team sports and entertainment game in which the players of the competing teams strive to hit as many opponents as possible with paint balls and complete the goal of the game mission. The defeat of rivals (and to be honest – sometimes comrades) is carried out by hitting them with a ball of paint. Paintballs consist of an outer (hard but fragile) shell that retains the shape of the ball and a liquid oily filler, which contains the coloring matter. One of the main ingredients used in the manufacture of paintballs is a special pharmaceutical gelatin with additives – it is from this that the shell of the ball mainly consists. If moisture accidentally gets on the gelatin shell, the shell absorbs it, swells and softens, “bubbles” may form and such balls should never be fired – they will get stuck in the feeder or burst in the barrel before reaching the target.
Shooting with paintballs is carried out with the help of special “pneumatic guns” (paintball markers).
A hit player in paintball is considered to be the one on whose game uniform or equipment there is a stain of paint from a cracked ball. As a rule, splashes from balloons that have crashed into shelters are not considered and often a conditional defeat is considered to be the presence of a paint stain no smaller than a five-ruble coin. By default, in paintball, it is not considered a defeat if the ball that hit the player did not break and color it. Such a player has the right to continue the paintball fight. But if the player has already declared himself defeated, and only then discovered that the ball has not cracked and there is no paint on it, he does not return to the game, so as not to mislead the rest of the players and judges. In many scenarios, going out of bounds without permission is also considered a defeat for the player. You can read more about the rules of paintball here.
As a rule, more people are going to play paintball on weekends and holidays, because. not everyone can gather enough friends for a paintball outing on a weekday. In paintball clubs, many actively celebrate birthdays, celebrate bachelor parties, hold school trips, student and corporate tournaments, and the paintball club “Hedgehogs in the Fog” is no exception! During the holidays, clubs have the highest load, so experienced players often book a game on a weekday, when the venues are freer.
Undoubted advantages of spending the weekend on paintball:
1. Anyone who can come to the territory of the paintball club will be able to play paintball! This means that all the necessary preparation for the game of paintball players will be able to go directly to the club, and fathers and mothers, and children, and grandparents will be able to participate. No one will force the players to fulfill army physical training standards without exception. Everyone plays paintball within the framework of physical activity that is comfortable for him, therefore, the physical activity received when playing ordinary recreational paintball is adapted and balanced (in a mode that is comfortable for the player, accuracy, endurance and reaction speed are trained, static and dynamic stress are combined). In addition, soft psychological training is underway: self-confidence increases, self-esteem increases, communication skills improve, willpower is trained and internal complexes are overcome, and the release of endorphins when playing paintball improves mood!
2. Most paintball games are played outdoors. Agree that among other ways of active collective outdoor recreation, paintball is in the forefront. Even such a wonderful type of winter recreation as skiing will not be supported by all your friends – someone simply doesn’t have skis, and where it’s most interesting to ride, you can’t rent them, or paintball! In the summer you can ride bicycles, but, again, this is not for everyone … Of course, you can go bowling or billiards, but, you see, this cannot be considered a particularly active holiday, and it’s all done indoors …
3. Paintball is a military sports adventure! The game of paintball is perceived by many primarily as a game of war. Therefore, sometimes there is a negative reaction to this type of recreation as provoking aggressive behavior. In fact, paintball players are no more aggressive than soccer players or ping-pong fans – both must have the will to win and be restrained, respecting the rules of conduct during the game and not being distracted by the provocative behavior of opponents or fans. A really good athlete – and in ordinary life he will be a worthy person. The same can be said about the case when an aggressive, quick-tempered person in ordinary life decides to go in for some kind of sport and will choose between paintball (because you can shoot paint at other players there) and table tennis (because there you can try to hit the opponent in the forehead with a ball). and throw a racket on the floor). Let me give you an example from real life: in 2012, figure skater Evgeni Plushenko came to our paintball club (“Hedgehogs in the Fog”) for the first time to play. Absolutely all the club’s employees who worked on the site that day noticed that Evgeny is a very simple and pleasant person to talk to, and he behaved the same way on the playing field – politely and tactfully. At the same time, there was a case when an “excessively active” young man who arrived with a group of friends was very quickly laid down by his own comrades, whom he simply interfered with playing, constantly breaking the rules and arguing with an instructor, rivals and even with a photographer! Having received a condemnation from his comrades and missing one game, this young man was a model of courtesy and attentiveness for the rest of the game day, already making comments to his comrades a couple of times when they were too carried away. So, paintball is only a platform for self-realization and a fun game; come to paintball with good thoughts – and you will have the most pleasant impressions from the game.
There are two main types of paintball: sports and tactical.
For many players, paintball is no longer just a hobby or a weekend pastime. Paintball, especially in the last decade, has shown that it is also a very promising sport. Not only the entertainment direction of this game, but also the “branch” of sports paintball, within which serious international tournaments are held, has been gaining popularity for a long time.
In sports paintball, the game takes place according to the same type of scenarios with capture of the flag. It does not use entourage “guns” or pyrotechnics. Sports paintball markers look more like Star Wars space blasters than modern weapons. In sports paintball, as in any modern sport, fractions of seconds and the smallest details of the preparation of players and equipment decide a lot. Sports paintball is played on a specially prepared flat area with inflatable shelters of a certain configuration. The players are dressed in sports jerseys with the team logo and tight comfortable pants. Professional paintball teams have their own sponsors and fans.
Tactical paintball, unlike its counterpart, has found great popularity among those who want to have fun on the weekends. “Tactical players” often in their equipment resemble soldiers from a special forces battalion, “armed to the teeth.” The association of paintball with the game of war for most people just makes the tactical direction popular. Tactical paintball often uses special pyrotechnics – paint grenades and smoke bombs. Athletes also like to run through the forest, because. At its core, paintball is paintball, it’s just that the style of different players can be different. For tactical paintball, numerous manufacturing companies produce a large number of entourage markers that outwardly imitate real-life types of firearms or are as similar as possible to them. It is quite understandable that because of its entourage, many are primarily attracted to the tactical variety of paintball.
Practical paintball
Practical paintball can be called a type of tactical paintball, during which elements of the actions of combat groups, agents, bodyguards and law enforcement officers are practiced, that is, when paintball is used as a simulator for developing the skills and reflexes necessary in a particular critical situation.