Markie, let me explain something mate, not that long ago, the UK was the preemeinent nation in Europe, with teams like Preds, NWC, Shock etc, we basically ruled the roost this side of the Atlantic.
Those times are gone, and like everything else in this world we live in, there's a reason for our decline.
To get a handle on that decline we have to take a look at ourselves in a relative sense, that is, to compare ourselves with nations that were previously behind us in terms of development and look at what they are doing, as well as, looking at what we are doing.
In this way, we can work out the underlying dynamics of what's really going on.
It is true we have to sort our own house out, I have never advocated anything different but we need to have a handle on the scale and nature of the problem, and to get that handle, we have to effect a relative analysis ie look at other nations when compared to ours.
When countries such as Belgium, who ain't exactly recognized as a hotbed of paintball are buying more Reballs than us, it tells me at least, they are approaching the problem of training a little more seriously than us.
The use of Reballs is symptomatic of a mindset, it's not the be all and end all of training, I ahve never said it was, it's merely a tool, something teams use to help itself along.
Personally, I do not need any more data concerning the UK, I already know what our problem is and where the answers lay, I have posted both up here in the past.
But what I don't like seeing is, flag waving idealism that pitches UK ball in a place it just doesn't inhabit.
Nobody wants us to get out this rut more than me Markie, trust me on that, and if this situation shames us into being more conscientious, then so be it.
I don't care what ends up motivating us over here, as long as we at least start to want something better for ourselves.
We need to want it Mikey, and I mean really want it, not just talk about it, not just post on threads, I mean train, and train hard.
Reballs is a way you can achieve improvement that saves you money and pays dividends and if Magued calls me up and tells me, 'Hey Pete, we got a bunch of UK people all wanting to buy them', I would know immediately that perhaps we got some people wanting to change the way things are.
For all the protestations and posts that like to suggest otherwise, at the moment, I can't see anything significant.
