to train or not to train

[WOODY LOKI]

in hindsight i wish i had rephrased this question better.

i do not hold the thought that you shouldn't train nor do my team.
i'm hoping guys that know me and loki will back that up.
as someone who is wholely dedicated to paintball (except full time job) i can see that to be good at any sport you need to be trained and correctly.

i think what i was trying to get at was

without naming names a couple of teams turn up for walkons and are good teams as they practise playing, although stood on the sideline you can pick there technique to pieces.

other teams who train and have excellent technique can never get it together on field.

so suppose the question i should have asked was
train for technique or play for experiance.

my opinion. bit of both.

 

[jack_judge]

I know what you mean woody and i think the best is to do both train for technique and play for experience and to be honest paintball isnt always about having fun i know this will cause an uproar but there is times when your bed is calling you and its 5 in the morning and you have a 3 hour drive to go play on grass so frozen its like sliding on concrete thats not fun but i do it and do it with a smile on my face because i love paintball.

 

[leach]

i think playing for experience works to a degree but only teaches you how to beat/do well against a specific team.. where as drilling teaches technique but not necessarily team coordination or communication for example.. so id agree both are really important. and as i know from experience.. you lot are definitely up for training woody

 

[jack_judge]

Experience isnt about winning its about feeling natural with your surroundings and being one with your team and the paintball field

 

[spangley_special]

I dont believe you need a pro to teach you to train i admit they do help i.e watching videos etc but i often train with nothing else but a few good mates and some paint and i would say that i have got better without the help of pro's.

But without the guidance of someone who truly knows what he's talking, how can you be sure that you haven't gotten "better" at doing the wrong thing.

Furthermore a lot of proffesionals have different ways of doing things which is difficult to teach someone who is set in there ways

If you're "set in your ways" you'll never progress. It's only by learning, revising and changing our skillset that we evolve as the sport does and if you dont you'll be left behind.

i had a debate with a friend saying when snapping or posting you should have your knee down on the side your shooting to add blance and aid positioning but he then said but what if that doesnt work for someone and they try it there own way and it just clicks

It's through training that you make techniques just click, it's called muscle memory. If the wrong technique just clicks, it'll because you're body is used to those movements or positions from other activities.

does that mean they are doing it wrong because its not how a proffesional would do it?

Bluntly, yes. Paintball more so than any other activity I have participated it one of constant evolution. If you think back a few years you could compete at a decent level without being able to shoot left handed, now the idea is laughable.
The skillset required is constantly changing and evolving and it is the pros that are at the spearhead of this evolution. It is the pros that pioneer new techniques and it is the pros that teach these techniques and which then slowly trickle down the divisions.
Frankly you'd need to be pretty arrogant to use a different technique from the pros and consider it "right".

 

[Buddha 3]

yea to train helps alot but i saw one team doin the same drill for 4 hours ! i was like come on guys have sum fun!

So?

Doing the same drill for hours on end is EXACTLY what it's about. It's called reps (as in repetition). This is how a certain movement/skills becomes second nature and you don't have to think when you execute them, allowing you to focus on other things, such as certain plays or moves you are supposed to make.

I've been playing American football at the highest level my country has for many years, all of us on the defense know how to make a tackle. But guess what? Every practice, without exception, we'd start off doing the same old drills: Tackling, pursuit and contain. Those are the basics. They MUST be a part of EVERY practice in order for them to actually mean anything and become part of your reflexes.
Only after we've done those for a number of hours on end do we switch to running plays. And guess what? We run the same damn play over and over and over and over, until everybody knows who goes where and who does what and you don't have to think about your job in a certain play, instead you just execute your job unthinking, without hesitation or mercy.

Work on your basics EVERY practice. Failure to do that is just going through the motions and gets you no real progress.

 

[Robbo]

Experience isnt about winning its about feeling natural with your surroundings and being one with your team and the paintball field

Jack, do you hug trees a lot mate?

 

[jack_judge]

I am a carpenter

 

[leach]

youre right experience isnt necessarily about winning games as by losing it shows what youre doing wrong and what you need to work on when drilling.

 

[Buddha 3]

But without the guidance of someone who truly knows what he's talking, how can you be sure that you haven't gotten "better" at doing the wrong thing.


If you're "set in your ways" you'll never progress. It's only by learning, revising and changing our skillset that we evolve as the sport does and if you dont you'll be left behind.



It's through training that you make techniques just click, it's called muscle memory. If the wrong technique just clicks, it'll because you're body is used to those movements or positions from other activities.



Bluntly, yes. Paintball more so than any other activity I have participated it one of constant evolution. If you think back a few years you could compete at a decent level without being able to shoot left handed, now the idea is laughable.
The skillset required is constantly changing and evolving and it is the pros that are at the spearhead of this evolution. It is the pros that pioneer new techniques and it is the pros that teach these techniques and which then slowly trickle down the divisions.
Frankly you'd need to be pretty arrogant to use a different technique from the pros and consider it "right".

Good post!

The only thing I'd add is that a good coach doesn't have to be a pro or ex pro per se.
The reason I say this is because what it takes is somebody who knows and understands sports and paintball in particular.
Now there is no doubt in my mind that a pro player has more chance of having this than the avarage slob, but it's not a given. There are some people that are incredibly knowledgable, but just don't have the physical gifts to turn themselves into a pro, but are able to transfer their knowledge to others.

There is a reason Robbo asked Beaker along to the first X Ball event... Even though Beaker had never played pro, much less coached a pro team.

But admittedly, those people are few and far in between.

(My American football team used to have a coach for the kickers that had never kicked a ball in his life. The man has been in a wheelchair since birth, but he has studied "how to make kicks" like a scientist and is damn good at passing on his knowledge. The man now works with NFL kickers, despite never having stood on a field as a player...)