Aggressive playing and aggressive behavior.

[Cusack]

So what's your view of aggression in paintball? People say it's necessary for dominance and power, but it can lead to violence, negativity and (ultimately) decline in our sport. There's a big difference between aggressive playing style and aggressive behaivour, (as my new thread title suggests ) so which do we have and which do we need more of?

Look how many people sell up and ask why, because they don't enjoy it - why? 'because there's too much 'sh*t' they say. I'd say this is a relevant topic for our sport and it's development? People don't quit other sports because of 'sh!t', and usually players when they retire they move onto coaching and managing.

Agg was coined (as far as i know) by HK to mean something that looks 'aggressive', and therefore 'good' for paintball. It's now evolved to mean just looking good but my question was just that, is aggression is 'good' for paintball?

 

[Buddha 3]

If an aggressive style of play leads to excessively aggressive behavior, I think that says more about the kind of people that play this game than about aggressive playing.

Just look at other sports. As you can tell from my avatar, I play American football, a game in which it pays to be the most dominant, aggressive SOB on the field, particularly if you play in the spot I play in. We go all out, take no prisoners and more of those clichés. We get people weighing anything up to 300lbs and over going for eachother's throats, yet when the whistle blows, it's all good again. We help eachother up and even congratulate the guy that just knocked you on your ass. Sure, sometimes tempers flare and people go mental, but those moments are rare.
We know that if we cross the line, we get a zebra-shirt sending us off the field.

The only reasons I can think of that people become too aggressive in paintball are these:

1. They are pussies and can't take the slight sting of a hit.
2. Most paintballers are unhinged sociopaths.
3. They can get away with it.

Personally I don't think that numbers 1 and 2 are correct. If the sort of behavior you describe gets jumped upon by the refs like they are the embodiment of God's Wrath, we wouldn't have this problem.

That's how I see it anyway.

 

[Cusack]

thanks for the new thread buddha

I think American Football is just the kind of sport we can compare to, as you congratulate the guy that put you on the floor, do we say thanks to the guy who mugged us? I do, when someone makes a good move on my team or against I try to say well played. Some teams have bad blood but I think in general we could be more friendly to those we share a sport with.

 

[Nizzie]

Not too sure how paintball would work without aggression. A field full of men, women and "young gunz" running around with guns (sorry, markers) that fire in excess of xxx mph and xxx feet per second!! Aggression on the field of play is a good thing as long as you can control it, understand you are going to get hit, possibly be battered and bruised from the shots and still enjoy yourself and keep going back for more! The problems arise when people don't get their own way, people forget that its a situation that means you could possibly get hurt (and its one you have put yourself in) and people do not take a look at the bigger picture without being emotional and irrational. In my opinion people need to control themselves and not be controlling others and then the aggression would remain on the field of play where it should be.

 

[evoonline]

i think aggression is needed but people take it to far. fair nuff mugging people and pushing hard down a field but as soon as the game ends you aughto beable to calm down and congratulate the opposition on a game well played. i think to much influence comes from the americans in how british ballers play. thats fair nuff to an extent but the difference is that they have different laws (i.e. guns) and can possibly get away with a bit more in that respect but if the same happened here with our tighter laws then we would end up with paintball being banned. only takes 1 person to come away injured due to some overly aggresive player, leading to a complaint to the police, leading to a court date for assault with a possibly deadly weapon.

im not clued up on the law but with the current state of things im guessing it wouldnt take much for paintball to be sent the way of airsoft and air rifles.

in conclusion .
good on field
more trouble then its worth off the field

 

[Polly]

Not too sure how paintball would work without aggression. A field full of men, women and "young gunz" running around with guns (sorry, markers) that fire in excess of xxx mph and xxx feet per second!! Aggression on the field of play is a good thing as long as you can control it, understand you are going to get hit, possibly be battered and bruised from the shots and still enjoy yourself and keep going back for more! The problems arise when people don't get their own way, people forget that its a situation that means you could possibly get hurt (and its one you have put yourself in) and people do not take a look at the bigger picture without being emotional and irrational. In my opinion people need to control themselves and not be controlling others and then the aggression would remain on the field of play where it should be.

pfft did you just copy and past my comment from the original thread

yeh as i said in the original aggression is good but it needs to be controlled otherwise it gets you shot. Ill be your best friend before and after a game but on field if you aint on my team i want to hurt you. As long as you keep it on the field its all good.

 

[Dskize]

Its all about No.3 on Buddahs list.

A large portion of the (agg) people I've met in paintball are pantywaist pussy's who would get knocked the **** out if they behaved like they do in any other part of their life ,It's the one sport that it's handy to be small and thin .A lot of this over aggression " mug him in the head" shouting at the ref and threatening other players is because they know nothings going to happen with it ,it's all "hold me back " and no balls ,too many guys that got beaten up at school and found the only game they can actually dominate someone in, so they take it too far and get off lucky 95% of teh time.

Agression is good for most games but unless your a true athlete who can control his agression or a 300lb Gangsta rapper like Buddha ( ) ,who like the former is used to being the Alpha male and doesnt need to lord it over others when he gets the chance (off the field) aggression in paintball is destructive at the lower levels ....Agrro dweebs need smacked the **** down by the refs and very quickly...

Edit : And the sport as a whole has to stop promoting these pricks, like it's a good thing to act a dick.

 

[Polly]

agree with dskize, there are way too many whiny little bitches that threaten refs/players when stuff doesnt go their way. Im a skinny little weakling so i dont even try or feel the need to kick off at people, as long as aggression on field is only used to make you play better all is good, aggression should stop as soon as you are eliminated. Its all about the control duuuuuuude

 

[Exile]

Agg was coined (as far as i know) by HK to mean something that looks 'aggressive', and therefore 'good' for paintball. It's now evolved to mean just looking good but my question was just that, is aggression is 'good' for paintball?

Agg was/is a skate boarding term, much like rad - nothing to do with the HK.

Personally, any sport/hobby/past-time where you shoot at each other will attract it's share of over-adrenalised idiots - but are you confusing a desire to win with over-aggression?

I've seen plenty of men/women from different sports/disciplines get psyched up (or aggressive if you will) before and during an event/match - to the point where an outsider or less competitive person may think they are being rude/arrogant/aggressive, whereas they are actually perfectly normal human beings as soon as the event has finished.

If you are referring to bad behaviour on-field (malicious over-shooting, threatening behaviour etc), then the Refs need to be cracking down on that as it starts - that's what 1-4-1's are for, and tournament organisers shouldn't be afraid of booting a team that is consistently flaunting the rules/abusing the judging staff or other players/paying customers.

 

[Kat]

I personally think there is cause for agression in any sport because it comes from being passionate about your sport.

Its just when people take it to far and out of context it takes the fun out of the game. I acknowlegde that EVERYONE has aggressive moments and that isnt a big deal but its when its every single game ruining it for everyone else off field by being aggressive to the point of violent.

Throw your gun down in a mood...fair enough.

Throw mine down, Hell to pay!!!

And if you can't handle your hits go and play badminton.

Katxx