Talking Bollox .... Myths demistified !!

[Tony Harrison]

I think money is the single most important consideration.

If you don't have any, you can't even think about playing. Pretty much all the skillsets, apart from the paintball "sixth sense" can be taught.
If you want to play pro, you need to set aside several years of your life and the price of a small house.

And I'd put Commitment at a solid second place - too many young players want overnight success, and the average shelf life of tournament players is incredibly short.

 

[Robbo]

I think money is the single most important consideration.

If you don't have any, you can't even think about playing. Pretty much all the skillsets, apart from the paintball "sixth sense" can be taught.
If you want to play pro, you need to set aside several years of your life and the price of a small house.

And I'd put Commitment at a solid second place - too many young players want overnight success, and the average shelf life of tournament players is incredibly short.

Sean, there's no doubt that money is a factor but because there has been a huge reduction in terms of industry support for teams across the board, it's had the effect of flattening out the relative benefits some teams have had over others.
Today's teams are closer together with respect to skill-sets and so it's difficult to differentiate the effect of minimal financial advantages.

I'm not so sure I can agree with you concerning the acquisition of a sixth sense being closely linked with financial advantage.
However, I do think there is a somewhat tenuous connection between finances and practice-time such that instinctive play [or as you call it a 'sixth sense'] is an emergent property of extended game time.
I'm not altogether sure that playing pro requires such an extensive commitment as you imply but I do agree it takes more than most ballers are willing to give.
You made some interesting points though I'm not so sure I agree with their priority leastwise the relative importance you assign.
Good post either way !!

 

[Nev]

I don't usually post. To be honest i'm pretty much considered out of the game so ignore my post and call me a spammer if you like.
For me, Sean hit it right on the head.

I was involved in the sport for a while. Not to the same length as Robbo, but I was around when Nexus was blue and inspiring. It was quite nice reading these posts as Robbo taught me that even a small fish can take down a shark (when I was starting out), and Pebble taught me how to well-and-truely dominate the snake (when I was with NK).

I was a small fish who wanted to make an impact on a new sport, as I believed that I could. I was good at convincing people to depart from their cash and dive into the sport, and by sheer determination, loans (damaging loans), and support from teammates and sponsors, I was able to witness (first hand) the rise and fall of many talents in my time.

The one thing that i saw often was great players exit the sport due to financial failures.
I personally had to take seasons out to focus on my career, just so that I could make a safe return.

I believe that the greatest paintballer on Earth, has never set foot on a paintball field.

Football is cheap. Get a ball, play. You can play it with that single item of equipment. You can do it in your garden, the local park, your bedroom, anywhere. The point is that it's so cheap that most people have tried it, so most people know whether they like it, and most people know whether they're likely to take it to the next level.

Paintball is and always has been inaccessible.
You cant play it at your local park - pretty dangerous and illegal.
You have to spend money every time you play/train - paint, entry fees, batteries, travel costs.
You need a tonne of gear to play - marker, loader, bottle, reg, goggles, tubes etc.

For this reason, and this reason alone, I believe the greatest baller is yet to show their face.

As for top tens, I feel all those lists could be questioned and debated.
I'd offer a simple top 3:

1. The love/passion for the sport and winning
2. Stacks of cash to play the sport
3. A team that get on well, care for each other and strive for success

Things like accuracy, working equipment, staying tight, verbal communication, visual awareness (in my opinion) basically disappear when these 3 are covered.

At the end of the day if you don't want your mates to get shot, you'll look out for them.
If you have a good team they'll tell you where your failing and they'll help you get there.
You'll sit out when you know you're not on form.
If you don't want your team to lose, you'll do everything to become the player they need on the field.
With more players in a squad then whats on the field there will always be enough gear to go round if someone is having gear drama and everyone in the team has trust.
Accuracy can be achieved by volume also - I'd never consider myself an accurate shooter, but i eliminated my fair share simply by being in the right place at the right time, or just launching a mega payload in the general direction

I love the sport. Always have and always will.
I know others will too, but the price will always keep them away.

Love you all
Peace.

 

[Bolter]

.

hey Nev! Great to hear from you! Hope you are well?

 

[Nev]

hey Nev! Great to hear from you! Hope you are well?

Yeah I'm all good cheers. Living the dream
I hope that you're well too. Are you still living in the area?

 

[Robbo]

I now face a dilemma because of this thread - I set up this sub-forum so people could learn about our game and hopefully, we've accomplished this, at least in part.
However, this is my problem:- If I put up a post that states something like, 2+2=4, and someone else comes along and posts, '2+2=a pineapple' .... do I correct this, or do I let it slide because everyone is entitled to an opinion?

The whole idea of this sub-forum is to cut through a lot of the BS and focus people's attention on what's correct - I fully acknowledge that paintball is not an exact science and therefore open to the vagaries of misinterpretation but should I leave posts by other people [that might well mislead] or do I try to correct these misinterpretations?
I really do not wish to pis$ anyone off by putting them straight or maybe discouraging them from posting but there's a responsibility here that gets sidelined unless I step in.
The thing is, newbie players won't know what's right or what's wrong and therefore '2+2=a pineapple' might get equal credence.

Jimbo?
Ad?
Bon?
Jay?
Anyone?

 

[Nev]

Feel free to put me straight Robbo.
I'm not the sort to get Pi$$ed off over anything, and i'm happy to apologise/admit if I got something wrong or miss interpreted anything

 

[Robbo]

I don't usually post. To be honest i'm pretty much considered out of the game so ignore my post and call me a spammer if you like.
For me, Sean hit it right on the head.

I was involved in the sport for a while. Not to the same length as Robbo, but I was around when Nexus was blue and inspiring. It was quite nice reading these posts as Robbo taught me that even a small fish can take down a shark (when I was starting out), and Pebble taught me how to well-and-truely dominate the snake (when I was with NK).

I was a small fish who wanted to make an impact on a new sport, as I believed that I could. I was good at convincing people to depart from their cash and dive into the sport, and by sheer determination, loans (damaging loans), and support from teammates and sponsors, I was able to witness (first hand) the rise and fall of many talents in my time.

The one thing that i saw often was great players exit the sport due to financial failures.
I personally had to take seasons out to focus on my career, just so that I could make a safe return.

I believe that the greatest paintballer on Earth, has never set foot on a paintball field.

Football is cheap. Get a ball, play. You can play it with that single item of equipment. You can do it in your garden, the local park, your bedroom, anywhere. The point is that it's so cheap that most people have tried it, so most people know whether they like it, and most people know whether they're likely to take it to the next level.

Paintball is and always has been inaccessible.
You cant play it at your local park - pretty dangerous and illegal.
You have to spend money every time you play/train - paint, entry fees, batteries, travel costs.
You need a tonne of gear to play - marker, loader, bottle, reg, goggles, tubes etc.

For this reason, and this reason alone, I believe the greatest baller is yet to show their face.

As for top tens, I feel all those lists could be questioned and debated.
I'd offer a simple top 3:

1. The love/passion for the sport and winning
2. Stacks of cash to play the sport
3. A team that get on well, care for each other and strive for success

Things like accuracy, working equipment, staying tight, verbal communication, visual awareness (in my opinion) basically disappear when these 3 are covered.

At the end of the day if you don't want your mates to get shot, you'll look out for them.
If you have a good team they'll tell you where your failing and they'll help you get there.
You'll sit out when you know you're not on form.
If you don't want your team to lose, you'll do everything to become the player they need on the field.
With more players in a squad then whats on the field there will always be enough gear to go round if someone is having gear drama and everyone in the team has trust.
Accuracy can be achieved by volume also - I'd never consider myself an accurate shooter, but i eliminated my fair share simply by being in the right place at the right time, or just launching a mega payload in the general direction

I love the sport. Always have and always will.
I know others will too, but the price will always keep them away.

Love you all
Peace.

Nev, I had your post in mind when I asked what was best to do in terms of responding or letting it slide.
I subsequently read, and re-read your post and I agree with a lot of it - I think we might well differ when it comes down to the emphasis you place on some of your points.

But then I thought to myself, maybe other people should see alternative views of our sport - I might not agree with all the points you make but I do feel as though they make some degree of sense and so I'm gonna let it slide .. to a degree ... apart from this one general point.
You've obviously been deeply involved in our sport and know its reliance upon your bank account and although it's an important issue, I didn't include it because if we are to understand/investigate the foundations of paintball as a sport then it needs to be appreciated independently of financial resources.

I think there's some confusion between the ability to play [dependant upon money] and what it takes to be a winning team.
The point I'm struggling to make is, if you finance two teams with the same amount of money that enables both to play comfortably then you're no better placed to appreciate what skill-sets are needed for success - those required skill-sets for success are apparent in well-financed teams, and in under-financed teams ...

I'll refrain from all the other points but thanks for posting Nev - it made me think

 

[Nev]

If the question is, 'Whats the top 10 list of things a paintballer needs, to compete and advance?'.. then I stick by my guns. An honest answer I have given which you can accept or neglect at your own will. I'm happy to see other responses and see how other players feel about the subject.

If the question is 'If a newbie who is told that 2+2=pineapple (which may have happened above), how do we re-convince them that 2+2 actually equals 4'. Then my simple answer would be as follows:

Firstly we need to test their theory and confirm that 2+2 doesn't actually = pineapple.
This way we know that WE are not feeding bogus propaganda ourselves.
What we think we know (even as experienced players) is not always entirely correct, and there may be other ways to get the same or better results.
Once confirmed that we are indeed correct and 2+2 does in fact = 4, Lead by example and prove your case. Demonstrate.

I like to believe that keeping an open mind and a willingness to try/test anything is the key to advancement in any arena.

 

[Robbo]

I think our posts crossed over each other as we sent them in because I hadn't seen your post above when I posted my last submission - I'll answer as best as I can ... a bit later on !