UK Paintball - Bad performances or just bad?

[Munky]

Don't know about div 2 & 3 but I think Div 1 did have teams that played to the same level as our european friends

Just so manc - made the sunday club
kellys just missed out due to some penaltie points but knocked heads all weekend
and us Phoenix Factory mmmm... oh yeah we came 4th Div 1 so we must be bad - got a trophy to prove it aswell

but as hardly no brit teams bothered to hang around for the presentations alot of people wouldn't know that.

We stepped up do Div 1 we played and the results speak for themselves.

 

[Buddha 3]

Mark,

It seems you and I use a different interpretation of the word competitive. I'm not talking about the quality of the teams per se, rather the mentality of the players.
Generally speaking German people are very tenacious about their sports, anybody who has ever seen the German football team in action knows that they will never stop playing all out until the final whistle blows. I have found it to be the same in any sport that I have played against German teams, or have watched them play. In American football some of the toughest teams I have gone up against have been German, they just won't stop fighting you, even if trailing by a considerable margin, and I see the same mentality in their paintball teams.

So what I mean to say is that a smaller percentage of German teams will play below their level. They have a healthy national league going on, and every team pretty much knows it's position within that league.

As far as quality goes, I doubt most English teams are that much better than the German ones, although the top British teams do generally outclass the top of the German league by a good margin.

As for the rest of your post, total agreement.

 

[Hatts]

Originally posted by Mark Toye-Nexus
Firstly I disagree with Buddha. The Germans come in behind the UK. I rank the Scandinavians as the most competitive (that is throughout all their playing base) with us and France behind. Germany some way behind those.

I agree with Strongle (despite his festive dress sense) - fitness needs to be improved. Its the one way that you can improve your game without expense.

Secondly I have advocated for the last ten years that you have to play above yourself to improve. Teams hide in their 'correct' division so that they can win a tin cup. I say play as high as you can all the time. That way when you play in your correct division at majors you should be playing a game that is competitive there.

Division II teams should be trying to play in, say Div 1 at Dartford etc for example. Maybe they'll lose most games but they will LEARN!!

Also pay due regard to proper training. Blah blah blah, yes we've heard it all before - DRILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And when you've done that DRILL some more.

I'm tired of repeating it. I talk to teams about technique, about left hand shooting, about ditching drop forwards etc and see the same guys making the same mistakes year on year and NEVER fulfilling their potential!!

Lastly - if you are good then join a good team. Don't just stay with your mates. Go make a difference.

all the things the PA was set up for... ever feel like you're banging your head on a brick wall?

 

[Mark Toye-Nexus]

Buddha

With your interpretation of competitive in this instance I am in TOTAL agreement. The German will to win is far greater, by a country mile in fact, than the English (Scots and Welsh are more competitive imho).

I think we are whistling in the wind with Brit teams for the other stuff though. I have been to Norway and Sweden and see how they do it. Dedication is not a word they pay lip service too in the most part.

 

[Gurney]

Can I just say how I agree with Glen....

Apoc have never finished in the top 25 of a Novice MS event and have been playing Div 3 and 4 at Dartford, but thought that the squad we entered for CC had been playing long enough to take the step up to Div 2. When the team list for CC came out we were soooooooo shocked to see team who had been playing Div 1 and 2 at Dartford playing Div 3 !!!
So we play on the Friday and lose 5 outta 5, but in not one of the games did we feel like we were rolled.........saturday comes and we win 4 outta 5 only losing to the Wombles, it turned out we were 150 or so points away from qualifiying for Div 2 sunday, so just from that our confidence has rocketed and we feel like the step up has benifited us

Play better teams and you will get better

 

[Mark Toye-Nexus]

Bravo for Team Apocolypse - you guys had the balls and its paying off.

Now go play higher domestically and it will continue!!

 

[A.B]

ok so maybe i had some slightly rose tinted glasses on when referring to brit ball- as for our inclusion in the sandbaggers list - well there ain't no way that i will ever be able to justify our descision on that one to you all- and as this is not the thread to do it on i won't be.

I agree with what mark has said about stepping up to play compettitive and i believe our game against Malera showed us what we were missing- and i also believe that this is the way that our team will progress and become more competitive (hard for you all to believe i'm sure) Respect to Apoc for moving it up to div 2- we'll see you there next mill we attend (and not because of the pressure put on by the frequenters of p8) but because in the plan the team has made for progression dictates so.

Go on flame away now about how two faced i appear, i'm very aware of our placing in the sandbaggers list and as the captain of the team i realise i'm the one who'll take the flak.

A.B

 

[Sinner]

I don't think you deserves flaming. You - and perhaps your team as a whole - made a decision to play in div 3 for reasons that no doubt seemed right for you at the time, be it cost, desire to win shiney stuff, self-doubts, a cunning master plan, whatever.

That you now consider that you should or could have played a higher division, aren't trying to make excuses for not doing so and are personally willing to take responsibility for your team as their captain deserves credit, not flaming, in my opinion.

Losing sucks, everybody hates it, and yes it can be somewhat humiliating to play in a division where you're totally outclassed, but personally I think it's more humiliating to win after sandbagging - after all, what's the difference between that and punter hunting?

If a team can find the will to accept loss after loss, learning from each game, then they will get better. It's maybe small comfort in the beginning when the only result you can get from a game is to say that you've learned something new, but you will have the last laugh and perhaps earn more respect along the way.

 

[Buddha 3]

Originally posted by Hatts
all the things the PA was set up for... ever feel like you're banging your head on a brick wall?

Can you explain how the PA is set up to achieve all of what Mark mentions?

 

[Gurney]

A.B i think the flame war is over and it seems you have seen the error of your ways, the way I see it, its now gonna have a knock on effect.
Quake move upto Div 2 in MS, teams that have been playing higher than Quake domestically and are in MS Div 2 think that they are better and therefore maybe should move up to Div 1, and by making those jumps they are playing better teams and getting better players, which in turn can only help brit ball......

Im sure there are team/players reading this who were in Div 3 thinking "Gurney from Apoc thinks he knows it all, his team are sh*t and we cain em everytime we play em!!"
Chances are you probably have cained us......so for god sake make the move up to Div 2 and do us all a favour

Rant over

P.S Mad props to tha guys on Phoenix for a superb result