Being the Teacher

[NYRChaoS]

hey im training some people on how to play and such what should i do how should i teach them and etc.... if anyone can give me tips, things to do or help in any other way i would be very greatfull thanks

[halB]

i may not have been much help with ur gfs gear, but ill throw in my 2 cents here. :) the first thing to train people about is pain and fear. fear is the ONLY enemy in paintball. not the other team, not the paintballs that go wizzing by ur head. its all about fear. i heard about this game on this forum, forgot who wrote bout it, but it sounds damn good. have people 20 steps away from each other, face, and then one person loads a paintball into there gun (no hopper) aims, fires. then its the other persons turn to do the same. u cant move or dodge the shots. if both people dont hit each other then they each take one step closer, and repeat. thatll really teach them about fear and help them deal with it. if ur playing woodsball then u also need to teach them patience. have them sit on an antpile for a half hour and dont allow them to move, not even to brush the ants off. hell thats what i had to do one game, but i got the whole team.

[NYRChaoS]

yeah thanks i knew about people being scared from there first shot because it hurt alot of just fear of getting hit ..... thats a good idea i like that game i think i wanna play it for fun
kinda like when me and bro go a a field and shoot at each other

[AK47]

I have a better idea, give them a mask and shoot them when they are not expecting it.:blah:

[Letchworth40]

another idea is to tell them playing againt people better than them will make them better... most new guys dont like playing because they know they suck at first.

[Slipstream]

1) Listen to the Ref!
The Ref wins all discussions - there is no arguing with the Ref on the field. The Ref is responsible for everyone's safety after all.

2) Sportmanship
2A) Remind your students to have show good sportmanship - gracefully accept being hit, and don't throw fits if something does not go your way.
2B) Don't wipe paint.

3) Eliminate the Fear:
halB is right on! Teach them to not fear being hit.

4) Calling themselves out
This relates to #2 & #3.
When hit, call themselves out.
4A) Yell "Out!"
4B) Stop moving! (If you keep moving, the shooter cannot see if you have been hit so will probably keep on shooting.)
4C) Point their marker straight up into the air (that way the person shooting at them can SEE that they are out and knows to stop shooting).
4D) Yell "Out!" again.
4E) Find their barrel plug/sock to put in the marker.
4F) Exit the field, keeping the marker pointed up.
This shows both good sportmanship and it greatly reduces getting overshot.

3) Learn their effective ranges:
(I've put this in other posts before)
3A) Have each of your "students" pick an inanimate target and fire 10 shots into it at 25', 50', 75', and 100'. This lets them see how much their accuracy decreases with range AND drives home that 100' is pretty much their maximum range limit.
3B) When playing games of 20 minutes or less, there is no point in playing defense. If there are no opponents within their range, they need to move up.

4) Buddy system - build trust
When you've got many players, split them up into small teams of 2-3 each for when they go out. This builds trust and also helps on #1 (eliminating fear). It also helps promote teamwork.

[NYRChaoS]

thanks alot ill use that a a guide line

[Slipstream]

After your students have played a couple of a games...you will want to teach them how to learn from their mistakes.

0) Review Lesson #1

1) Masks -
Check to make certain all your students can still see OK. Are they having fogging issues? Do their glasses slide off? It's really hard to learn anything if you can't see what is going on.

2) Orange vest - Non-player Observer
2A) If you are taking out a LOT of players and really want to help instruct them, you might ask the field Refs if they would mind having you borrow a vest and simply be a non-player observer. Explain that you are helping some new players learn the game and want to watch them play to give them pointers.
Most Refs are very cool about this. It lets you focus on watching your students without having to worry about the game or being shot yourself. (You'll still get shot, but so do the Refs...)
2B) If you're playing a LOT of games, you might have your students rotate through as a non-player observer so they can watch how other play and learn from them.

3) Using Cover
Where did you get hit? Then, how did you get hit?
Go around and ask each player to think where he/she got hit the last few games. Then ask each player to think about how he/she got hit. Examples:
Was their foot or elbow hit? Then was it sticking outside the bunker? Then when they get to cover, they need to check their extremities to see if they are sticking out.
Was the top of their head or top of the loader getting hit? Then when they get to cover, they need to make certain to stay low and not leave the top of their head/loader exposed.
Was the back of their pods hit when behind cover? Then they need to watch how they turn their body because their pods stick out further back then they think.
Once players think about how they got hit after each game, then they'll try not to repeat the same mistake. Oh, it will still happen, but less and less with each game they play as it becomes habit.

4) Staying Together
Check out the buddy system. Is one team member getting too far ahead or is one lagging too far behind?
Discuss it with each buddy group what THEY think before you offer up any opinions. (There is a good chance they'll figure it out on their own once they talk about it.)

Once your students get down the elements of Lesson #1 & #2, they won't look like Noobs anymore.

At that point, it's time to look at the same things everyone else does: snap-shooting, cover-fire, bunkering, and group tactics.

There are more than enough separate posts on those general subjects already.

[Micewheelz72]

This is sorta what SlipStream said, but a little different.... what you do is assign a a newbie to an experienced person, and have the newb follow him/her around in the game. Have the good person tell them everything that theyre doing. Then switch. Have the newbie be in control, and then have the good person tell them if its good, bad, could be better, etc. and if they get stuck, tell them what they did wrong. This is how I teach newbies, and it works rather well.

[IRPaintballer]

Speed ball:

Teach them to snap shoot and give cover and communicate.

snap shooting can be taught like this:

put a 2 - literabout 50 feet away from them, stick them behind a bunker, give them 10 round tubes. Make them keep practicing until they can hit a 2-liter bottle in at least 10 shots, then 9 shots, then 8, and so forth till they can hit it every time with the exception of curving balls.

communicate and cover fire: have one person learn the field really well, then put him out with no gun. he has to get to the enemy side of the field without getting shot. Now have his team mates tell him where to go and lay down tons of cover. so it shoudl be like this. "go to the snake in the center of the field"
**Kid sprints to center of field**
"go to the Pikachu at the 40 mark"
**kid jogs over to Pikachu**

Those are my personal Speed ball strats I have taught my team so we could be good.

I will post wood ball once I have it all.

[The Sniper]

The first thing is to teach them how to be accurate with the gun they use. First tell them to have the barrel on the target and adjust the aim on where the paint usually curves. I improved accuracy by shooting red plastic cups at about 25yds. ,but now i practice 50yds.

[MINDofSIN]

When paint starts to drip out of the barrel tell them to shoot faster.:laugh:

Teach them about their guns so they can play and not worry about their equipment.