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UK Teams and NPPL...

JAYDB

www.northernquarterpb.com
Dec 9, 2005
599
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manchester,
yeah players are behind the yanks but i dunno if you heard them talk with Nicky T about the yanks having about 11 months to train or something and only miss out one month becuase its too hot, when UK only have 2 months to train
he was mesing around there mate, although they do train more days in a week than us.
 

Mikey D

I suck
Sep 14, 2002
2,087
57
83
39
Birmingham
i think the tigers could have done ok, was watching them train at mayhem paintball and they were pretty good!maybe later in the year! but yeah paintballing is the u.s is so much bigger than here, plus paint is a hell of a lot cheap!! not fair:(
Paint is not a big deal cheaper, it was $30 a case when I played over there a couple of weeks ago, and it seems that was quite cheap from what I was told. Some places its much more.

The Americans put in alot of effort to go and train against bigger and better teams, and essentially this is the only way to get better as a team. Players can do all the drilling they want with reballs, but if your team gets shot, you aren't going to snapshoot a player who is behind you.

I wonder if we'll see Robbo in this thread flogging the same old dead horse about getting out what you put in etc.
 

Beaker

Hello again
Jul 9, 2001
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Wherever I may roam
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I wonder if we'll see Robbo in this thread flogging the same old dead horse about getting out what you put in etc.
Hardly a dead horse...they're prepared to drive for 6+hrs to a normal bog standard training session. Most UK teams wont look at more than a couple of hours travel for anything.

The US is NOT "filled with Reball centres" - there's a lot but considering it's size there aren't many, they are just prepared to put in the effort to travel to them. Fireball closed because people who lived 30mins away didn't use it...

The average UK session starts at 10, first game about 11 and everyone goes home around 2 after playing 5 games and thinking that's a hard days work. That doesn't cut it.

They have a history of college sports, hell you can get through university on the basis of throwing a football if you're good enough. They want it more when it comes to sports and because they have more teams/players their average team is going to be better than ours as they have the passion and drive to set up scrimmages and practice better teams. Their sports culture breeds excellence, ours breeds tall poppy syndrome and people more interested in image than playing.

So you do get out what you put in...

The UK can improve, it is improving and it will improve. As long as there are decent training venues that are properly supported by teams that are prepared to put in real effort, then the UK will do better. Our top teams are doing things better now then they have done in the last few years, look at Shock's results last year to see that progress is being made. But to think we're on some parity with the US? that's a long way off.
 

Nick Brockdorff

New Member
Jul 9, 2001
588
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www.uglyducklings.dk
I'm going to be saying something here, that might piss a lot of people off... but I actually think it is correct....

I think you need to dig deeper, to find out why US teams are so much more succesfull.

Yes, there are way more players - but that is no longer an excuse - Joy Division has proven that over the past year.

Yes, the big US Pro teams have far better sponsorships - but they don't in Div. 1-2-3.

In my experience, the real difference between US and European paintball, is the mentality.

9 out of 10 tournament players in the US, take paintball very seriously - they do not play paintball for fun but to become the best, no matter what the cost - and they hate everyone standing in their way with a vengeance - opponents and teammates alike.

9 out of 10 tournament players in Europe play paintball for fun - they go to events because it is a laugh, and even if they think they take paintball seriously, they don't really... their aunts birthday, illness in the family, work or whatever, is getting in the way of paintball all the time.

Now, I do not say one thing is right and the other wrong - people should prioritise their lives the way they want... but if you are not prepared to be a paintballer 100 %, and put EVERYTHING else in the background - and if you are not driven enough to do what it takes to reach the top of the sport - don't moan about it - it is your own choice.

Nick
 

Nick Brockdorff

New Member
Jul 9, 2001
588
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www.uglyducklings.dk
Nope - Attitude is outward - and something which plenty of European players have... too many actually, because they can't back it up onfield.

Hell - I am 40 this year, and can still play circles around 95 % of the youngsters out there - and that is not because I am fantastic (anymore ;)) - it is because they do not play the sport seriously, not really.

Mentality is the right word.

It's about wanting it enough and doing whatever it takes
It's about letting nothing stand in your way
It's about believing, in your core, that you can become the best
It's about training like professional even if you pay your own way
It's about playing the game with a mindset that everyone else is beneath you.

IMHO

Nick
 

Beaker

Hello again
Jul 9, 2001
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Playing in this?


And from the CFOA report this issue....

"Tom Leahy of Kansas, playing with Karnage Industry, drove over 17 hours.... Mike Aders of Junction Boys drove 9 hours from Evansville, IN because “we knew that in order to grow as a team, we needed to play 5-Man, and what better place to do it than a tourney series known for its stiff competition”.
That's for a regional 5-Man series, who wont attend an NSPL leg in Dartford because it's "too far"?

Nick's right (you only get one more Nick... ;) ) If you want to know what's possible purely with hard work - look at Joy
 

mikey601

F orum Battle Organiser
Nov 23, 2005
5,189
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South Wales/Cali
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Nope - Attitude is outward - and something which plenty of European players have... too many actually, because they can't back it up onfield.

Hell - I am 40 this year, and can still play circles around 95 % of the youngsters out there - and that is not because I am fantastic - it is because they do not play the sport seriously, really.

Mentality is the right word.

It's about wanting it enough and doing whatever it takes
It's about letting nothing stand in your way
It's about believing, in your core, that you can become the best
It's about training like professional even if you pay your own way
It's about playing the game with a mindset that everyone else is beneath you.

IMHO

Nick
Ahhh thats a fair point

The points you make i couldnt direct at many uk ballers i know and i know a few.

So do you think its a cultural thing? Something that would take the UK an age to rectify if at all?
 

Nick Brockdorff

New Member
Jul 9, 2001
588
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www.uglyducklings.dk
Hmm - In some parts it is cultural, but only in very general terms.

The US has a history - both in sports and business - of letting things be more cutthroat than in good old cultured Europe.

But, that having been said, any individual can surpass those cultural boundries.

This is not only about how you practice - it is also very much a question of your mindset stepping onto the field.

Most European teams and players step onto a tournament or practice field thinking "let's go out and WIN this game"

Most US teams and players step onto a tournament or practice field thinking "I HATE those mofus, I want to rip off their heads and.... (you get the picture ;))"

The difference may seem marginal, but it is important, because it goes directly to how you play the game.

Paintball is 90 % a mental game

Nick