Coaching - your views?

[Amac]

Xball Or 7man

The Xball format was created to be put on TV. It also was a way to get more paint to be shot by creating a faster paced game. I have played Xball for 2 seasons and 1 season of 7-man. I do agree that 7 man takes more natural talent and gun skills. Xball format differs a bit here in Europe to the North American format but still is the players response to a called out position, be it from players, coach, or fans. It allows the fans to interact which makes a draw for people to attend. The players still of course should know where their lanes are and how to play but there is a huge lose for new players on the skills they should have to be able to play. It would be good if there was the two options for players to pick between depending what they want from the sport but I am not sure if the would be enough players or if the industry could support the both.

 

[SAMUEL.D.RYAN]

cant believe how many people are suddenly against coaching. go back two years drop 7 man, multi point coaching games thing of the future

That's the thing, I reckon many people just go against the current format just to seem "contraversial". (i'm not pointing the finger, i'm just stating what I see.

Then there's the element of changing the format "just because you can", and I can see why they would want to, to try to get the best format by chance.

just my two cents.

These opinions are my own, and are not representative of my team in any way.

 

[HPUKer]

Then there's the element of changing the format "just because you can", and I can see why they would want to, to try to get the best format by chance.

Hit the nail on the head - paintball is a very young sport, and we should welcome changes pushed on us. Changes need to happen at this early stage to allow us to develop a good understanding of what works and what doesnt

In my limited experience of coaching - it does not seem to take all player skill out of the game - it hones skills like gunfighting, speed, gun dominance etc. It may take a players "sneaky factor" out of the equation but it leaves you with a more balanced set of skills that need improvement.

I think that players will still be able to be superstars - a coach can only communicate information, and make on field decisions at the rate of them being able to see it, interpret it, then relay it back to their players, while the quicker information loop is straight in the players mind - i.e. "duh corner guy is shot - il go fill corner", or "ummm that guy is lookin the wrong way - il go get in that dorito" etc

Paintball is a team game - and what multipoint formats and coaching is showing me is that a paintball team extends beyond the players on the field

I'm bored of playing hide and seek ball, roll on coaching

 

[rusty56]

dont get me wrong im am totaly against coaching, i saw the girl with the big SNAKE sign at campaign n i just laughed. but if you think, if we ditched coaching the game would come down to game play, skill, athleticism then you are living in dream land, teams will always be able to cheat some how, from feedin info from the usaly one sided crowd shouting out or goin out their way and dogging, atleast with coaching both team get the advantages.

 

[Ardolino]

Lump you know how fickle us 'ballers are, forever changing our minds on a whim.

It's seems the game is forever evolving and it's latest direction is away from coaching.

Personally I'm not a fan of coaching, I feel it takes away an element of ninja-esk skill from the game/players. Not going to enter the 7-Man / XBall debate though.

No doubt peoples opinions will vary, but hey, that's life.

Ninja-esque skill lol im loving it!all i know is the best painballers i know...for example the guy who first started showing me how to play the game...are against coaching because...it seems to be driving alot of good players away from the playing.and if coaching at the top level isnt allowed, there must be a reason for that laters

 

[Polly]

I agree that coaching should be banished, but I think everybody is forgetting how many times coaching has helped them...?

Perfect format for me is Xball with 15bps ramping without coaching.

QFT!
love xball but coaching blows.

 

[Rabies]

I think maybe coaching should be more restricted in Xball than it is (for instance, get rid of the snake-side coach, keep everyone behind the 3-meter line), but crowd participation of some kind is, IMO, essential to the format. If you stop the spectators from whooping and hollering, then suddenly the whole spectacle is about as enjoyable as lawn bowls. And as long as you aren't gagging the crowd then some form of coaching will exist, although it's often more of a hindrance than a help.

 

[Russell Smith]

When the format of Xball was first introduced to paintball by Richmond Italia, that guy had looked and studied paintball and compared it to other sports and worked out what he believed was needed to take the game to a mass market.
He looked at it from an American viewpoint (actually Canadian) and realised it needed to change to attempt to take it's next step.
Thank God for him, but with every forward enhancement of any sport some people look back with rose tinted specs and think it was much better before, even though they may have embraced the new format from the start.

But it does not mean those very same people are wrong, Seven man is also a great format as long as you understand the game and personally I like the idea that I can use ingenuity and cunning sneaking up on other players rather than some mouthy git on the side giving my move away.

Xball is not for me as a player but as an observer it is fantastic, I am talking Xball not this Europeanised diluted crap multi-point five man version promoted by the Millennium series and even though the excuse from them is the cost to the players and they are helping them (yer right) I would suggest they do one event less and make the remaining ones as exiting as they used to be originally.
I remember another point about the "new" scoring system when they introduced it, it was to make it clear for the none player what is happening in the games, ha-ha what a joke at every event you see a few posts on here asking how it works, but the public immediately understand it of course!

Another great format that players have seemed to forget (mainly as it was predominately used in America) was ten man Sup-Air the guns were of course in semi mode and it was absolute carnage, a full train wreck of a game and very entertaining to watch if you understood the mechanics of the game.

A lot of the viewpoints expressed on this thread are from people who have have not experienced both formats - indeed a lot of players have never played Seven man and just assume it is the same as five man with extra players Hmmm no not quite.

I do feel for the players who enjoyed the seven man game with their sneaky sneaky moves but we are still in the transitional stage and coaching is in its infancy and crowd "participation" is abused.
The original idea was for one coach in a coaching area (just like the technical area in football) and that ended up being anyone along a side of the field, the coaching concept still needs tweaking but it is here to stay.

And if you really think there is no off-field coaching in five and seven man, you are as disillusioned as Millennium sponsors who think they really get value for money.

Russ

 

[Exile]

And if you really think there is no off-field coaching in five and seven man, you are as disillusioned as Millennium sponsors who think they really get value for money.

Best. Quote. Ever.

 

[Kevin]

i would like to see coaching removed but sideline participation allowed.

so everyone back in the bleachers. then it would be hard to pick any one voice out but the crowd would still be involved,
although in the lower divisons and smaller events that dont draw a crowd it might not make that much difference, hopefully as the sport progresses the affect of the crowd on the game will be smaller.
For instance football players cant pick out what the crowd are saying.