Author: zenandtheartofpaintball

To Be or Not to Be…What was the question?

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I want to start this month off with a “thank you”. I have received several great messages and ideas as of late from many of you and they are all greatly appreciated. This whole Zen thing started as a rough idea and has turned into something I never imagined. So thank you! FYI – look for an “audio” version coming soon! A lot of my friends tell me they enjoy reading the blog but that, sometimes, it can be a chore, especially with my longer pieces. I had intended to start the audio portion this month but, you know how it goes, things happen.
So, this month’s topic… Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a rather fascinating phenomenon. I watched several young men and women attend a paintball try out for a team that is trying to create a program. No, this will not necessarily be a “how to” on try-outs. This will be more of a cautionary tale I guess. If you want to understand my perspective on the “How” and “why” of tryouts, check out these previous blogs posts:

Potential People

I Spy

Ontogenesis

Now, understand, running a program is a different animal than just having a team. It requires much more time, energy, and effort to be done well. That being said, and without going into too much detail, let’s establish some context. Here are my thoughts on the matter right, wrong, or indifferent:

Try-outs – fun times

A TEAM is a group of individuals that, together, have a singular identity or are associated together in an activity with a goal.
A PROGRAM would be more than one team, usually sharing the same identity but separated by divisions, or skill level, and managed under a coordinated system to have mutual benefits and meet mutual goals.

*Zen note – I also use the term “Camp”. This is a team that isn’t quite a program but has elements of a program or is moving in that direction.

Now, over the years, I have run or assisted in many paintball try-outs. In this case, I was simply an observer. I enjoy watching paintball. You can learn a lot from watching games at all levels. I also enjoy meeting, watching, and learning about the latest crop of newcomers, visiting and catching up with familiar faces and old friends, as well as just being around the sport. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to observe how others do things.

I’m always looking for ways to learn, find ideas and efficiencies, to improve myself, my own methods and processes, so that I can share with others. I try to expose myself to other people’s ideas and approaches as often as possible. You can also learn what NOT to do. And this is every bit as important as it’s opposite.

*Zen note – I believe we should constantly challenge ourselves, evolve, and grow. If you aren’t doing so, there is a high probability you’ll become stagnant and eventually fade. I like to encourage this in others (challenging themselves). Look around you. Everything changes. Everything on God’s earth is in a continuous state of evolution. Whether it is improving or adapting or changing. None of us were put here to grow stagnant. I would never tell you, ‘Today is the best I will ever be.’ I can no longer grow or improve. No, we need to continuously pursue improvement.

Showing what you got

Anyway, back to the try out – Personally, I’m very particular when I run these things. I like structure. I always have a process worked out to help me find what I am looking for. Everything is pre-planned to lead me to my goal. This can be broken down further depending on which team, program, or camp, I am doing this for but let’s not get off topic (or should we?)

Whether it is a specific layout chosen to play to specific skill sets or “position” (this is relative), specific drills to measure strengths and opportunities within the skill sets, an agenda/schedule, name it… all of it should be thought out and pre-planned so that we can keep things efficient and use everyone’s time wisely. Something some people hedge on is the rudimentary “introductory speech”. I find these important and not just because it sets the mood or tone for the day (important BTW). More importantly, it should manage expectations – let them know what to expect and why. You should tell them what you are specifically looking for, why, what they should expect to experience, and what will happen afterwards. Hopefully you can do this in a way where everyone understands. At the end, you should ask if there are any questions so you can ensure you have successfully communicated the goal(s). In some instances, some questions you get may tell you a little (or a lot) about the player asking the question …but I digress.

Getting after it in the snake

So, there I am watching, taking it all in, occasionally engaging those putting on the try out, talking with players, you know… being annoying. They are circled up starting to stretch, about 20 guys and gals and then a gentleman I’ve never seen or met before (not uncommon) steps to the center of the circle. He introduces himself and gives a little background. This is the “coach”. Everything seemed perfectly normal for a divisional try out. He wanted everyone to know who he was (good), where he is from (OK – good), why he is there (Nice – good), and that he is “big *&%$ swingin’ (wait…) and what he said goes (hold on…), he was in charge and you may not like it but you would get over it (huh?), and they were all “gonna learn today!” (Whiskey Tango Hotel). Coach Machiavelli much?

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”
“Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.”
-Machiavelli

Don’t get me wrong, far be it from me to downplay the importance of masculine, confident, swaggery bad-assedness of an Alpha male. I think we need more of these today more than ever. But this wasn’t that really… this was ego. And there IS a difference. At least, that’s what my instinct told me. It didn’t seem genuine much less earned. Does that make sense?

Then the two day try out began.


What is your opinion… Should you coach during a try out? Some would argue that doing so would show the potential team members a coach’s style. I would argue giving a pointer here or there is fine but that, for the most part, I want to see how the player thinks, how they play, see them in that raw element without influence. See their “flow” so to speak. If I give a player insight into how I expect them to play, then they will (possibly) begin doing what they think I want to see. Do you think coaching a hopeful pick up will give you an honest and accurate assessment of their true playing? Maybe. Personally, I am of the mind to watch and learn. I like to ask questions after I see something go wrong for a player or even when they go right. “Hey chief – what was your thought process on that move? What was your idea when you called so and so over to look this way?” Explain there is no right or wrong answer… you want their honest reasoning. This will give insight into what level they are thinking on. If it’s a two day try-out, maybe you save the coaching for day 2…

Drills, Drills, and more drills

What if your coaching style is “aggressive”? What if the coach is yelling a lot and pointing out nothing but mistakes (in his mind)? This is what the young coach explained to me later (you know me, I have to engage) This translated to him essentially being impatient. And aren’t’ we all at times? I know I am. He wanted to make an impact. He later copped to this and recognized it which led me to like him. Takes a real man to admit it and be that honest with yourself. He will go far and will, most assuredly be a successful coach in the future.
Everyone has an opinion and a way to do things. However, I believe you catch more bees with honey than vinegar. So, if I am at a try out for a divisional paintball team, I don’t want General Patton standing over me beating me into submission for a try-out. No, I am there to show what I bring to the table and you are there to see if it’s what you need. Ego must be left at the door. Bear in mind… that’s my opinion. But it’s worked so far.

Watchful eyes

Managing expectations can be difficult… thinking of everything isn’t easy. But it is a little easier with a little preparation (well in advance – not day before under the guise of delusion of how it will play out). BTW – it’s worth mentioning that it‘s also okay to make changes to the plan on the fly as long as the changes are creating efficiency and moving you towards the goal without undue stress on the players.
A few hours into the try out, I decided to walk around and interview several of the players to get their thoughts on things. Just how they thought things were going. Some were okay with it all because, well, they recognized it for what it was… bloviating. Didn’t bother them because they were there to show their stuff (action), make the team, (goal), and advance their paintball career that way (strategic). But most of them led with unflattering comments about the ” lack of organization (as in organizing/herding cats) and, well, unflattering things about the coach. In other words, the potential program organizers had already lost a good many of the potential good players from the pool.

Why? How did it happen and where did it go wrong?

I can only provide my opinion from an outside observer’s perspective, but I have a good feeling I wouldn’t be too far off. I don’t think the organizers of the try out really knew what they wanted to do. Let me be clear, this is not a slight against the team/organization. Expanding your team into a Program is a Herculean task (that means it isn’t easy). But you must have a plan. I don’t think there was much of a plan past the warmup and first drill or two. Introduce the variable of a coach (ego and all) who didn’t really appear to know what he was there to do and you now have a recipe for things to go wrong.

Put the seasoned guys in there against the new guys. See what’s what

The English writer Samuel Johnson once wrote that, “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” He also said, “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”

Wham-o.

Look folks, if you are going to put yourself in a leadership position, especially in paintball, you first need to gain the respect and trust from those you are attempting to lead. There is a myriad of ways to do this. BUT… If you have never met me, have no idea of who I am, but step to me and tell me you are the boss now and to follow your lead… expect my inside voice to say, “Sure. After we establish what qualifies you to coach me.” At this particular try-out, there were several players I was familiar with who had played at a D2 or higher level. The coach had not competed past D4. Now I am not saying that a coach must have a pedigree. Absolutely not! That’s a completely different topic BTW. But if I am going to win you over or gain your trust, I need to start from somewhere… telling a bona fide D2 player he “did it all wrong” and yelling at him about “what were you thinking” when we just met… and I come to find out you hadn’t played past D4 or won anything in that division…perhaps podded for a pro team a few times… well… kick rocks. Think it through next time. Be a Boy-scout (well, not the new ones… the old ones). Be prepared.


Be water my friends.

Resolutions – (Paintball Style)

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2020 is officially behind us. For some, last year wasn’t that bad… for others it will be forever embedded in their hearts and not necessarily in a good way. If it taught you anything, I hope it was to look out for your friends and family.

Hopefully 2021 will hold more promise for all of us. I, for one, cannot tell anyone how to make that happen… but I may have some small insight from a paintball team perspective. But first, a quick story…

This past world cup, a friend of mine called. He was playing with a new team for Cup and they had voted him to be the “player/coach.” He was looking for advice. He realized it was last minute and I could tell he was reserved about even calling. I empathized because, well, I had been there. So I told him two specific things:

  • Don’t be afraid to make a mistake
  • Own it when you do
Big Show time

He did well, taking a throw together team to Sunday. I gave him that advice because I wanted him to understand that if he did make a mistake, it wasn’t the end of the world, and two, if he did, suck it up and move on. See, he was going to make mistakes… But he was gaining real world experience. He was learning. When we make mistakes, yes, there is failure but hopefully we are trying new things, learning, living, pushing ourselves, changing, growing. We’re stepping out of that comfort zone and experiencing things that will hopefully make us better and ultimately teach us who we are.

And just like that we are entering a new year, a new season, with all the experiences of the previous year. How many of you learned from your mistakes? How many of you will actively participate in making your experiences better? Like I said recently, the new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. What will yours say?

Here are Zen’s top 10 pieces of advice for writing this years’ “Book” (in no particular order):

  1. If you are going to learn the “hard-way” then actually learn. Don’t rationalize or make excuses. Recognize the lesson that was taught. If you or your team make a jump in divisions and get your rumps handed to you, what did you learn? No, it wasn’t the refs are “stricter” at that level, the other teams are better at cheating, or any other plethora of excuses some will use to explain away their failure. Don’t be ashamed of your division! Go win in it. If you truly are better than your APPA shows, then prove it by dominating the division and progress accordingly. There is no shame in this and it is the right way to go.

“It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning.” –Claude Bernard

  1. There is always going to be someone better than you. Whether it is snap shooting, run n gun, laning, speed, making reads, reaction time, coaching… they exist and you will meet them on the field. And it may just be that one time in that one match at that one event. But it will happen.
    And you need to get over it.
    I promise, if you believe you are special and the next Ollie Lang or Dynasty, your ego is in for a rude awakening. You will be humbled and many people will enjoy it when it happens, especially if you are a braggart. However, to those of you who genuinely wish to be good and are aspiring for that level of performance (those who let their game speak, not their mouth), know that almost every skill set I mentioned can be improved upon. You are in control of how far you take it, how far it goes.

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” –Albert Einstein

It wasn’t easy. If it was, everyone would do it
  1. There is a lot more to being successful in paintball than just practicing hard. Working hard is not enough. You need to work smart too. If you want to be recognized then you need to be more than good or competent. You need to noticeably excel. This means you need to work harder and smarter than everyone else around you. A solid work ethic and brains? That’s the ticket. They shouldn’t be mutually exclusive because if they are, that is what will be noticeable.

4. Paintball is expensive and not just financially. It takes a commodity that many take for granted and don’t always understand its worth. It takes time. So if you’re looking to be competitive on the national level but you don’t have the money or the time, then you are better off not playing paintball. Just kickin’ it for fun? By all means, it is a great occasional recreational sport. But to be competitive, you better have the time and the money. If not, you don’t have an understanding of what all is required to succeed at that level and in that environment.

5. Create good habits. Winning is a habit. What that means is, you have to have developed the appropriate habits that LEAD to winning. Good habits will lead to good things just as bad habits will lead to bad things. Choose wisely because habits will make or break you. Work the drills everyone hates, run that extra mile, do that extra push up, get their early every time… develop a habit of doing the right thing and I promise you will see progress quicker than those who don’t.

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.” – Bruce Lee

  1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. The dumbest question is the one NOT asked. This is part of learning. Be curious, take in how others approach the game. Watch what they do, how they do it, and ask why they do it. But be wary. If it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t. You will be surprised at the amount of people who are willing to help. And just as dumbfounded by those who think they can.

7. You are owed NOTHING. This is a pet peeve of mine. When I encounter those who have the attitude that they deserve something for nothing, it is difficult for me to not call them out. If you step on my field, you will earn everything. I have learned that people that get things easily or that receive things they don’t deserve are usually lousy human beings or rather, good examples of how not to be. Don’t be the one who feels you are owed or entitled to something others put in hard work for. If you are one of these people who gets their feelings hurt easily or puts how you “feel” in front of betterment, keep walking. I have no time for you panzies.

You can be competitors on the field and friends off of it

8. Know where you stand. Whether it is with your teammates, your coach, heck, any relationship, understand where you land in the scheme of things. Avoid unnecessary drama and if you can’t, snuff it out quickly and decisively. Lose that stuff fast. Understanding your place in an organization is important. It won’t always be what you want it to be. Hey, maybe it’s you.

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” –Confucius

9. You are replaceable. So make yourself irreplaceable. Bring something worth having. Better yet, bring several things that are not only worth having but needed. When you are a teammate before an individual, when you bring positivity tempered with logic and data, when you build after taking apart, when you are the example, the rest will fall into place. Your actions and effort should speak volumes. Be loud in action.

10. Be physically fit. The sport has evolved and requires a semblance of athletic ability so make it happen. Plus, good physical fitness lends itself to good mental capabilities. Both your mind and your body should be in peak condition (and not just for our sport). They shouldn’t be separate entities. Physical fitness is the foundation for mental fitness. If you have the gas tank, then you can keep the mental clarity and make good in-game decisions.

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Genuine

I will leave you with this one final thought. You probably know who your supporters are, the ones who believe in you and who want the best for you… the genuine ones. But you may not always know who your detractors are (go back and read #8). Remember, the better you get and the further you progress, there will be those who want you to fail. Success will create new challenges, new opportunities, and yes, even new enemies. Don’t give them room to stay at the “inn”. Not everyone loves a winner. Let them sit in their envious hate and rot.

In other words, be hard to kill both on the field (literally) and off of it (metaphorically).

Here’s to 2021!

Be water my friends.

Don’t Do It!

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by Aaron Pate

*Zen Note: This month’s blog post, as you can see, was not written by me but by one of my closest friends.
Trigger warning – Aaron is blunt and pulls no punches in how he addresses friends and strangers alike no matter the topic. This is why I asked him to write this months’ blog; to expose you to different points of view and delivery similar to my good friend Nolan Osvath’s article earlier this year (found here – https://zenandtheartofpaintball.com/2020/03/17/mushin-state-of-no-mind/ )

I asked him if there was anything in paintball that really ground his gears. Well, here you go… read on and enjoy…

Most topics that are discussed during an off-season revolve around keeping one’s skills sharp while waiting for the next year’s schedule of events to roll around. I know, I know. Boring, right? Luckily, this is not that article! Unfortunately, it may be one that breaks your heart – but that will depend on what division you and your teammates think you should play in the upcoming year…

Zen and the author Aaron Pate

Each year, there is one team or several teams that decide to make “the jump” to “prove themselves” at a higher level. By now, you have already thought of at least one team that fits into this category, and if you are on that team, share this article with them. It will save you and your teammate’s hard-earned money, time, and hopefully, dignity. The result of teams that do this is the same – they all fail. Period. Destined to have zero wins and four-ever losses (0-4), and at the end of one or two seasons, the team folds, and every player has a higher ranking they should not have.

What motivates teams to act in this way? I can only speculate because the teams I have been on commit first-degree murder on those teams. Could it be the millennial mindset those boomers keep talking about? Perhaps.  Or maybe it is hubris from staring at a target for two seconds before pulling the trigger and claiming one’s self as the two-time snap shooting champion? Honestly, I think it boils down to one of two factors: One, your team wants the badging and accolades without anything to show for it; or (2) the team genuinely thinks it can rise to the challenge and overcome mediocre finishes.

“Please, do not ask me for autographs until after practice.”

The first option is simple to address. No one gives a (Zen edit) that you are the highest divisional team in the area because everyone has the internet, and everyone can see how sorry your team is performing in real-time, and that is no joke; those live scoreboards are the best thing an overpriced entry fee could pay for. What kills me the most are the players that have told me, “I play division X,” but I have done enough research to know they are ranked division X less four. When your team holds tryouts this offseason, do yourselves a favor and write off those people from the start. They do not want to get better. They are creatures of ego and not performance. (This reminds me. Go buy a LV1.6 today! Brought to you by Planet Eclipse. Full disclaimer: I play on a team sponsored by Planet Eclipse.)

Don’t be this team. 42nd out of 42 teams

“We smoked those guys at practice! How did they win the event?”

Let us turn our attention to the second option, and maybe, just maybe, we can right the ship before that first entry fee is due. Think back to the practices before the COVID Cup, err World Cup. Everything seemed to be going well, but then the event happened, and you may still be asking yourselves why the event went the way it did.

I’ll tell you why – you wanted to win practice.   

*Zen Note – See https://zenandtheartofpaintball.com/2019/09/21/practice-all-star/ for further detail).  Which is somewhat coincidentally funny when you think about it…Who wrote this month’s blog and who is being eluded to at the very beginning in the linked blog. Yep, he was the guy I had the convo with in the first paragraph (as if it wasn’t obvious by the picture right beneath it)

But Aaron, isn’t the goal to win? Well, yes and no. The goal is to win the event. Too many teams get caught up in keeping up appearances or wanting to stunt on the teams in higher divisions and lose sight of the goal. My advice? Forget about winning the practice scrimmage and drills at practices and learn how to play. The team’s focus should be on asking questions and obtaining answers as time goes by on the field layout. Tailor your layout practices to the competition. A good rule of thumb: Increase the aggression against upper divisional teams and do the opposite for lower divisional teams. The idea here is to test the best breakout shooters (in theory) and plan accordingly for your division. For lower divisional teams, you should be testing pocket plays and progressions – along with that, taking advantage of their lack of experience as fast as possible. At the end of the two weeks, the team should have a very good indication of how the field will play. Winning practices should be secondary to learning the field.

Seriously – don’t. Last place and mercied every match

If you are reading this, your team has cut its discount pro player(s) and now understands the purpose of layout practices leading up to an event. So, what division do you play? Here is where the PBLI/APPA ranking system becomes useful. What are the rankings of the players on the roster? The player rankings set a baseline. For example, if every player is ranked D4, then D5 is out of the question.  Has the team made the podium in the last year or two? If the answer is no, then chances are, you are right where you need to be, and if you think otherwise, please reference the “zero wins and four-ever (0-4) losses” portion of the article.  In cases where the podium has been achieved but the roster is significantly different since that win, I would encourage you to not make the jump until the current roster gets a medal. Some refer to this scenario as the “rebuild”, and this is nothing to be ashamed about. If anything, people notice that your organization is something special when success is attained no matter what the roster is, and people want to be a part of that.

If only one team is saved from complete annihilation due to reading this article, I would be happy with that. Sadly, it is inevitable that teams will still make the jump with no data to back up the decision. To those teams, I say, “good luck”. I hope you can put up a point or two to show everyone you “competed”.

*Zen Note: There is a similar article to this one from this past summer.  See also https://zenandtheartofpaintball.com/2020/07/10/facts-vs-narrative-reality-check/

Pontification on Permanent Persistence

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“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”

Alex Trebeck: Answer, “Obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.”

Me, you, us: “What is persistence, Alex.”

It finally happened.  The first national win and in the semi pro division no less at WORLD friggin’ CUP.  I will get into the crux of this month’s topic but first – I want to say something:  

Celebration next to Celebration

First and foremost, a huge shout out and thank you to the New Orleans Hurricanes…  Here is a program that already had two national event wins under their belt in Division 2 (Chicago 2017 and World Cup 2018 – the latter they did with only 5 guys!) so they knew what it feels like, what it takes, and what it means.  I had coached some of their players back in the Prime program and had even done a clinic with them prior to their Chicago win.  When they first called me, I thought, these guys don’t need me! What’s this all about?  It’s a trap! Man, I am grateful to the One above that I answered the phone that day.

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

I cannot thank them enough for making that call and making me a part of the program.  It has been an honor.  A couple of quick stats:

  • The ‘Canes outscored our opponents 22-7 in the prelims
    • In other words, 76% of all points played were won by the ‘Canes
    • Or for every point our opponent scored, we scored 3
  • The ‘Canes outscored their opponents 17-8 on Sunday (3 matches: quarters, semis, finals)
    • 68% of all points played were won by the ‘Canes
    • Or for every point our opponent scored we scored 2
  • They were undefeated the entire event
    • Once we obtained the 1st place seed, we kept it the entire event
    • Outscored our opponents 39-15 the entire event
      • That translates to 72% of all points played were won by us
      • For every point scored on us, we scored 2.6 points on our opponent
      • We mercied 3 of our 7 opponents

I think those are some impressive stats.  Way to be Canes! Perhaps it doesn’t matter but we did win the 2 event Covid series too…

Lord have…mercy

“The most essential factor is persistence – the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.”

Okay – pardon that little tangent but I am very proud of their accomplishment.  That is no easy feat.  Some may say, well, the Tons Tons, weren’t there.  Okay, my response would be, had they been, we would have beat them too. See how easy that is?

Now, moving on to this month’s topic… you probably figured it out by the title.

I think whenever someone discusses winning, the term “persistence” is usually, or should be, mentioned.  Persistence has to be a component and it shouldn’t surprise anyone at least when it comes to a significant accomplishment.  Those significant accomplishments are usually reserved for things that are quite difficult to achieve and require great effort, yes?  It is very easy to fold up the tent and just figure it isn’t going to happen.  Trust me, I have considered this many times because it is rather easy to persist at something when things are good or going well.  It is a completely different animal when they are not. 

Amazing feeling

“Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.”

So what does that look or sound like.  Here is my best attempt at trying to justify or explain my own persistence as well as those I have had the honor to coach/play with and why we try to maintain it:

Goal setting:  If you have read this blog for any amount of time you know I write about goal setting.  Well, I take my own advice on this one.  If I set my eyes on something, I’m going to do it.  A very good friend of mine was speaking to a player about work ethic.  I remember him saying this, “If you really want something, you’ll find a way to get it. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”  I asked him where he got that from and if I could steal it.  He said he had read it somewhere regarding business or entrepreneurship but felt it applied.  I agree… it most certainly applies to the sports world or any world for that matter!

I have watched several of my friends, whether former players I had coached, former teammates, or even just those I met through clinics go on and win a national event.  Ever since watching “Push” in 1999, I have wanted to know that feeling and to be a part of something greater.  The motivation was almost unhealthy at times, I kid you not! And it was all worth it.

Once more into the breech

“Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.”

All those national  2nd (11), 3rd (4) and 4th (2) place finishes, all those national Sunday appearances (40)… They just made me more determined.  Why? …because each time I learned something new.  Every. Single. Time.  And each time it just made me want it more and more.  I didn’t make or create excuses.  I recognized the shortcomings and worked to improve them.  I took accountability and actively searched out improvement.  I made an adjustment here or an adjustment there.  I let the process work and fixed it where I could.  Was it disheartening at times?  You bet.  Did I make mistakes in how I adapted?  No doubt.  But you have to reach inside and recognize that it IS coming if you truly stay the course.  Staying motivated is hard, sure, but winners stay after it.  You can’t break the warrior if he loves what he is fighting for.  Find that motivation, that desire, and fuel it.

I was told by many a friend and family member to “give up on this childish dream”.  What made it childish?  What made it a dream?  I have never asked anyone to quit something they were passionate about and I wasn’t about to let anyone convince me (unless it becomes unhealthy – I genuinely believe this pursuit has made me a healthier person both mentally and physically).  See, I know who I am.  I know my capabilities.  Ever heard the term “He hits above his weight class”?  I tell myself that every day.  When I get up in the morning, I pray that God gives me the strength and wisdom to be very best I can be, whether that is being a father, a husband, a friend, a player, or a coach. I pray before every match that my boys stay safe and healthy. Do I care what others think of me?  Certainly.  Do I care what others think of me regarding specific pursuits? Nope.  Some things you will not convince me or challenge me on.  I don’t expect everyone to understand.  The more you say I can’t, the stronger you make me.

“Failure is only postponed success as long as courage ‘coaches’ ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.”

Game planning for Sunday

I have read that winning is habitual and I genuinely believe it.  What that means to me is, in order to win, you must develop the right habits.  Makes perfect sense to me.  Perhaps I’m just pontificating and becoming somewhat introspective and arrogant.  Hell, I am writing a blog as if people care what I think…  anyway… habits.  If you can develop good habits (getting enough sleep, eating right, showing up early, running drills when everyone else stops, so on and so forth) you will see progress each and every time you step out on the field.  If you truly want to reach a goal, you will do what it takes each and every day to reach it.  Otherwise, you’re just full of piss and vinegar.  What you do each and every day will determine your success.  Make it count.

Because if something ISN”T working, you should recognize that.  If I run a guy to the snake twice in a row and he was shot both times going there, and I send him again – whose fault is that?  I’m not going to blindly throw him over their without understanding how to adjust!  I will find a way to get his gun in the fight, get him in the game, and develop a way to make sure he sees a point past the break.  It’s the definition of insanity… right?  Look, sometimes you’re going to meet roadblocks.  There WILL be obstacles to your goal.  The key is finding ways over, around, under, and through them.  Sometimes, that will take time.  So take the time and make that happen.

But it doesn’t stop when you win.  That goal setting now takes on a new perspective.  That adaptation takes on a new meaning.  Motivation has a new approach.  The more it changes the more it stays the same.  Continuous learning is so important, not just in this sport, but in life.  We must evolve with each win as well as with each loss.  Being intellectually honest about capability and sustainability is crucial.

It’s very real

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Which brings me to my final comments – I want to thank some people who were paramount in my learning and who never once, ever, gave up on me.  They saw something I didn’t at the time or perhaps, they saw something and convinced me to see it too.  I don’t know.  I just know they are truly my friends and without them, this win wouldn’t have been possible.  The list is incredibly long and most know who they. After all you have been there a long time. But there are a few that need mentioning:

  • Coach Paul Richards – to the man who helped me see that there really is such a thing as a paintball coach and who taught me what to look for and why.  You gave me a confidence boost when others wouldn’t.  You are the one by which all others are measured.  Rest in Peace Top!  Miss you.
  • Shane Pestana – becoming friends with someone you had only read about and admired is cool. But it is even cooler when they are such an influence.  I sure am glad we shared that pit back in Phoenix. Thanks for the guidance and insight over the years and for giving me the opportunities you did.  Let’s go fishing and hunting soon.  Tell Pax he sucks.
  • Grayson Goff – You may not have realized it but when you respected my thoughts about the game you gave me the confidence to write more about it. For that, I will always be appreciative. Great to see you back out on the field this past Cup Mr. Ocean.
  • Ken Ozvath – you, sir, kept me grounded while continually reminding me of my faith and how to live it, not just through your words but by your example!  Thank you for listening and being there all those times. 
  • Bailey, Barnes, Pate – Don’t have the words, guys. Well… maybe…”Screw you guys.” For real, nothing but love.
  • Willi, Cam, Bruce, Alex, I75 crew, and my former Primates – thank you for always believing.  You’re the best.
  • Finally – to my wife and children – you are the best part of me and I can never appreciate you enough for all the love and support over the years.  I am the luckiest man alive!

Be water my friends,

The Unappreciated

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It’s actually happening.  Barring some catastrophic event, the NXL World Cup is scheduled to occur on November 11th-15th across the street from the Gaylord Palms resort in Kissimmee, FL.  Now, seeing as how this is 2020, I’m not ruling out the asteroid hit… but let’s not worry about such trivial things.

With the largest and most prominent paintball event about to go down, teams are doing all they can to prepare or rather, should be.  In this blog post, I am going to talk about an often overlooked yet incredibly important aspect of prepping for an event: 

Your pit crew.

That’s right – the unappreciated, the overlooked, the human afterthought, the shadows… the people who make paintball player’s lives a lot easier and they don’t even realize it.

If you have not done this portion of planning well in advance, you are not doing what you can to properly prepare for the event. Time and time again here at Zen we have discussed and emphasized efficiency in all things we do.  Not just “economy of motion” (physical) but economy of time, energy, and thought.  In this case, we are looking at two points of efficiency – getting your pit crew established ahead of time and how an effective pit crew creates efficiency at an event.

Mo often pitted for Professional Team Damage at the NXL event. I’m no dummy. When he asked if he could help, I said, “Absolutely”

Okay – so let’s establish our reasoning.  Let’s look at what being “efficient” is really about.  Efficiency is “a measure of the extent to which input is well used for an intended task or function (the output)”. Said another way, it is the capability of a specific effort to produce a specific outcome with minimum amount of energy expenditure.  Got it?  So based off that definition, let’s get into efficiency as it relates to event prep.

First and foremost, establishing a definitive pit crew needs to be on your checklist of things to do well in advance of the event.  Along with booking your accommodations, logistics, and practice schedule, planning your pit crew is one of those tasks that you want to get off your plate early so that you and the team can focus more on actual game/event prep (you know…playing well).  Get it done so you can focus on your game and not worry with details like this which have a tendency to add stress.  I can’t tell you the number of times I have run across a team begging people the day before an event for help in the pits. It was an afterthought and then someone finally said, “Hey, who do we have to run pods?” 

Yeah, you’re guilty 😉

A good pit crew is there to help and should help…they are the help!.  They are there to make that long walk from where you parked manageable.  They are there to make your pit manageable.  But most of all, they are there to make your life as a coach or as a player, easier.  And for that, you should take their selection serious.

This is Willi. She’s awesome. So is her husband

Now, a good pit crew needs to encompass, in my opinion, these 3 capabilities:

  • Choreography (efficiency)
  • Game/player Knowledge
  • Be Autonomous

Let’s break these down real quick.

Choreography is pretty self-explanatory.  They need to know what to do before, during, and after a match. This can be something as simple as knowing where to set up in the pit in relation to the team’s movement and where to place pit tables.  I like to have a minimum of 3 pit crew members.  The usual breakdown is 2 pod fillers (supplemented by team members when possible) filling pods and 1 pod runner (this is the cat who runs out between points and ensures the team’s pods stay with the team).  They can, and should, swap occasionally when necessary.  They should be aware of the fact they will be porting some things to and from the pits.  Carrying pod bags with pods or pulling the “paint wagon”.   Understanding their responsibility is a huge must.  The last thing a coach or captain wants to deal with is a pit crew asking, “Hey – what do we do?”  That is not a pit crew.  I decided to reach out to one of the best pit crews I have ever worked with (they are an amazing married couple – shout out to Willi and Cam) and they said the following:

“Understanding the flow of the pit is important.  Once you know it, it is important to be everywhere you need to be, when you need to be, but never in the way.” 

Game knowledge is imperative.  Nothing worse than a pit crew member storming out on the field to grab pods and getting your team a penalty because they didn’t wait for the “point approved” announcement.  A good pit crew will recognize how the game is progressing and understand what needs to be done.  Is the team burning through paint quicker than normal?  Is the team dominating or struggling during the match?  But an even better pit crew is one who not only recognizes those things but KNOWS the team, knows the players.  Keep in mind, many of the best pit crews are paintball players themselves.  Like Willi and Cam again:

“Get to know the team.  Not just them as a person but their tendencies as a player and where they play on the field.  Know how many pods they normally take out.  Know if they like them “up or down”.  If you don’t know these things, ask!”

That’s Cam in the background (camo headband, olive drab shirt) gettin’ after it

Now, the last but certainly not least (as a matter of fact, it very well may be the most important quality of a good pit crew) is that they are autonomous.  They are capable without direction.  They don’t need to be told what to do, they already know.  They know when to be at the pit, when to start cleaning pods, when to start loading paint, when to tell coach/captain the team is getting low on paint (*see previous comment about game knowledge??*), when to clean a player off, where to place extra pods and guns in case they hear “I need an extra pod”, or the dreaded “GUN!!!” when team members are chrono’ed on the field.  They do all of this on their own without instruction.  When you have a crew like this, it is a huge relief to a coach/captain and the team for that matter.  Like trusting your teammates on the field, if you can trust your pit crew to know what to do and when, that is one less thing you have to worry about.  And make no mistake about it, that pit crew IS part of the team.  A comment from Willi and Cam that I couldn’t agree with more:

“You’re part of team (the pit crew).  You need to bring the same energy level as though you are stepping out on the field with them.”

Jeez, I love that mentality.  I wish all paintball players had that type of understanding about roles.

When the team wins, we all win!

Which brings me to a few closing notes…  One, let’s lose this moniker of “pod bitch”. Sure sure, it’s a funny jab amongst friends.  But honestly, if I am volunteering my time and energy to help you for no other reason than to be a good person, and you drop that on me?  I walk.  Who’s the bitch now, bitch?

 Now, I believe in compensation.  If you are paying someone to pit, and I think all pit crews should get something for their work if they are worth their salt.  Some suggestions:

  • Let them stay for free at your place
  • Buy their lunch or dinner for the day
  • Pay them in cash/paint/product

Give them SOMETHING to acknowledge the fact that you appreciate their assistance and effort.  If you don’t, then you sir/madam, are a pudnugget.

Be water my friends.

Observe and Report

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Ahhh… competitive paintball, it brings out the best in us… and the worst. But those of you who read this blog regularly already know this. With the advent of Covid-19 and its impact on people’s lives, including that of us lowly paintballers, I have taken this downtime (e.g. opportunity) to really study players as a whole over this nonsensical season. When I am out at a field or a practice, no matter who is there, I am always sizing players up, even the ones I have already sized up (this never stops).  Besides tracking skill sets and capabilities, I will engage in conversation, asking about things outside of paintball, understanding their interests and concerns off the field, gauging demeanor… watching, listening… looking for those subtle cues…

What do we call the action or process of watching something or someone carefully in order to gain information?  It’s called observation and it is one of the most important tools in a coach’s toolbox.  It may sound cliche’ but it really is true; a successful coach must have a keen eye for detail.  And not just for the obvious reasons such as an opponent’s tendencies, tactics, and strategies. Among a plethora of other things, just as important is a coach’s ability to recognize (observe – as stated and emphasized in the above definition) his own player’s situations – their physicality, their growth (or recession), and their mental attitude or state of mind.  A small hitch in a player’s step, an aloof or irregular response, subtle changes in behavior…   If you are NOT doing this, you have failed.  There, I said it.  Harsh but true.  Unless you are one of those coaches in “title” only where someone handed you a clip board and said, “You play/pretend to be coach so we can take this many people and reduce costs and no one will listen to you anyway.”  Seen it!

Always be watching… I am.

The topic for this week’s blog… mentality or rather specifically – mental toughness. And do you, or your players have it? Would you recognize it?

How many of us have been described as or have described someone else as “mentally tough”?  Personally, I find this to be rather high praise.  You don’t get mentally tough from a gene, at least, I don’t think so….maybe. But I believe it is developed through trial and error and forged in the fire of experience.  It is most certainly learned.  And those who learn it/have it, probably learned through the school of hard knocks.  This learned behavior has given them a perspective of how to approach tough/competitive situations in a positive manner and with the proper attitude.

Now – most Coaches in competitive national paintball are dealing with young men (as in 18 or older).  So a lot of the work in this area has been done by parents, mentors, employers, or other coaches already.  Whether the mental toughness was taught successfully or not is another story.  You have it or you don’t.  However, that aside for a moment, as a Coach, we are in perfect position to assist players with developing the proper perspective about achievements and the ability to deal with setbacks. If by some stroke of luck, you find yourself coaching a young man who still has room for learning (we all do, even at my age), then you need to really emphasize the player’s attitude when dealing with adversity.

Observing and tracking…

I get this all the time – “You take this too serious coach.  Paintball should be fun.”  Yeah – sure… go play paintball with your friends on rec days.  Get off my field if you don’t want to put in the time and play in a competitive atmosphere to win!  Why???  Because Winning is FUN buttercup!  We should be pursuing achievements no matter how small or minuscule.  We should be trying to move the needle on performance.  We should be trying to improve each and every time we step out on the field. And we should be able to recognize what was and wasn’t accomplished each time we step off.

And let’s not forget ladies and gentlemen that anything worth achieving is NOT going to be easy.  If it were, everyone would be doing it and winning. (You get a trophy, you get a trophy, everyone gets a trophy – for achieving nothing!! YAY!…. ugh.  I think I just vomited) 

One of the hardest things to do in paintball is to win a national event.  It will take a commitment that many aren’t willing to make. You have to want to be out on that field.  You have to want the best for and out of your teammate and same goes for him concerning you.  You have to want it, need it, bleed for it, hurt for it.  And that means being mentally tough and understanding it’s going to push you to a brink.  And we must become comfortable with being there…

I think most understand that the process of winning is, can be, will be, an arduous road.  You can’t just order it up like a burger at a fast food restaurant.  You can’t say, “Please may I be a champion, may I win this time?”  You have to mentally and physically prepare to put in the time – practice, practice, practice! Like that chick from the Brady Bunch yelling “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!” – yelling it didn’t do squat for her.   

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Don’t be Jan…

Mistakes are a necessary part of learning anything well.  So, when you do screw up, and you will, learn from it, recognize it, and understand it.  Hold yourself and your teammates accountable.  Without mistakes we aren’t learning anything.  Mistakes are rungs on a ladder to success.  I read somewhere that mistakes are “opportunities for performance enhancement” and that the “only true mistake is the failure to learn from them.”  I like that last one.

I believe it was the character of Deadpool who said, “Maximum effort!” That’s what you need to give.  As a coach, if that’s what I observe you doing, then I am going to recognize that and push you to get the most out of it.  Now, understand that sometimes, even though the effort and attitude are there, the process may take longer with some than others.  It doesn’t happen overnight so don’t expect (as a player) that because you are putting in the time that you will automatically be given a spot.   No – with that effort has to be continuous improvement.  It has to be recognizable, consistent, and repeatable.  So a lower division player playing on a higher division squad has to understand that there IS something to be said for experience.  There is something to be said about road mileage on a player.  Putting in the work needs to show gains too.  Meaning, you want that spot?  Beat the experienced player for it.  Show me you can do it as well, as often, as that experienced player in front of you. But as a coach, don’t lose track with your observation skills that worth isn’t always dependent on performance.  Certain players can bring other variables but that is another topic.

Let’s close with this about mental toughness and observing a players capacity for it…

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Maximum effort

The stress and pressure a player (or coach for that matter) feels is simply your body telling you we have an opportunity to challenge ourselves and make ourselves better.  Win or lose, we will get something out of it if we have the mental aptitude to recognize it.  It isn’t anything more than a burden we place on ourselves.  You can see it as “OMG, we’re all gonna die!” or you can recognize it for what it is, another opportunity to step up, be bold, show you are not afraid to be in this situation, and give it your best shot.  Now, that doesn’t mean have a laissez-faire attitude and don’t give a rats butt about the outcome.  No, it means, we do care about the outcome and we are going to do everything in our power to ensure it is out desired one.  Make it worthwhile whatever the outcome is.

Observe water my friends…

* I want to take a quick moment for a side note and touch on something that I will probably come back to in another blog post later this year. As you know, many of my blogs gain their inspiration from something I saw or heard that I considered relevant to talk about at an event, at a practice, in a conversation with a ‘baller… This took place this past weekend actually and it came from a source that is rare.  I say rare because you don’t find many of these guys/gals in the tournament scene.  The source was an active officer in the U.S. military who happens to play for a competitive paintball team.  The source will remain nameless as I doubt they are interested in the attention but they made an excellent point (which we have made here at Zen several times) – if a program has a “standard” but does not adhere or apply that standard to ALL members, that will breed toxicity and ultimately resentment in the team’s culture.  No Bueno.  If players are investing in the program (time, energy, money)… the PROGRAM needs to return the favor and invest in the player.  Establish standards, live and die by them, or change them. You decide as leaders. Okay – Now… go be water.

The Paintball Widow speaks…

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It finally happened. He gave me the look:  that slight side eye dead serious almost smirk that I have a hard time saying no to. It was accompanied by the words, “I have an idea.”

Now if you know my husband, and you have witnessed the uttering of said sentence, you know a person just can’t turn and walk away without hearing the words proceeding it. They just suck you in. The idea just happened to be that it was my turn to write a blog. What, you may obviously ask, would someone who hasn’t been on a field since playing for PMS in the heyday of ACES (The Alabama Challenge Event Series) in 2003 or associated as the staff of a team since 2011, who happens to be the wife in the wings, have to share on Zen?

Our story – The story of our paintball field Legends, the in-between adventures, and the journey to Zen.

JM1
Star crossed lovers

Our story began on a front porch swing as all good southern romance stories should. That “scary” encounter, according to Zen’s retelling, led to a date involving a movie with 80’s metal, lop sau practice in a parking lot while waiting on pizza, and my introduction to paintball. Little did I realize how much foreshadowing that first date entailed. The coincidences and six degrees of separation in our lives up to this point are quite comical in their irony and a story unto its own.

Zen talked me into taking pictures for a player sponsorship package he was putting together and giving paintball a try. I was a photography student at the time and competitive. I’m not sure how well I did my first time playing out on that spool field with the ridiculous barn in the middle but it did not matter.  The paintball world had sucked me in and so had he. So much so Zen proposed to me after my first rookie tournament eight months later. I even made him a paintball field groom’s cake complete with current teammate replicas. That’s paintball romance, right?

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First time playing

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The famous Groom’s cake

 

Our first World Cup together was October of 2001. We missed our flight because of post 9/11 security (not to mention someone had to play a tournament right before we left) and had to stay overnight in the ATL airport. Lovely. In case you wondered, it’s not high on my recommendations for your bucket list.  From the airport we took a cab straight to the venue, which at that time was a cow pasture. His gear had not arrived via a friend, so Zen had to play with borrowed everything that first day. Even though the team did not make it to the podium, the trip was one for the books. I managed a press pass to work on a photography class project. We watched endless games, had too much fun in Old Town, hung out with Rocky Cagnoni, and fell in love. The only thing that would have made that trip truly epic would to have been able to see Zen play in the finals on Sunday.

Fast forwarding through broke twenty somethings eating ramen just to have enough money to play, camping on floors (or sleeping in cars) after long drives to tournaments, marriage, making babies (almost puking in your mask in a tournament in August will really dampen any desire to play while pregnant), and traveling across the Southeast, we arrived at a dream that had always been a part of our “what if” conversations:  opening a field together.

The stars had aligned just perfectly and we took the plunge. The plan for Legends was finally brought to fruition. It was a joint effort as all good things in married life usually are. (Just make sure you choose the right partner. I did!) Zen, together with some great friends, put up a field and retrofitted a store building. I helped when the babies would let me. Every weekend with the exception of one vacation and Christmas, we were open. He ran the field and I took care of the storefront and air tanks. Our littles watched the games through the windows and paintball became their world too.

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The Legend’s logo

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Our first born coaching Dad

Top Hat tournaments, the Magnolia Series, top gun events- life was good and we were doing better than we had hoped with our little enterprise in Mississippi. A little over a year later the doors were shut because of an unexpected but welcome job offer that sent us back to our home state. Zen hopped through a few teams as paintball evolved through 10-man, 7-man and x-ball. This was a bit of a sad and lonely time since I wasn’t able to watch many practices or tournaments. I missed watching him play and hanging out with our people.

During this time in the paintball world, a team could play pro without working through the ranks. The powers that be decided that Zen’s then current team would do just that. It was a heated topic at our table. On one hand it was an opportunity that players only dreamed of and playing the best always aids in becoming the best. While on the other hand, who would want to spend every national tournament getting their face smashed in by real pros that had put in the work. He played and I sat at home, cursing all those in charge of updating APPA. That waiting is the worst part of the widow life, especially when all you want to do is see your other half bunker a TonTon, true story.

My life as a paintball widow has been insanely frustrating because of how much I have missed. But I embraced the life because it was the world of my other half, and in turn became mine. You might think that makes our life one sided. But it isn’t. Zen and I discuss everything together. He asks my opinion on all the things because I took the time to be interested in, learn and participate in his world. Sometimes he doesn’t like my opinion, but he considers it even when it isn’t eloquent or tactful.  I thoroughly enjoy paintball even if it is now only through the after practice downloads around our table, getting to hang out at a local tournament while Zen is commentating, yelling at the computer because GoSports isn’t covering the field I want to watch in the prelims, watching videos or proofreading a new blog. Paintball is still very much a big part of my life.

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Bob Ross and a Happy Tree

At this point, you may think our marriage is a bit unfair. He gets to travel, do what he loves and hang with the guys all the time while I’m barefoot in the kitchen and pregnant. While that is some of it, it doesn’t encompass the whole picture. One year, Zen told me he was going to sell all his gear to buy new stuff, which wasn’t unusual. We had a tight budget with only one income (One income was a joint agreement. I did have a full time job before baby #1 came along). If we wanted something new, we sold something or saved up over time.  But instead of outfitting himself, he gave me the money, told me to buy a pottery wheel and took a hiatus from paintball. Yes, you read that correctly: he voluntarily stopped playing paintball.

 

Before our move to Alabama, I had taught an adult pottery class in the basement of a frame shop a few nights a week. My father had randomly found a huge kiln at a going out of business sale while on a joy ride and it was sitting in storage waiting for me. But a kiln is of no use without a means of making pots to fill it. It was quite an overwhelming surprise for Zen to tell me to go buy myself a pottery wheel.  I started making pots and selling them at farmers markets or festivals as The Parttime Potter. It was nice to have my own thing outside the house. He knew I needed it and made a sacrifice for me because that is what married life is about: sacrificing self to become unified. This doesn’t mean that you totally lose your own identity. Instead you develop a new perspective that combines the two separate lives into one. Full disclosure: his hiatus didn’t last a year. Whereas I was beyond appreciative for what he was doing, that man needed to get back on the field for both our sakes.

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The Pottery Wheel

Sometime, just before the beginning of 2010, a possibility came into sight on the horizon, an idea that had been in reoccurring conversations for years began to churn and turn into a plan. A plan that led to through combined efforts, Prime.

In the beginning, the program was about creating a winning team from the ground up.  Everyone started at the bottom. It wasn’t a group of buddies out to play just for fun. It was a serious endeavor with weekends upon weekends of hard work. Players did ALL the things together: field set up and take down, eating, camping out at the farm, drilling and watching the tape to understand their weaknesses. All of this was done together because they were determined to succeed at winning as a team. Everyone wanted their spot and the dedication proved it. I couldn’t help but secretly smile as my husband was able to implement the training, drills, and ideas on team formation that had been gnawing at his brain for years. Being closer to the field and having a safer environment for the kids (and me!) to come and watch made those long weekends much more bearable.

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World Cup 2011 – the FIRST 2nd place….

From the beginning of our life together, Zen and I have hosted players for weekend practices and local tournaments. Coming from bigger families, it was not an abnormal thing to have a full house. With littles it was hard for me to participate as staff for the teams, but being the “team mom” was something I could do. After practice dinners, showers and beds were always, and always will be, open to team mates. Around our table plans were laid. Failures and successes discussed. A paintball family was created.

During this time, Zen would occasionally write a blog for the Prime team website. His mind is always crowded with an overabundance of ideas and knowledge. His initial blogs were just a brief foray into that abyss or a recap of team endeavors. Players had begun seeking him out for tips or help with their game. This started to become a frustration for two reasons. First, he genuinely wanted to help each person but did not have the time to give them the undivided attention they and their questions deserved. Two, he was repeating himself over and over explaining the importance of fundamentals and sequences of progression. At this point, I started floating the idea of a personal blog in conjunction with clinics. He ignored me.

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The original Prime family

But I finally won him over. I have a friend who is gifted in ink painting, and just so happens to understand Bruce Lee and eastern philosophy. She took my idea and nailed it. I’m not quite sure what his thoughts were when I presented him with the Zen dragon and potential blog name, but the smile clinched it. The Zen and the Art of Paintball blog began as our time with Prime tapered off. Clinics filled the calendar. Zen even began live commentating for regional tournaments. Life was good. As a spouse, you should always be happy and encouraging when your other half gets to share their God given talents. Being successful in a partnership includes helping the partner to be successful as an individual.

Life changed drastically with our new house project and new team based far away. Gone were the team dinners and players that had become family. In honesty, I did mourn a bit. I missed the crowed house, full to the brim with stinky paintballers and overflowing with gear. It was a glimpse into the world of parenting where the children leave home to become busy with their own lives. I am not ready for that milestone even though it looms on our horizon. We get visits in here or there with individuals but never the crew as a whole. The world turns and we move forward into a new season with fond memories of our people under our roof.

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Channeling my inner Zen

As Zen progressed, we began the apparel line we had talked about for years. In the beginning it was exciting to start. But then, it wasn’t.  Currently in America, it is nearly impossible to find a company stateside to do small batch runs without being charged a ludicrous amount. This is so disheartening and if I am not careful, will lead to a soapbox rant on politics, China, liberal progressives and the destruction of small business. But I digress… The failure to launch the clothing line was my fault. The time needed to develop the items, the level of involvement with homeschooling/child activities and my enthusiasm after still working on the house project just didn’t leave the room necessary to create and maintain a viable shop in alignment with our principles. It is really hard to make a project successful when you cannot give it your all. Not to mention the Rona. Thanks again China.

Our entire life together has always included paintball. We have had quite a journey over these past nineteen years. I say we because together we took that vow of two become one pretty seriously.  Even though you may not know my name, or recognize my face, I am Zen’s other half.

I am the Paintball Widow.

 

 

 

 

Facts vs Narrative – Reality Check

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Did the title get your attention?  If so, are you one of those people who, if someone doesn’t agree with you, you bludgeon them with your thoughts and feelings and when they provide facts or logic and still don’t agree, you call them names and try to have them “cancelled”?  You’re one who expounds on the merits of “enlightenment” and the free exchange of ideas… as long as it’s your idea or an idea you agree with.  Well, if you are that type of person, I am incredibly sorry.  Not just because you are the worst kind of person and probably suck at paintball but probably need to hear this month’s topic more than most.  I can’t respect you.  However, you will truly be missed (no, not really). You can show your candy ass to the door.  Oh, I forgot to mention this will not be a political post.

Now – for those of you who are genuinely interested in hearing different ideas, exchanging ideas, open to dialogue, etc. – hang around a bit, pull up a chair.  If this wasn’t a blog and you were near, I would offer you a beverage and we could exchange ideas maturely and rationally.

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Fact

Time for another exciting episode of “Reality Check”!  This particular episode is brought to you by casual conversations had while I was hanging out at my old stomping ground/paintball field and getting some much needed gun time.  Then, I noticed one or two social media announcements that drew my attention and finally augmented by a couple of phone conversations.

First, let’s establish an irrefutable truth… facts and narrative are two completely separate things no matter how someone wants to twist and turn them.  Pesky little details like facts are so burdensome these days especially when they don’t match or align with whatever someone wants their narrative to be.  This is why you see so many people dismissing them and surrendering to emotion.  Inconvenient, I know…

I have seen and heard many delusions of grandeur as of late.  Whereas, it is important to dream and even more important to set goals to reach that dream, we must recognize what the path to these goals and dreams entails.  I love the underdog who knows in their gut it is all attainable.  And for a choice few, it certainly is! It’s almost as if it were destined and I love it when I witness it.  But what happens prior to these events is the real key takeaway.  What went into obtaining that dream…

What I will see occasionally is a new paintball team who is absolutely addicted to the sport.  They love the game, they love hanging out with each other, and they love the competitive environment.  They get a small taste of success, whether it is winning a couple local tournaments or doing well against another local team who is ranked higher and then BAM! That love becomes rabid (this is good) and now they are ready to take on the world.  But more often than not, these dreams of being a successful team soon turn into a crash and burn experience.  Several factors lend itself to this scenario of course but the number one culprit is this – it’s HARD WORK creating a winning paintball team!  I have seen and heard D2 teams talk about how they will eventually go pro (admirable) or that a D4 team will be semi pro within 2 years… wait… what?  Big difference there hoss… let’s back up a bit.

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Getting on the box and putting in the work in 93 degree weather with 75% humidity.  Fun!

First, understand that one of the biggest reasons most teams don’t set out to achieve a big dream or a huge goal is that they think they first need to develop a comprehensive plan, one that details every step, every goal is identified, and that all these things will ensure success.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  *Side note – those teams that have no plan?  yeah, that doesn’t work out well either.

Look – plans are never perfect.  Occasionally they will appear that way but usually only in hindsight since no one really realized it at the time.

And when a team doesn’t have that kind of plan—because creating that kind of plan is basically impossible—they do one of two things – they hesitate and never really start or they get BIG ideas… ridiculous ideas… ideas that make most experienced teams and players think, “Oof.”

Too many teams need to see an end before they see a beginning.  And this is troublesome for most and they don’t even realize it.

Many teams, when they find a little success, will usually establish the thought that, what they did before will keep them successful.  This is partially true.  That will last for a bit but, eventually you have to increase/expand or better evolve certain factors.  There has to be that force multiplier that can keep you on top.  You have to start trying things… lots of things… lots of different things.  Some will work, some won’t.  Sometimes you will create new and exciting processes that really advance the team’s capabilities.  The key is learning from those that don’t work just as much as those that do.

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School

Hold up!  Go back and read that last sentence again.

And again.

Recognize that those first steps are just that and that there are many more to come.  You have to keep moving forward.  And recognize that, not everyone is going to make it…

Know that you will learn (hopefully) how to react and how to respond to new (and old) challenges. Trust that you will become a little wiser for the experience. Trust that you’ll grow more skilled and more experienced the more you try.  At least, you should.  I will not say that I haven’t seen those who never seem to learn.  But ultimately that comes down to them. But also trust in the fact that, sometimes, its going to take an incredible resource, a commodity that is precious to many, myself included.

It’s called time.

Try enough things, learn from every success and every setback, and in time you’ll have some of the skills, knowledge, and experience you need to create consistency.  It won’t be perfect.  It never is.  By the way, that is not meant to deter you… that is meant to advise you that it will be difficult.  But who doesn’t enjoy a good challenge right?

You can never guarantee that you will always succeed. But when you never bet on yourself and never try something new, you can definitely guarantee that you will never succeed.

Again, what most don’t realize is what a successful paintball team entails.  First, let’s define “success” because this will ultimately decide how much energy will be required to create it.  No, I am not saying you shouldn’t give 150% no matter the endeavor… what I am saying is what will be required in most instances to meet a specific level of success.  That’s the point of this blog post… reality.  If you want to create a competitive local D4 team, this is much more attainable then a competitive NATIONAL D4 team.  Everyone understand?  We need to set parameters.  How many times have you heard me write or talk about setting goals?  This is no different.  And let’s not forget the importance of playing at the appropriate level (so many teams are in a rush to meet a “status” and end up playing in the wrong division.  Let’s face it, anyone can play above their division if they are willing to pay the entry… but not everyone can be competitive there.) Let’s manage expectations though shall we?

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After we set a goal, we need to respect and understand what it will take to meet that goal.  There will be difficulty in reaching whatever level of success you seek.  But recognize right now that it will take a lot of work to meet even the most nominal amount of success in paintball.  Why?  The factors are many and we won’t delve into all that this time around.  Instead, let’s talk about what will keep you from meeting success.

Let’s talk excuses.

Here are Zen’s top 4 excuses why teams fail before they start:

  1. No time to practice – okay… make the time! But I work on weekends! Okay, find a different sport.  See how easy that was?  Understand that if EVERYONE on your team cannot commit the time to practice, there is no purpose IF YOU WISH TO BE CONSISTENTLY SUCCESSFUL.  If you want to goof off and have fun – That is perfectly fine!  Do it!  If you want to goof off, have fun, and win – might I suggest recruiting highly experienced friends and writing some checks.
  2. No money – once again, like dipping your little toe into golf, you chose the wrong sport. This one is actually easier than most people think. Options include pooling money, putting money aside little by little until you have a decent amount of disposable income to throw around, selling items you don’t use or want anymore, etc.  We all put money where we want to.  Right now, I am putting it into my house.  It would be easy for me to buy a plane ticket, paint, hotel and food to go play these 10 man events I am dying to play… but I have some priorities.  If a winning paintball team is important to you… you’ll find a way (hopefully legally).
  3. Weather – “Not feeling it today… it’s raining.” Get your pansy ass out on the field!  But my equipment, my big toe, it’s hot, it’s wet, I have a rash, my hair, I have to wear a mask and can’t breathe… you little whiner.  You think it doesn’t rain at paintball events?  You think it doesn’t get hot at paintball events?  You think there aren’t weather elements of some kind at most events?  Well you might as well get used to playing in it because you’re eventually going to see it.
  4. “I’m already good at that.” (face palm) – this one is frightening.  It’s like a person who gets a concealed carry permit, buys a gun, and then says “I’m ready to defend myself.”  No you’re not!  You have to train!  You have to put in the time.  I promise you the players in this sport that you admire put in the time.  If you want to mimic that then you have to drill the fundamentals every opportunity you get as well as train other aspects of the game both individually and as a team.

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So – what have we learned (if we aren’t too busy looking for a safe space or contacting Zuckerberg to have me cancelled because you don’t agree with my thoughts).  We’ve learned that:

Creating a team that has a roster full of relatively athletic injury free fellows who all like or at least tolerate each other, who all have disposable income capable of sustaining a practice and tournament regimen, who all have the time to commit to most if not every weekend for the season (and off season), who all have the capacity to learn, who all have the attitude and willpower that it will take to maintain a culture of seeking success, who don’t complain about the weather, who recognize all the work it will take…

… is hard, difficult, and frustrating.

But it’s not impossible.

Recognize that it will take you many moons to get where you want to be when you start.  Strap in for one helluva ride.  To those of you who meet your goal – I salute you.  To those of you who don’t respect the work and commitment and think it’s easy – I am that parent who is watching the child about to make a mistake that will forever imprint on them “That was dumb.”
Be water my friends.

It’s Einstein genius…

zenandtheartofpaintballLeave a comment

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.” – Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein.
Brilliant

How many of you train every opportunity you get?  And when you do train, whether it is fundamentals, team practice, or cardio… whatever… what is your mindset when doing this?  This is an important question to ask ourselves, especially considering recent events which has limited our capacity to do some of these things.  What did you do for the last 3 months?  How did you stay sharp?

It’s no secret that most of us, with any semblance of desire to perform well when the time comes, will train every opportunity we get.  Some believe they have a “natural” talent and don’t’ find it necessary, even when the opportunities are right there in front of them.  The words “average” and “adequate” must be amazing comforters for those people.  It must be incredibly awesome to be that lazy.  Yes, that is sarcasm.  You know who you are… don’t run off to a safe space because you feel you are being attacked.  Instead, grow a pair and do something about it.

But it is the root of how and why we train that this particular blog post is about.  I have used a lot of my time during this quarantine to sharpen skill sets that I found wanting.  The one that has most benefited me though outside of the physical is some books and videos by great men.  They have helped me prepare my mindset, especially from a coaching perspective.  Coaching, at least to me, is more of a mental math equation involving different variables and a sprinkle of psychology.  I never realized I did this but a few former and current military operatives helped me put this into perspective… so here we go:

Most of us when we step out onto the paintball field are focusing on one thing, whether it is during a match but almost ALWAYS when we train.  That is regardless of WHAT we are training.  The majority of you are focused on outcome.

That’s right, the majority of PB players (and well, a lot of other sports and competitors too but this is PB blog so…) focus and strive for a positive outcome.  They base most if not all training on success rate… how many times did I snap, how many times did I hit my target, how fast was I when I did it, how many reps did I do, and how many more do I need to feel accomplished?

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“As you think, so shall you become.” – Bruce Lee

People have often asked me how I found success with coaching certain teams or lines.  And I realized that it boiled down to OUTCOME based training versus PERFORMANCE based training.  That was the difference.  What’s the difference you may ask?  Outcome based training is based around whether or not you SUCCEEDED.  Performance based training is based around  how well an individual or team did the required specific task at that moment.

See, we ALL perform differently, wouldn’t you agree?  Some better than others.  But the deal with performance based training is quite simple.  Your performance is basically measured by doing what you can with what you have (coaches – take heed).
One thing I have learned over the years coaching 100+ different individuals and 10+ different teams is this – When you give a player the opportunity to train within his capabilities, you will find that, in most cases, that player will improve quicker than if we simply said, this is how you do it, now do it until you can do it like that.  Does that make sense?  You are creating the environment where the player learns in the most efficient means.  In other words, if they can’t learn at the pace that you teach, then you need to teach at the pace that they learn.  And THEY will handle the rest…

Over the years, I have watched players get stuck in ruts.  They would peak just when I thought they would excel… they get stuck and disillusioned because of this reason or that…they can’t snap a certain way, or run and gun, or communicate, or dive, or move… the list goes on and on.  And they get stuck and disillusioned because they are focused on the OUTCOME.  Why?  Because when you are so set and focused on outcome, you are essentially handicapping your ability to perform.  And that is the problem with most programs and coaches for that matter.  They want you to go from level A to level B by simply telling you to perform a task and viola – you are better!  This works to an extent but a very limited one.

So, “learning” outcome is, in itself, limiting.  It is like pointed at a list and saying here is the list of check marks, now check them.  Okay… why?

In my opinion, the outcome based training method of teaching or coaching is not just limited/limiting but, quite frankly, anybody can do it.  You don’t have to have any expertise to tell someone they should be able to perform a snap shot in paintball…. Duh!  It’s completely arbitrary and you see it all the time.  I watch players who think they can now coach because they learned a bunch of drills from a video on youtube or the Dynasty Dissected DVD.  Or they think they can run a practice because of how they watched pros do it.  Coaching and teaching is so much more than that.

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Wise words

Try being the guide… the mentor, a teacher, a COACH.  You should be able to show the player what he/she is doing.  Then show them what they CAN do, what they are capable of doing.  When you do this, they will take control and you will be amazed usually of how quickly that player will push themselves to accomplish and meet the goal.

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 “Limits begin where vision ends”- Anonymous

I was listening to one high speed low drag former operator and he said the most amazing thing.  It resonated with me.  He said something along the lines of the probability of achieving your desires (outcome) will increase exponentially the moment you let go of your need to have it.  Awesome.

In other words, stop worrying about what others are doing or can do.  You need to focus on what is best for you and your team.  Start noticing what you need to improve regarding you and your team before you worry about what other players and teams are doing.  That’s their problem… not yours.

It’s going to be a cognitive dissonance really.  You can choose to change the behavior.  But will you..?  And why?  Going to leave you with one more Eistein quote:

“Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler.”

Be water my friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Age of Covid Paintball – What did they know and when did they know it?

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I am by no means an expert on ANYTHING.  I don’t pretend to be and I don’t play one on TV.  “Expert” denotes an “authoritative knowledge”, or an uncanny ability or “mastery” of something most don’t possess. Besides being an expert at driving my wife bat stuff crazy, I can’t think of a single thing I am “authoritatively knowledgeable” about.  Do I believe there are experts in this world? Absolutely.  Do I feel they are rare? More than likely, yes, I think they are rarer than most probably do.

I do try to keep things in perspective though, as well as try to apply logic and reasoning to anything I engage in.  For example, someone might send me a video of a political figure saying something that could be construed a particular way.  Whether I like or dislike the politician or agree with what was said or not, I always try to apply logic and reasoning to what is being stated.  Perhaps choosing politics is a terrible example because of the incredible amount of polarization in today’s world, especially here in the United States.  But I pride myself on understanding context.  I am by no means an expert but I am pretty well informed.  This is because I actively search to understand a point as oppose to just attacking it because it doesn’t line up with my own personal ideology.

“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.” – Mark Twain

The heart of the matter lies in understanding, discernment, comprehension, and good judgement.  The majority of misunderstanding, inaccurate discernment/comprehension, and bad judgement can be avoided through effective communication.  Effective communication is way more than exchanging information.  It’s about understanding the context behind the information.  It is about being able to clearly convey a message.

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Does it mean what I think it means? 

Take, for example, when you search “Infamous Paintball”.  Now, I’m pretty sure I know what they are trying to convey with this tag line.  We are Infamous Paintball and if you use our gear, you can beat anyone (the “good teams”).  But the tag line on its face doesn’t leave the most flattering message or impression for a product.   Again, context.  As a paintballer, I see it.  As a regular consumer, I’m thinking this is a joke, right?

*This is not a slight on Infamous.  Love what they do.  They just happen to have an example of where I am heading…

Of course, being able to clearly convey a message is important – that is – if there is one.  And no communication can say plenty as well.

As of this writing, the “Latest News” tab on the NXL website is from March 18th titled “2020 NXL Texas Open, April 30 – May3 : CANCELLED”.  Here is a link to the page:
https://www.nxlpaintball.com/us-latest-news

Obviously, there is no update on the page.  Not even a mention of how they have since cancelled Virginia (and it would appear, Chicago).

I couldn’t help but notice on what many consider the crème de la crème for paintball communication, http://www.PBNation.com, doesn’t have any information regarding the rest of the season either.  John runs a tight ship over there and is almost always on top of this stuff. I just checked http://www.Gosports.com and didn’t find anything there.  I don’t have Twitter so maybe I missed something there…  Maybe… we’ll get to that.

Since then, communication has been scarce and limited.  The only communications that have taken place since mid-March were a live stream by, oddly enough, Infamous Paintball, featuring NXL President Tom Cole on April 17th, a post on the NXL Facebook page announcing the Virginia Event’s cancellation on May 5th, and another Q&A live stream featuring Tom Cole the next day on May 6th.

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He doesn’t have an easy job.  And every keyboard warrior can do it better…

As someone who works in the corporate world, I certainly understand how difficult it can be to get everyone “rowing in the same direction”, especially when running a business.  It is hard enough without the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 and the restrictions implemented on travel and gatherings here and in Europe.  Let me make something perfectly clear; this is not a “Bash the NXL!” blog.  On the contrary actually.  I want to help by consolidating what info is out there for my readers to help the NXL get the word out (keep reading or scroll down).  Lord knows hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy to commentate outside looking in.  Although, I do want to say and the NXL would do well to remember that, no news is still news.

Leverage the mediums you have at your disposal (PBNation, NXL website, FB, Instagram, Twitter, GoSports, Email blasts, etc.) and let people know, even if you don’t have an answer, that you are actively pursuing one.  I am almost positive they have a Director of Communications, yes?  Let the players know what you know.  If you don’t know anything yet, then say so. But say SOMETHING. And say it regularly. Communicate and use the tools at your disposal to get the coverage you need for that message to get out.

All that being said, here is what we know as of today based off Tom’s last live stream (As more information comes in, I will try and update this in the comments or here on the page):

The Richmond, VA event scheduled for June 25th-28th and the Chicago, IL event scheduled for September 10th-13th are CANCELLED.  They will be replaced by 3 smaller REGIONAL events.  Here’s what we know about those:

The Pros will be split into 3 Divisions that will correlate with Regional events.  They are:

  • 6 pro teams in the West Coast division/regional event
  • 6 pro teams in the Texas division/regional event
  • 8 Pro teams in the Mid Atlantic division/regional event

Divisional play beneath Pro will be done similarly.  There will be 3 events just as the ones above at the same locations.  The difference is, if capable/possible, Division 1 (semi-pro) and below (D2, D3, D4, etc.) can attend more than one event.  However, only ONE event score (presumably your best showing) will go towards your series points.  The preference, according to Tom Cole during his last live Q&A, is for you to play one regional event and then World Cup (still scheduled for November 11th – 15th). All formats will be provided at the regional events (X-Ball, 5-man, etc.) just on a smaller scale.  Back to normal with World Cup.

For example – a team, based out of Louisiana, played the Las Vegas event.  They will more than likely play the Texas Regional event.  Your score from the Vegas event will determine your seeding for those teams attending the Texas event.  That team’s combined scores from Vegas and Texas should then determine their seeding headed into Cup… it will be interesting how they address when/if teams have the same score headed into Cup.

World Cup is currently still planned and will be hosted as originally scheduled in Kissimmee FL at the Gaylord Palms resort.  It will be one giant event as usual, not a divisional/regional deal.

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World Cup will still be held across from the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee FL

Dates are forthcoming.  Estimate is that the events will START around the last week of August.  They will run every two weeks until September starting with Texas, followed by California, and then Mid Atlantic.  Obviously this will all be contingent on how states address their own “reopening”.  APPA entry fee is targeted to launch mid-July but again, dependent on State regulation.

No early layout release for these 3 regional events.  They will be a “blind” layout meaning you will see it when you get there. There is discussion of releasing the World Cup layout well in advance as opposed to the standard 2 week release prior to the event.

The locations for these events are still to be announced.  They are taking suggestions but the field must have the capability to fit at least 3 regulation X-ball fields (plus have significant parking I would imagine).  The NXL is going to help the fields selected with infrastructure to ensure the best event possible at these local/regional fields.  As it stands today, the following fields are in contention but not official:

  • California/West Coast Division event:
    • Capital Edge Paintball (Sacramento, CA)
  • Texas Division event
    • Paintball Fit (Waxahachie, TX)
    • XFactor Paintball (San Antonio, TX)
  • Mid Atlantic Division event
    • Topgun Paintball (Cream Ridge, NJ)
    • OXCC (Chesapeake City, MD)
    • LVL Up Paintball (Grove City, OH)

There may/may not be a relegation this year due to the possibility of a team not being “allowed” to travel and they are still wanting to bring a semi pro team up.  They are working through all of that.

And that’s what we know.  If you know more, please feel free to share and I will do what I can to get the information out as long as that information can be corroborated.  A lot of this is still fluid so, keep your eyes and ears open for more updates.

Until then

Be Water my Friends.