Which style of play will you choose?
As players, we've got a lot of forces trying to get our attention-the "pros," paintball DVDs, and even our peers at the local field. These forces pull at us, wanting us to be like "them."
I'm out! A Str8balla calls it. Photos by Marc Gottfried.
Your overall style of play, and the paintball ethics you've chosen to adopt, are choices you have to make. So how does what you choose relate to helping you win games? You can't win if you've been eliminated and penalized, or ejected for wrongdoings. By following a few basic guidelines, a new tournament player can become a contender, all while keeping his or her nose clean.
Trigger Bounce Marker performance is important. Most everyone loves a light, fast trigger, and today's markers have many adjustments in the trigger group. One set screw will adjust at what point in the trigger pull the switch is activated. Another will adjust the length of pull, and some can adjust the spring tension if the marker has a spring. Unfortunately, there are several ways to get yourself into trouble with the refs if you've tuned or programmed your marker a little too close to the line.
Be careful not to add trigger bounce to your marker, because trigger bounce is viewed as unsafe and is not allowed. For those just starting out, "trigger bounce" is defined as the recoil of a marker generating a force sufficient to activate additional shooting cycles without assistance. Basically, in other words, if your marker has trigger bounce, your marker will shoot because of its vibrations, not because of you pulling the trigger. While the electronics in newer, advanced markers includes built-in "debounce" software to stop the bouncing effect, like most everything else, it is adjustable.
Upgrade Circuit Boards Speaking of marker electronics, now there are choices in replacement, upgraded circuit boards for electronic markers. The board is a drop-in modification. All you usually have to do is open the grip frame of your marker, exchange a few wiring harnesses, and you're done. Contrary to popular belief, I do recommend these! They can make your marker faster two ways-but one of these methods might bring your ethics into play.
The aftermarket chips on the replacement circuit boards use programming "logic" to operate your marker. Your marker's stock board and logic may be less advanced than that of an aftermarket chip. For the trigger, the programming mainly has to do with how many times per second the board samples the signal coming from the trigger micro-switch. In other words, more samples per second can translate into more trigger pulls registered.
Upgrade "Eyes" 
It's a different ball game when everybody plays it straight.
Sensors, called "eyes," prevent the circuit from cycling the marker unless a paintball has properly seated in the bore, to prevent ball chops. The "eyes" also use logic. Upgraded eye logic may make your marker's eyes more useful with eye-deceptive paints such as really dark or really matte shell types.
These upgrades are great things and well worth the money if it is your goal to shoot fast. The jury's still out on whether shooting faster will actually help you make eliminations, though.
You keep hearing me talk about ethics and conduct on the field; the reason is "ramping." My purpose here isn't to state an opinion about ramping, but rather to educate and inform. Again, for newer players, ramping is defined as the result of using a program that multiplies your rate of fire when certain inputs (trigger actuations) are achieved. It's fully adjustable, but let's say for instance that a typical ramping program could activate when you have reached four trigger pulls per second and multiply your rate of fire by 100 percent. So, when you pull at the rate of say, four pulls per second, the marker ramps to shoot eight balls per second until you stop pulling the trigger, at which point the programs resets.
Most tournaments don't allow ramping, and the toll is a heavy penalty or being thrown out of the event altogether! If the rules allow ramping, then hey, rock and roll. If they don't, and you choose to ramp, then you're cheating. It's an ethics-driven decision, much like wiping or playing on. You might get away with breaking this rule because it's so hard for refs to detect slight amounts of ramp in a player's marker. Still, deliberately breaking the ramping rules is being dishonest, and sometimes dangerous.
You might be saying to yourself, "What's this guy talking about ethics for? Like I'm going to feel bad because I ramped a little bit in a tournament." Point is, a growing number of players have decided to walk the straight and narrow. That type of player is a "Str8balla" who cares more for the sport and its future than about "winning" through cheating. You can join their circles at www.str8balla.com.
Your Decision I'll hop off my soapbox, but not before expressing my interest in cleaning the sport up. Think about paintball. Where has it come from and where is it going?
The decision is yours. With today's technology you can accessorize, tune, and tweak your marker into a 30 ball per second monster. Be mindful that faster isn't always better, and your skill could actually be handicapped by your reliance on upgrades like a new board or bouncing trigger! On some of the higher-end markers, how it comes from the factory is good, and the manufacturer has done a fine job in the programming.
Regardless of your upgrade decision, I urge you to look inside yourself when you're deciding whether and how to use the increased rate of fire.
Marc Gottfried has been a player since 1989 with Total Greif (totalgreif.com) and writes from St. Louis, Missouri.
NPPL Rule 11.02(2) The 2006 NPPL rulebook states that players must report, for inspection, to the chronograph station at least 10 minutes before their next game is scheduled to start. (Rule 11). The chrono referee checks markers for several things, including locking velocity adjusters (11.1), and locking electronic parts: "Electronic Parts Locked. Shooting modes of electronic markers may not be adjusted on field as to allow dwell, debounce, trigger bounce, or ramping." (11.2)
