Originally posted by gyroscope
B3,
no, more at stongle.
You are right, of course, that hunger to get to the top will require devotion and work and all those other icky things. Not everyone has that hunger.Most people playing any sport do it for enjoyment, not with ambitions of reaching the zenith of the sport.
C'mon I'm making a skewered argument because UK Paintball Political shen's are being played out which is resulting in teams turning their back ion the Euro Major League. Your points are valid, but watch most UK teams train and they seriously wouldn't know a training session if it smacked them in the face. You mentioned Robbo in your post, and whilst I agree that reductionist theory of training is valid and correct, the default level of the majority of UK players games sucks. Robbo has also talked extensively on this, and this is one of the factors that UK players need to concentrate on. Whilst reductionist training etc will improve your baseline skillset, the "default" game requires additional work / development. Look at some technically brilliant players, best snap shot in the world, put them in game and they suck, vice versa, look at some massively sloppy players and they live and kill players. Perhaps this is an "emergent property" (a Robbo'ism), of playing more, but sheltering away from "higher" levels of competition is not the way to do this.
The problem in the UK is further exacerbated as we have a Domestic series that prides itself on it's sporting qualities / theories, and very good execution. Whilst it has adapted many concepts that are "sporting" in nature, a lot of players are confusing Tournament execution and aspirations to "Top" level performances and teams ability. I can't fault the tournament execution, but when Teams are expending hundreds upon hundreds of pounds to play these events because they "have-to", they are not spending money on tackling the route-cause issues with their game (cos they can't afford too). It's a vicious cycle that is difficult to break, and whilst some may argue that it will lead to an improvement in the UK game, the opposite is just as likely (through existing in a vacuum).
Paintball is still a tiny sport, and for Euro's too small to be thought upon in national or regional boundaries. Sure national champion gives bragging rights, but they don't know the commitment required to really be a True Sport. I mean look at some Div 1 teams in the States. Last year Evil Factory (of so now their pro, but you get the point) had players coming across States to play, the cost of this probably ain't that much different to a player going from the Uk to France or Germany to play. It's other aspects of training too. Whilst Steve H, may encourage the team to do a run or 2 a week, that's FA in fitness terms. Hell, I work a 60-70 hour week in an investment bank and still hit the gym / run 4-5 times a week and that's for baseline fitness not paintball.
the commitment required to make this a sport in the UK is simply beyond many players, it's always too tempting to take the easy way out - it's raining, bullets cost to much, too far to train etc etc.
Right that's me lot, I'm off to sort out some fraudulent Ukrainian T Bills.
