Training in the 21st Century

[Buddha 3]

Originally posted by your mom
haven't read every post here yet, but:
hiring a coach seems wierd there, simon malone, i'm not questioning ur commitment to improvement, but players should coach each other.(i guess by hiring you mean u pay the guy)
i have to say that unless u guys are doing 'revolutionary' things in ur training, which must be conducted in a secret underground base, you should share it with the amateur players and teams on the forums.

There are a number of points in your post that I don't agree with, but I'll settle for this one. Why is it weird to pay for a coach? A coach can be for a number of different things. For instance, you may know all there is to know about paintball techniques, but your game could still be improved by getting someone to teach you how to run properly. Believe me when I say that there is a whole science to running. Very few people are aware of the fact that they could be at least 25% faster and more agile if tought how to run properly. And unless you get someone to coach you on how to do it, you'll never learn. (it's one of the things my team is working on at the moment)
Spend a day on the tracks instead of on a Sup'Air field will be good for your game, but spending a day on the tracks with an athletics coach will seriously improve your game.

 

[Simon Malone]

Buddha3 got it, also I can't watch myself play. So wont be able to correct myself. However, if I hire an experienced coach to point out my mistakes, and teach me to not make them l'll get to where I want to go in half the time.

With my current team it's like the blind leading the blind, nobodies got the experience to guide us. So we got to pay somebody who does to lead us in the right direction

A small price to pay to ensure what were doing is worth while You decide................

Laters

 

[Liz]

Your Mom, first you say

hiring a coach seems wierd there, simon malone, i'm not questioning ur commitment to improvement, but players should coach each other.(i guess by hiring you mean u pay the guy)
i have to say that unless u guys are doing 'revolutionary' things in ur training, which must be conducted in a secret underground base, you should share it with the amateur players and teams on the forums.

Then straight away you say

and how about instead of crappy tournies nobody cares about, robbo, you organize a day at the local field where all the local amateur teams can come and be coached by the 'pros' i think this would show people what it really takes to be pro player and teach them their weaknesses and how to train better too. if you want people to consider paintball a sport, and paintballer as atheletes, then you could set this up as a way of giving the joes shmoes a chance to see what it takes.

So what's the difference in Simon wanting to get a top Pro along to train his team, and Robbo getting some top Pros to coach some teams? The only difference I can see is that Simon's way you get a bit more time spent on your team than if you have to share with others. And of course you'd have to pay the coach in either case - why should they give up their day & travel possibly miles just to help someone else for free? Decent coaches get paid whatever sport you're talking about.

 

[your mom]

maybe so, but i just thought it was a little wierd for a paintball team to pay someone to coach them as a way to improve. if you really want to milk yourself for every ounce of improvement, than ok, i guess, but i know i couldn't afford to pay someone.

'coaching' the amateurs may not seem different, but think of it as football camp or baseball camp.

sorry my post is so conflicted.

 

[Buddha 3]

Originally posted by your mom


sorry my post is so conflicted.

No need to apologise, you just expressed your opinion, nothing wrong with that.

 

[Liz]

Originally posted by your mom
maybe so, but i just thought it was a little wierd for a paintball team to pay someone to coach them as a way to improve. if you really want to milk yourself for every ounce of improvement, than ok, i guess, but i know i couldn't afford to pay someone.

'coaching' the amateurs may not seem different, but think of it as football camp or baseball camp.

sorry my post is so conflicted.

No probs Your Mom. I happen to know Simon quite well & all he's doing is trying to get the very best for his team. One or two sessions with a really top flight coach can make a lot of difference to performance & give them something to work on later when the coach isn't around. An amateur coach can only take someone so far. Don't know if he still does it what with his other committments (e.g. Nexus) but Robbo himself used to take teams for training days.

 

[Robbo]

For what it's worth, my take on it is this, aspiring teams, and here I am talking about teams who really are serious about making significant improvements, have to drastically change the way they organise their teams and train.

I agree there is a problem for teams like Simon's who may well be serious but unfortunately do not have the required expertise when it comes to knowing what to do, how to do it and then how to organise it.
And Simon is right; teams like this will always hit a plateau and be unable to get past it unless they get that extra help from somebody who knows what they are doing.
I don't really know how many people we got over here in the UK who are even close to what is required to supply the am and novice teams with what they would need, only a handful I would say.
And the problem is, most of these guys and we are probably talking about three or four here, are gonna be already heavily involved in their own teams and time is at a premium for them.
Paying them is one way I suppose coz you ain’t gonna get them for free and they would be expensive.
But it’s a calculation you have to make yourself, how much money would u save in getting these people in as against trying to play and train your way to that improved level on your own.
But as an interim measure I would have to say that training correctly isn’t rocket science, read the magazines and u can easily work out who's talking ****e and who knows what they are doing.
Try to take this advice and guidance onto the training ground and just keep at it, it will come if you work at it.
And for God's sake, try to focus the team on what you want, if you really want to improve then don’t even think about playing tournaments that will not add anything to your skill repertoire, u have got to be serious about improvement and the emphasis has to now shift toward improvement as against just playing paintball for enjoyment.
You can have fun and enjoy playing but no longer can it be the primary reason you pick up that paintball gun, that is of course if we are talking about teams who are wanting to make a serious and concerted improvement.
Robbo

 

[Davo at work]

One point...........

Robbo, I appreciate what you are saying about playing 2 bit tourneys that wont really improve your skill set, but surely it has some value.

Playing against different teams with different styles and probably more importantly, on different fields (size/layouts) is surely going to add something to your game? Particulalrly if you are not lucky enough to have a Supair field to train on week in week out. I appreciate it is not the ideal place to hone your skills but surely it could be treat as a training exercise and still retain some benefit?

 

[Robbo]

One point...........

Originally posted by Davo at work
Robbo, I appreciate what you are saying about playing 2 bit tourneys that wont really improve your skill set, but surely it has some value.
Playing against different teams with different styles and probably more importantly, on different fields (size/layouts) is surely going to add something to your game? Particulalrly if you are not lucky enough to have a Supair field to train on week in week out. I appreciate it is not the ideal place to hone your skills but surely it could be treat as a training exercise and still retain some benefit?

This one of those instances where the answer is almost counter-intuitive, what u say, sounds right but in my experience, there is more to be gained by sitting behind a frikkin oil drum practicing snap shooting than there is in playing some hick tourney.
I don't give two ****s about the varied nature of the opposition I might meet at a tourney, if I am better at snap shooting than all of them, then I'm gonna up my chances of winning, no argument.
Forget different field sizes, different approaches from teams and all that stuff, you have to focus on what is important when it comes to determining the reasons why paintball games are won and the prime determinant for the vast majority of teams is techniques.
And techniques are better practiced when you control events, like when at training, rather than at a tournament where your participation on the field may only last ten seconds, if ya get what I mean.
Look, I realise what you are saying and also I understand the reluctance a lot of people might have in embracing the new requirements put upon us all, but things have to change and with that change we have to throw out a lot of the considerations we previously felt were inviolate i.e. like playing tourneys to get better.
I hope this may clear some things up for you.

Robbo

 

[Jones the Paint Magnet]

Perhaps unrelated - but mods feel free to expunge if necessary

I started fencing under a professional coach at Birmingham Uni. Trained twice a week using the coach, Uni team members, then the rest of the Midlands fencing club who used the premises, and had all range of abilities from novice to ex-international. Two years later, I'm on the team and entering regional championships.

When I left Uni, went to a local club where I lived. Nice bunch of people, but nowhere near the level of training, and when they did have a coach, his time was divided amongst everyone. Even though I was still fighting pretty much the same amount of time, entering competitions, I wasn't improving - quite the opposite.

You really need someone to keep pushing you and going over the basic points until they're refined as Robbo says- you won't have a hope of mastering anything complex until it's all second nature. Just "keeping your hand in" with local competitions may give you experience, but seldom IMO really furthers your game. Particularly in paintball, where if there is a gulf in ability between teams, your side gets steamrollered pretty quickly, and it's hard to work out exactly how it happened.

Sorry 'bout that - I'm back off to rec.