once or twice during the week with paint. And another two days a week on speed and strength drills.

Not easy.

You can get a free video (you have to pay for the shipping) over at How to Paintball Starring Oliver Lang, widely excepted as the best player EVER to have played paintball. I've met Oliver and seen some of his practice routines and let me tell you... this guy is in amazing shape.

Paintball NPPL rules is a start.
Speedball NPPL style is all out - including the pre game prep and post game analysis!

Good Luck

How to Paintball for Beginners

How to Paintball is a question asked all the time by people about to play paintball for the first time. They don't want to look like fools when they get out there so they want to have a good idea of what they are in for. If you're new... don't worry, we'll get you the basics so you don't have to worry about what you're doing wrong so you can just have FUN.

And Paintball is fun if you know how to do the basics. Everyone knows how to shoot a gun but you have to know a little bit more than that... but not much more! lol.

First thing is the field.

A Paintball field comes in three forms. A speedball field (often using NPPL rules), a recreation (or rec) ball field and a woods field.

Speedball:

Speedball is small and uses inflatable bunkers. This is the big time and when you get out to a field don't play here unless you want a fast but very harsh learning curve... these players are usually fairly good to very, very good and the game is very, very fast.

NPPL is the "pro" league and the dream of most of these players... you don't really need to know these rules other than if you get shot anywhere on your body you hold your gun high in the air... wait, then stand and walk off the side of the field or back to the beginning.

Rec Ball:

Rec ball (or recreation ball, buy trust me say "I want to play rec ball") is played on a much bigger field. It will have an assortment of style's of bunkers (things you hide behind) such as broken down cars, airplanes, helicopters, giant wood cable spools are popular, as well as trenches, holes, wooden fortifications and sometimes wood castles. Anything really but inflatable bunkers.

Since you start so far apart you can usually get to a bunker and do some shooting for a while (unlike speedball where you're usually dead in a couple of intense minutes) and maybe move to a few new bunkers before your team over runs the other team or they get you.

Woods Ball:

You're out in the woods with only "natural" bunkers. Trees, rocks, bushes and the like. Fields are usually the largest here although they might have some constructed bunkers as well, just depends on the field. These usually take longer and often hold "scenario games" which are complicated, fun and will take an entry all by itself.

You can crawl around in the "woods" for an hour without shooting or getting shot at. Some people love this and others hate it. Figure out if it's your thing.

Does it hurt?

Yes. From far away is like getting flicked by a finger kind of hard. The closer they get the more it hurts. From 5 feet you will probably have a bruise about a quarter of an inch across. But no big deal. It really isn't that bad. Most people find they are relieved when they get hit because it isn't as bad as they thought it would be. ;)

Will I get hurt?

No. Paintball has the least injuries of any action sport. (acoording to statistics) Less than basketball, skateboarding, tennis, cycling... because people sort of stick to what they can do. Big, old or slow players shuffle to near by bunkers and fire from there. Young kids are careful at first and then gung ho... but all that means is sliding into a bunker. No one gets hurt sliding. You know if you can slide or not. You know haw fast you can run.

Will someone shoot me up close?

Some fields players will ask you to surrender without shooting you. If you're asked...immediately put your gun/marker into the air. If you don't they will shoot. Other fields don't have this rule. But usually on rec fields people don't have high end guns and their paintballs are slower and they usually get you from a distance... most times in the mask as you stick it out to look around. It really is safe.

Can a beginner compete at Paintball?

Yes. Especially at rec ball. You just have to know how to operate on he paintball field. You see mid level and low level guns are NOT accurate. Just watch your own balls go all over the place when you're trying to hit someone's face sticking out of a bunker about 10 inches. It's HARD. So it's hard for them to hit you as well.

Speedball can be a different story. About 10 to 20 percent of the kids have high end guns and these shoot the most accurate and often very fast. But once a kid has one of these guns he usuallly doesn't want to play rec ball. He's "too good" for it. So play rec ball first. Trust me you will LOVE this game. I've never seen anyone in all my years of paintball not LOVE it the first time they played. It's just a huge rush!

Do I need to buy a gun, paint or mask?

No. The fields all have very cheap rentals. Note that I said cheap. Not to worry, though. The game is still ridiculously fun even with a cheap gun that sends balls all over the field and with "field" paint that doesn't always break when it hits someone.

The masks fill fog up... everyone knows how to reach inside their mast and try and wipe it... only to make it worse! lol.

I recommend buying a mask even before a gun... I HATE having my mask fog up. Some fields have masks that don't fog... but don't count on it. It's a good first purchase once you realize you love this game.

Is Paintball Expensive?

Yes. Safe but expensive. Fun but expensive. Brilliant and primal but expensive. Do I recommend it? Yes. Everyone should play twice. The first time for the thrill the second time for the hunt. After that... decide if you can afford it.

How to Paintball for Beginners.