Euro-Teams In The USA

[Gyroscope]

And see that gets into something silly that UK field owners do.

"you can't play against those guys with your Spyder because those guys are renting Spyder compacts. They will get all shot up and hate paintball forever and I will not get their one time a year business."

Not an actual quote, but I think it sums up the attitude I have seen described in PGI regarding rec play. You have to let the gun owners play with the first timers. Split them up so there are 2-3 on each side, but let those first-timers bitch about how unfair it was that that guy with the slide-trigger 'cocker with auto-fire or sumpin prolly just gets 'is jollies shootin' us noobs. Then, they go out and buy an Autococker to even the playing field. Maybe not the second time they play, but eventually.

When you play at any given field in America on any given day, there is a mix. It is usually about one tournie guy slumming, three guys who'd rather be playing a 24 hour game, one pump guy who is frustrated but grimly determined, 5 guys debating the merits of expansion chambers vs. neoprene CO2 tank covers for their Tippmanns/Spyders/Automags, and about ten or fifteen renters with blank, scared looks on their faces, trying not to stare at the tournie guy's Angel, and one bored girlfriend. Most of the renters will only play a few times in their lives. That's ok; most will have a good time, or at least understand why some peopole have a good time with paintball.

Everyone of those players will get better equipment piecemeal, slowly building the kit until they feel guilty shooting at renters every weekend or every other weekend. Then, some will play 24 hour games. Some will join tournament teams. One will become Tyger. (Couldn't resist)

This notion that you have to protect peolpe renting from the players with (marginally) better gear is foolish. The frustration will be minor most days, unless you have a real jerk. Get rid of the jerk! It is that easy. Mix players of different abilities, from renter to Rambo to Tourny fag and you will have players who see it as a food chain to ascend. Get the rec guys to borrow the Tourny guys Angel (if he is a real nice guy) and the field will be selling great loads of kit in no time. There might be one or two whingers(correct UK slang?) who can't handle the thought of an unfair playing field, but hell, NPPL games with Pro vs Nov are unfair. One learns to relish the challenge.

 

[Roland]

Correct use of the word 'whingers' but never thought of it as slang!

 

[Robbo]

Originally posted by Roland
The Euro teams did well but how many would have made the quarter finals if the NXL teams had been there?

Its true to say you can only play the teams that are there but to get a real idea of how good you are you need to answer the above question.

Roland, here's the deal as I see it, of course the absence of the NXL teams would affect how many Euros made it thru to the semis, nobody disputes that but that's not the point at the moment.
It was not that long ago that even if we had the same situation as now and the same NXL teams being absent, Euro teams wouldn't have got past the prelims.
The Euro team's failings were not so much losing out on qualification because of encounters with the top pros, they were failing coz they couldn't consistently beat the top ams and novices.
This is just not the case any more and indicates a significant improvement in our teams over here.
Examples: The Russian Legion couldn't qualify when they played World Cup a few years back, Shockwave UK last year at World Cup played 6 games against novice and rookie teams (no Am teams played) and still only managed to get one actual win.
The list goes on...but now, times have changed.

Our rec ball scene with regard to potential pick-ups is non-existent so to try and cherry pick that talent pool is a non-starter.

We have to use the limited resources available and apply what brainpower we can, just like the Russians.
We can't train as much as the Yanks and are not as heavily financed as either them or the Russkies.
We have no option but to go the cerebral route if we want to try and hack it with the big guys.
Some teams will scratch the surface of high-end play more by default than design, but others, the more sophisticated ones, will endure and perhaps break thru the Yank barrier.
The Americans don't have to get too sophisticated with regard to training, why fix something that ain't broke as far as they are concerned, they keep winning, why change it.

Eventually, they will adopt a more professional approach to training, this is obvious but until then, us Euros have to try and steal as much of a lead as is humanly possible.
Paintball as it is now, is in a transitional phase where the on field emphasis of skills is shifting, those who recognise the significant traits, will have an advantage, Sergei has already identified what needs to be done, others have seemingly addressed the problem by default and have ended up doing what needs to be done (to an extent) more by accident than design.

I don't know which way it's going to go with regard to high end paintball, nobody does, but I tell ya this much, it's an intriguing battle that lies in front of us all.
Should be fun guys

 

[Justin Owen]

Here it is:

The only reason Pete's team has started to shine is 'cause Pete has finally caved in and asked me to coach him behind the scenes, then he takes the wisdom I give him and shares it with the rest of his team as "his own" so that they don't lose faith in him.
I can share it here without spilling the beans to them because Pete has banned them from coming on these boards out of fear of seeing the truth revealed. It's all Matrix-style and shiznit. But hopefully that'll set the record straight for everyone else out there.

Lotsa love,
~J~
PS...congrats to Nexus, btw.

 

[Robbo]

Here it is:

Originally posted by Justin Owen
The only reason Pete's team has started to shine is 'cause Pete has finally caved in and asked me to coach him behind the scenes, then he takes the wisdom I give him and shares it with the rest of his team as "his own" so that they don't lose faith in him.
I can share it here without spilling the beans to them because Pete has banned them from coming on these boards out of fear of seeing the truth revealed. It's all Matrix-style and shiznit. But hopefully that'll set the record straight for everyone else out there.

Lotsa love,
~J~
PS...congrats to Nexus, btw.

Eventually the truth will out
How goes it J, ain't heard from you in a long time m8, u going to any NPPL's ?

 

[steven09 (Exodus Capt)]

jack you big tart


next time its going to be the finals for you guys hopefully playing tigers and then that will be something to talk about.
ps robbo's coaching must be working im gonna try and get some tips. Nexus in vegas was amazing for us to hear about back here.

cant wait for you guys to go back out there

steve

 

[Gyroscope]

Nothing wrong with brains. It does seem to me that at least around these parts, the teams we play against are getting more disciplined in training. The reductionist approach seems sound to me, and Team Kore is using this philosophy to shape our practices.

Mentioning the rec pool was intended as a way of addressing the issue that will face Europe when American teams as a whole begin to benefit from intelligent training. One day, this will happen, I think.

 

[Robbo]

Originally posted by gyroscope
Nothing wrong with brains. It does seem to me that at least around these parts, the teams we play against are getting more disciplined in training. The reductionist approach seems sound to me, and Team Kore is using this philosophy to shape our practices.

Mentioning the rec pool was intended as a way of addressing the issue that will face Europe when American teams as a whole begin to benefit from intelligent training. One day, this will happen, I think.

Hey Gyro, I think you are right in your predictions, the Yanks will inevitably begin to see the light with regard to training emphasis but reductionism when applied to training paintball teams can only take us so far.
A natural plateau is imposed upon any team taking up this challenge as Sergei with the Russian Legion has now discovered and I did when going to Huntingdon Beach.

This game of ours throws up unexpected hurdles; to overcome them we have to get the primary pieces of our skill portfolio firmly into place, we cannot even begin to think about negotiating further steps up the paintball ladder until we have achieved excellence in certain areas.
Then and only then can we begin the next stage.

Paintball is not an exact science, never will be, but with time and effort applied in the right direction, teams can overcome the seemingly overwhelming advantages the Yanks and Russkies have.

 

[Tiny(D.R)]

Originally posted by Roland
A lot of sites here only cater for punters and do not encourage players to take the next step and become a rec-baller.

We need all sites to actively encourage punters to play more often and buy their own kit. Until that happens we will have a limited player base.

O.K i agree with you but, you trying telling somone who runs a site that.

'OK mate i want you to encourage your customers to buy their own kit, pay less for paint per ball, which will reduce how much profit you make of them every time they come down.'

You got to remember guys not everybody in paintball is in it for the love of the sport, it pays people's rent etc.

 

[Flash-Bugout]

Originally posted by Robbo
This game of ours throws up unexpected hurdles; to overcome them we have to get the primary pieces of our skill portfolio firmly into place, we cannot even begin to think about negotiating further steps up the paintball ladder until we have achieved excellence in certain areas.
Then and only then can we begin the next stage.

New book to buy from Amazon:

Zen & The Art of Paintball,
By Pete "Robbo" Robinson


Should we expect to be seeing NeXuS shooting RPS patterned as ying-yang logos* next?

*damn, now that's a good idea - somebody get RPS to make a ying-yang ball!