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Woodland Events - A flash in the pan ? ..... [Poll Test]

Robbo

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We've all borne witness to the recent resurgence in woodland events this past couple of years as exemplified by the events that Twizz, Ged Green et al have been promoting of late.
However, the jury is still out regarding the real nature of this walk back down memory lane ....
It's relatively easy to describe this renaissance as just being a nostalgic nod to the past but it's just as easy to characterise it as a serious resurgent market that needs real recognition by our industry - And that means investing in this revival.


The real test of any fundamental shift in the marketplace has to come down to two factors; growth and new blood.
Without these, it's merely a matter of time before market forces begin to eat away at its foundations.

One thing to note here, the new blood that's required has to come from a younger demographic, and this is because at present, the vast majority of players in these woodland events are from an era where disclaimer forms were made out of parchment scrolls.

I doubt very much there'll be any increase in the existing playing demographic of these events purely because there's a natural limit on how many potential players can return to the game.
Let's face it, nature ain't gonna stop thinning out the herd just because you want to pick up a paintball marker again.

Don't get me wrong here, I would love this resurgence to bite deep into the male psyche like it once did and in so doing create a growth surge ….. I know people have got so many other things they could be doing these days but paintball's USP, in my not so humble opinion, is its profound effect on you when you first begin to play.

The reaction is visceral, it's a combination of abject fear, profound excitement and soiled underwear - the only other time I've ever felt such a physiological and psychological response, and that is when boxing - I was never going to make it as a boxer mainly because I had an aversion to being hit.

This woodland revival phenomenon has been running a couple of years now but does it possess real gravitas or is this resurgence merely a flash in the pan as the dying embers of yesteryear's paintball warriors flicker once again into oblivion?

Go to Top of the Page to cast your vote …...

Note:
All votes are anonymous unless of course you guys want them made public.
 

H

Wizard, of sorts...
Feb 27, 2002
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No, tournament woodsball done right is a far better next step for rental/walk on players to take if they want to get competitive. The grind of Xball based formats does not offer anything like the value for money that can be achieved in the woodland game. This is how we pull in new blood to the woods and tournament paintball in general.
 
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Mark Toye-Nexus

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Jul 18, 2001
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I'm seeing as many, if not more, new to woodsball players than old school woods ballers. You have to go back 20 years now to find players that played the woods, everyone else is pretty much a product of air ball. New airball is poor imho too so this should give players something a little less 'stressy'.
 

Robbo

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H, with all due respect mate, that's a well-worn mantra that certainly sounds reasonable but it never seems to possesss sufficient traction.

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to witness a rebirth of woodland tournaments but history/nature would have us believe that evolution seldom works backwards no matter how much we'd all want it, mate.
 

James ECI

UK Woodland Masters
Jul 31, 2007
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Ukwm is now in season 6... We have shown how to do it and do it right. So think we've shown this isn't a flash in the pan.

What surprises me is that this is a part time hobby for me twizz and dave.

There has been nothing which can compete with us on a consistent basis either.

If I was a full time field owner I'd have take a lead from what could be done and tried to build something as good.

End of the day Robbo it comes down to what anyone is willing to front up..
 
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ant290

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May 15, 2007
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No, tournament woodsball done right is a far better next step for rental/walk on players to take if they want to get competitive. The grind of Xball based formats does not offer anything like the value for money that can be achieved in the woodland game. This is how we pull in new blood to the woods and tournament paintball in general.
woodland events offer a much nicer introduction to a competitive format for sure, the glory footage from xball formats is always players getting smashed to pieces on a run through or launching themselves through the air during a dive... whilst this looks exciting, and certainly shows off some of the more athletic, dog eat dog world of paintball... it certainly can seem intimidating for a newer player to get stuck into.

The woods offers that gateway drug, moving you on from perhaps playing a walk on where you might have a couple of minutes at the start of a game to asses the situation and work out whats going on, to having a game plan, and needing to work as more of a team to achieve a victory.

That said, for it to really cement itself, you need prizes to be BIG, and competing teams to be good for people to gravitate towards it. we all know this is a sport which "players need to support" but winning should offer a real prize.
 
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James ECI

UK Woodland Masters
Jul 31, 2007
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woodland events offer a much nicer introduction to a competitive format for sure, the glory footage from xball formats is always players getting smashed to pieces on a run through or launching themselves through the air during a dive... whilst this looks exciting, and certainly shows off some of the more athletic, dog eat dog world of paintball... it certainly can seem intimidating for a newer player to get stuck into.

The woods offers that gateway drug, moving you on from perhaps playing a walk on where you might have a couple of minutes at the start of a game to asses the situation and work out whats going on, to having a game plan, and needing to work as more of a team to achieve a victory.

That said, for it to really cement itself, you need prizes to be BIG, and competing teams to be good for people to gravitate towards it. we all know this is a sport which "players need to support" but winning should offer a real prize.
It's paintball its not a sport and I doubt it ever will be. Because of this, people need to play for the love of the game not the deals or prizes that can be won imo.

Prizes just cause arguments and dirty play, I'd say we are better off without both.
 
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H

Wizard, of sorts...
Feb 27, 2002
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www.ministryofcake.net
H, with all due respect mate, that's a well-worn mantra that certainly sounds reasonable but it never seems to possesss sufficient traction.

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to witness a rebirth of woodland tournaments but history/nature would have us believe that evolution seldom works backwards no matter how much we'd all want it, mate.
I’d argue that Xball was not a healthy evolution, back in the day I loved it but christ it’s stale nowadays. We moved out of the woods primarily in pursuit of the TV dream, it was not in the best interests of players. There is plenty of younger players and teams who do UKWM, did the pro tour (rip) and Grand Central Classic.
 

James ECI

UK Woodland Masters
Jul 31, 2007
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Kent
I’d argue that Xball was not a healthy evolution, back in the day I loved it but christ it’s stale nowadays. We moved out of the woods primarily in pursuit of the TV dream, it was not in the best interests of players. There is plenty of younger players and teams who do UKWM, did the pro tour (rip) and Grand Central Classic.
It's the new teams as well who need to be catered for.

I'm long past caring what the top teams think over say a newer team, why?

The minority of Pro teams will normally be 4-6 teams in a league. For a league to work there must be the other 14 or so teams.

These younger teams will normally make up that majority and Are the future of the game.

I don't think I can count how many grass root level teams we have brought in over 6 seasons but I'd guess it gives higher than I have fingers! ️️