“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin

There is always room and opportunity for improvement.  Whether it is regarding your skills on the paintball field or in everyday life in general, one should always seek to better oneself.  That can be achieved in many different ways but for this particular post, we will try to identify a quick process.

I have a saying that I share often at practice and in my clinics.  That is, “We should always pursue that .1% percent gain.”  No, that is not a typo, there is a decimal in front of the 1 meaning a tenth of a percent.  You may be asking yourself, “Why so little?” and, I would certainly agree, that is a valid question.  Here is my answer: any gain, any improvement, no matter how small or what may be perceived as insignificant, denotes an increase… an improvement.  We should never go to practice or go to a clinic and leave feeling as if we haven’t learned or accomplished something.  If you do, you need to reassess either yourself or the practice/clinic regimen.

So how do we ensure an increase at practice?  Let’s break that down and see if we can’t develop that  process mentioned in the opening paragraph.  You can approach this from an individual perspective or a team perspective.  Don’t limit it.

Improving any performance, whether it is your run and gun, your snap shot, what have you, we have to develop a baseline.  So first things first, we need to understand and communicate the expectation.  We must manage the expectation from the onset.  Let’s use snap shooting as an example…

I make my crew do what we call a quadrant drill (video coming soon).  Place them in a bunker (doesn’t matter but an Aztec is usually the best for this particular drill, again don’t limit, use different bunkers).  Place a target at a predetermined distance from the bunker.  The player must snap 3 quick times from four locations in the bunker: High right, Low right, high left, and low left.  All 3 shots from each position must find the target for a total of 12 hits.  One miss… just one… equates to a having to start over.  You must run this until you can do it.

Now, what did we just establish with the above scenario?  We established an expectation and what a successful run (result) should look like.  Notice how we didn’t talk about technique or speed etc.  those are additional expectations, yes?  We should establish that.  But it all really depends on your team’s personnel and abilities.

Next we need to recognize where our problems are.  Again, we can do this from an individual perspective or a team perspective.  Let’s use the snap drill as an example again.  Perhaps the player who is struggling with the drill doesn’t have the proper set up, it doesn’t fit him, he isn’t using proper alignment, or leaning wrong, or he has an eye dominance issue, or he/she is going to fast or too slow.  Once we recognize the issue, we then can address it, work on it and improve it.

Which leads us to the next step in the process, one that is absolutely necessary.  We need to provide the opportunity to get better. We have to create an environment that allows for people’s improvement.  In other words, as we have discussed several times in previous blog posts, set goals for each practice and set aside time to drill or what have you to address the issues at hand.  Once again, using the snap drill, we should set time to do this at every practice until the crew is accomplishing the goal.

Once you have identified your issues, developed ways to address them, and established a timeframe in which to do this, you now have to implement it.  In others words, as Nike would say, just do it.  Let the process work.  If you have done your homework, and the team has been honest with itself, you should see gains.

I believe I read somewhere that a particular car manufacturer (Toyota perhaps? Makes sense as this approach is very Japanese.  In other words, efficient) believed that the best way to keep things positive and moving in the right direction was to never create a problem in the first place.  They were basically saying, do it right from the get go.  That can translate into PB by putting in the work before an event… maybe before ever deciding to compete.  They believe that it begins with the process, not the personnel.

A man by the name of Edwards Deming once said that, “Workers are responsible for 15 percent of the problems; the system, for the other 85 percent. The system is the responsibility of management.” Again, what is being said here is that the “system” or process is the key.  The workers (players) are only as good as the process allows them.  Make sense?

So I was right, I just looked it up.  It was Toyota.  They have a “process improvement methodology” (kaizen).  You and I would call it quality control.  They believe in improving quality through the process approach.  Guess how they do this?  They look to change the culture in order to achieve continuous improvement.  Remember how we talked about paintball as a culture and what needs to happen in that team environment (Place link to previous blog here)?  Anyway, I won’t harp on this too much but they essentially break it down into 3 steps.  1) Focus on the goal 2) everyone works towards goal 3) everyone strives to innovate.

I think PB teams, programs, and coaches, etc. can all learn a lot from the business world when it comes to effective improvement and innovation.

Here’s what it all boils down to people… you have to plan.  You have to have a plan.  You have to have a plan for improvement.  And you have to have a plan for improvement by developing a good process that covers the bases.  Identify, make note/document, study the data, develop a plan, implement said plan, rinse and repeat.

Once you have accomplished your goal, then it is time to identify a new issue and apply your process again.  Simple.  Now go do it.

“There is always space for improvement, no matter how long you’ve been in the business.” – Oscar De La Hoya

Be water my friends,

Bianca

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” – Aldous Huxley

Some may be surprised I am quoting a pacifist but then, he has a point here.  In order to improve ourselves, we must first recognize that we are the purveyors of the act.  We must understand that it starts and ends with us and we must initiate the change but only after we recognize that we must or want to improve.  Whether it be physically, mentally, spiritually, at work, at home, whatever the case may be, we have to begin.

Okay, where am I going with this.  Recently, one of my good friends and a talented player became incredibly frustrated at practice.  He wasn’t hitting shots he thought he should hit, was getting shot when he obviously had the better position, was getting dinked out on key moves, etc.  He. Was. Mad. Furious, he cursed and bemoaned the game and himself.  Mad to the point where he didn’t want to hear what could be done better or what could be done to improve the chance of success.  No, he just wanted to believe he sucked and would never improve.  Filth flam flo blah!

After he calmed down, and certain things were explained (missed your shot? Don’t stay out in the open gun battling and don’t use the top of a dorito since it is the smallest portion of a bunker out there.  Got shot when moving into position?  Next time let your teammate know what you need him to do to improve success.  Did you check off your danger bunkers?) it struck me how refocused he was.  As the day went on, he began to become more methodical, not overly cautious, but smarter about his approach.  I made a mental note of it to address this topic.  And so here we are…

Why do we get angry about our performance on the paintball field?  The simple answer is we are all competitive and want to win.  Why else do you play, right?  But at practice?  Why get angry there?  Practice is where you are supposed to make the mistakes, where you are supposed to learn.  So listen very carefully… practice is exactly where you are supposed to get angry with yourself!

Now, I am not saying you should always get angry.  This is more of a “if you are the type who…” blog about understanding and dealing with people like this.  Or perhaps it is you who does this.  Either way, hear me out.  First we have to understand why we get angry in the first place.

There is always some sort of event that happens right before someone gets angry that serves as the catalyst.  In most cases, players have a tendency to say things like, “That dude is totally cheating” or “I shot him first but this paint sucks and didn’t break.” The idea is that a specific occurrence caused the immediate and harsh behavior.  The truth of the matter is, there were probably a lot of factors taking place prior to the incident that led to the angry outburst.  People rarely go 0-90 with a single offense.  And if they do, I would certainly avoid them…

Obviously, all of us have different triggers (oh, how I hate that word these days… but in this case, it is applicable).  What then, are the other elements that cause our anger? In the case we described above, the person was cheated or the paint didn’t perform.   But was that all?  There are actually two things happening when a person gets angry: the persons own personality and the environment they are in at the moment.

People’s personalities weigh heavily into this equation.  Competiveness, frustration, and other traits can certainly affect who, how, and why we get angry.  It makes sense that a competitive person is playing competitive paintball yes?  So too, it makes sense that they may get angry when not winning or performing.

Okay, so we have a competitive or easily frustrated individual playing a highly competitive team sport that involves consequences when failure is introduced.  Failure can equate to a ‘pain’ aspect of being shot with a paintball.  So now we have a competitive or easily frustrated player who failed at an aspect of the game and they are “rewarded” with a painful reminder of said failure.  No, we will not trail off into classical conditioning.  Maybe some other time we will… I digress.

What about the environment or what was happening prior to the event?  How was work that week?  How is their relationship with their girlfriend/wife/kids?  How hot is it outside?  Did they get enough sleep?  We’ve all been there before.  When we are tired or upset or anxious because of other events off of the paintball field, or we are physically uncomfortable due to heat or an injury… we are much more likely to respond with anger.  Not everyone has that reaction and to those that are able to center themselves and refocus immediately following the “failure” more power to them.  “My apologies Wyatt, you are an oak.”

As a leader, a captain, or even a good teammate, we should (operative word here is “should”) recognize these personality traits and the environment at practice.  Check in on that guy you know is that way.  Stay positive and recognize tendencies.  Anger can cloud one’s learning.  But if you can refocus the energy of a player, congratulations and well done.  Identifying issues prior to them coming to fruition is a sign of a great leader and friend for that matter.

Now, recognizing this behavior should not rest solely on the captain/teammate. No, if you recognize that you have these tendencies, you have won half the battle.  It is ultimately YOUR responsibility to address your issue.  Be a man and own up.  Take steps to be a better teammate.  Evaluate yourself prior to and during practice regularly.  You never know how your attitude will affect those on your team around you.

I am not advocating for a snowflake team where everyone is nice and pixies and fairy-dust and everyone is happy.  Utopian paintball teams are extremely rare and will eventually dissolve. Why? Because some conflict in some form is necessary for growth. The sooner the younger ones among you recognize this, the better for the rest of us.

Back to my friend who got angry, frustrated, and downright pissed.  He calmed down, recognized he was being his own worst enemy, and refocused on the task at hand… learning.  I’ve know this gentleman for a while now and he is one of my good friends.  He and I have a mutual understanding that we have come to.  When he gets this way, I recognize it, he recognizes it, and he doesn’t need me to “talk to him”.  No, a simple comment about “you see what you are doing?” and bam! He’s back on point.  The environment he finds himself in is a supportive one but not to the point of being coddled.  When you reach that point, you’ve lost.

For those of you who want the scientific reasoning for this particular article need to look into a guy by the name of Dr. Deffenbacher and his writings on “cognitive appraisal”.  Cognitive appraisal is this:  a theory which states that a person’s emotion nal evaluative judgment (or appraisal) of a situation, event or object determines or contributes to his or her emotional response to it.

I think there is an important aspect to remember when evaluating others or ourselves though.  A person’s interpretation or appraisal of a situation that leads to their anger isn’t necessarily wrong.  That person very well may have cheated or that paint bounced.   In other words, his reaction may have certainly been justifiable.  But we need to recognize all the factors involved, solve for it and move on.  This is to ensure that everyone gets the most out of the day, not just that individual. Does any of this make sense?  I hope so.

Be water my friends,

Bianca

“You don’t have to swing hard to hit a home run. If you got the timing, it’ll go.” – Yogi Berra

“Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.” – Warren Spahn

Yogi Bera

Warren Spahn

Here at Zen, I am always looking for analogies to help me explain aspects of paintball and this months’ topic will certainly be no exception. This month we will discuss the importance of timing.

How many of you watch MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)?  If you do, did you happen to see UFC 189 when current UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor fought the #1 contender, Jose Aldo?  Spoiler alert, McGregor knocked Aldo out in the first 13 seconds of the first round.  How?  McGregor had a great quote afterwards where he said, “Precision beats power and timing beats speed every time”.

In the world of boxing, timing is everything. Timing is everything when it comes to not only an effective offense but a solid defense (See two opening quotes from Berra and Spahn to see how timing is used on both sides of the baseball).  The best boxers in the world, throughout history, have always had great timing, whether it was there counter punching, head movement, foot work, lead jab… Boxers like Muhammad Ali, Roy Jones Jr, and Oh! Sugar Ray and Mayweather, they all had great timing.  And, of course, I would be totally remiss not to mention Bruce Lee.  How many of you have heard me talk about his “broken Rhythm” technique?  That’s right…timing.

But what is it?  What is “timing”?  I have given you examples of it from another sport(s), sure, but how does it translate to Paintball?  Excellent question.

First, let’s define it. The dictionary will tell you it is the judgement or control of when something should be done.  Remember those words, “judgement” and “control”.  The best definition I can give in reference to paintball and how it is applied to our sport is this; Timing is a mixture of instinct and reflex.  Now might be a good time to add to McGregor’s comment in the context of paintball.  When you have timing, you don’t have to be fast.  I am not a fast man (there was a time… but it has passed) but I have proven to be successful in scenarios where my timing gave me the upper hand.

Timing can be utilized in paintball by identifying the best/appropriate time to move, the best appropriate time to snap, the best/appropriate time to switch position in our bunker… you get the picture.  We need to recognize elements and variables within the game and react swiftly and accordingly.  I often use the analogy that our brains are computers, our eyes and ears give us data, we then take the data to develop a solution, and finally act.

Some people’s processors are much faster than others (better timing).  So how do we speed up our processor (improve out timing)?  Another excellent question.

The key to training and improving our timing is twofold.  The first is individually and the second is team oriented.  We will focus on the individual aspect.  That means we need to focus on hand, eye, and feet coordination to start.  We need to TRAIN THE BRAIN.

Training our brain to process quicker is different for everyone.  Some will take a little longer than others and that’s okay.  It doesn’t mean you can’t do it or are broken.  It just means you need to work a little harder.  So put in the work!

Footwork

To increase timing, it helps to improve coordination.  There is NO BETTER tool/way to improve footwork coordination than the speed ladder.  You can pick up a speed ladder super cheap and the whole team can utilize it during a drill day or heck, make your own, it’s easy to do.  If you have never worked with a speed ladder, you can search the internet for a plethora of drills.  Here are my favorites performed in this order:

1. Side step – with the ladder to you left (or right depending on which lead foot you choose), step in to ladder, followed by your other foot, repeat. Ways, left and right lead foot
2. Hop/Run -5 hops with feet together followed by 5 quick steps down ladder, repeat
3. In/Out – from the side of the ladder, step in with lead foot, followed by rear foot, back out, and repeat all the way down the ladder
4. Doubles – two feet into one box, both out. In, in, out, out. Whole ladder. Repeat with different lead foot.
5. Shuffle – one and two in the box, three is out. Repeat

Start slow.  Develop the muscle memory and slowly build your speed over time.

Of course, if you have read my other blogs or watched some of my drill videos, we can also apply foot work to our drills.  See if you can’t think of how to do this as well.

Gun work

Drills for gun work are your standard drills; however, we can add some twists.  Not all drills have to involve shooting paint.  For instance, how many of you practice transitioning your gun from hand to hand?  Just stand there and transition over and over again.  Remember to move your marker around you not you around the marker.  Work on trying to keep your barrel apexed (imagine a view over your head with your barrel being the tip of a triangle and your right and left shoulders the base points) and linear.  You can actually train transitioning your gun from one hand to the next over and over again without ever shooting a ball, right?  So why aren’t you doing it?

Next, I like to snap shoot left hand then quickly shift right hand and snap the same target.  Do this from a mayan or a can or even a dorito bunker. One ball snap left, one ball snap right, over and over again.  Go slow.  Do this for an entire hopper.  Focus on your fundamentals of course but recognize how the sight picture will change each time.  Eventually you will train your brain to pull the trigger the moment your eyes realize A. you see the target and B. your barrel has cleared the edge of the bunker.

This would be a good time to mention eye dominance.  Most right handed people are also right eye dominant.  You will notice when they go to shoot left handed, they lean their head further over the marker to get their right eye in on the sight picture.  We need to break that and train the brain to see sight pictures equally out of our weak eye.  There is a great training tool for that.  We will address that in our next video.

Another two drills I like to do are the corner to corner drill and the post drill (should probably have a video of the post drill… I will get on that).  The corner drill is simply one where you stay in the pocket (exposed to shoot) and maintain dominance on your opponent even when paint is coming.  This will teach you how to recognize trajectory of paint and help you know when to get out of the way and when to stay in the pocket. The post drill helps the timing of both participants but from different perspectives.  One guy posts in a bunker and is not allowed to move.  His only job is to recognize when he feels his opponent is about to snap out and hit him.  The other participant’s job is to snap out and accurately place paint on the “post man” without getting shot.

Here are video examples of the corner to corner drill.  Notice how I try to stay in the pocket gun up and rolling unless my opponent puts a ball right at me. I win both of these but only because I was able to stay in the pocket longer and time my shots.

Here is somewhat of a timing example as well as a read offense.  When I shoot their aggressive player off the break I realize no gun can stop me AT THAT MOMENT so my slow butt uses the timing of my opponent’s settling into their bunkers to take the 50.

Back to the point

Ultimately, the more you experience, the more you practice, the more time you spend doing these things, the more you will begin to recognize specifics and the quicker you will get acting upon the data.  In other words, you will improve.  The more data we provide the brain, the quicker it processes.  Does that make sense?  The brain is a muscle.  Work it.

Anyway, we need to understand timing.  If I time my move where you drop your lane for a second, more times than not, I will make it safely.  If I time my snap right, more times than not, I will get a ball down range before you put paint on me.  So I don’t have to be fast.  That isn’t to say speed doesn’t help… let’s clarify that now.  However, timing can make or break a game, whether it is used to make an awesome move or used to stop one.

Timing within the team dynamic is a much more complicated process but one that can be improved and trained as well.  We will address that soon.

Until then… be water my friends.

How many of you have heard the phrase, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”?

This month’s blog has a correlation with that saying. Originally, this month’s topic was going to address “timing” on the field and how it can impact the outcome of pretty much any circumstance you and your team find yourselves in.  However, due to some recent occurrences, I have decided to revisit a topic we’ve addressed several times in one capacity or the next (and will probably do so several more times over the course of this blog’s existence).  In full disclosure, you could almost say this is being written TO someone or some team specifically.  I promise… no names.

Imagine, if you will, you have just been handed a disappointing finish at a recent national event that you felt relatively prepared for. Murphy and his Law showed up and made absolutely sure you and your team knew he was there, rampaging through your carefully laid out plans like Godzilla on steroids in downtown Tokyo.  And yes, you were the guys on the tram… Where did it go wrong, why did it go wrong, and how do we overcome the disappointing setback and get back on track (anyone pick up on that mild correlation?  Tram/track?… nevermind)

Let’s skip the first two questions and focus on that last one… overcoming the set back and getting back on track. How do you and your team refocus and remotivate yourself after that whooping that essentially equated to a 20- year old Mike Tyson fighting Justin Bieber.

In the past, we have talked about defining our values, picking the right personnel, practice schedules, how to practice, how to set goals, how to approach the game, how to learn, on and on and on. We have discussed those guidelines at length.  These are proven approaches and not just from my experience but many at the professional level.  But for some reason, this event didn’t pay off and the team fell way short of expectations and goals.  Was it the process?  The process has worked in the past, so why not this time?  There are countless variables that can affect outcome.  The question becomes do we reexamine the process in an effort to identify all the variables that went wrong and why?  Do we chalk it up to sometimes stuff happens?  Do we burn the whole process down and start over again trying something new?

No.

First, recognize something(s) went wrong.  Now we have to reset.  Remember, it is how we respond to what took place that will ultimately decide whether or not we succeed in overcoming the obstacle.  And it will ultimately define you.

How do we get motivated again? We have to have buy in from the entire team.  If we don’t have buy in from the ENTIRE team, if there is an “oh well” attitude in just one team member, then there is a good chance we have lost before we have begun. We can turn around and blame that guy… sure.  We could cut him from the team but who else did he infect?  Or, we can address him and the team as a whole.  We can engage our team and tune up the “motivational engines” so to speak.

Vince Lombardi said, “Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work.”

So what can we do to inspire? As a coach, a captain, a leader, a teammate, how do you bring your crew to that level of commitment and motivation after a loss (or several losses… that may be a different blog)? You begin by showing belief.  Belief in the system, in the process, in the team and in the individuals.  Make it apparent that you are going to hold them to a higher standard, because you have confidence they can achieve it.  When the going gets tough… the tough get going, right?

Step 1 should be to make sure everyone is on the same page with the team’s goals. Refresh everyone’s memory what those goals are.  If necessary, speak one on one with each team member and make sure they understand where they stand and what their role is in meeting the team goals.  Remind them of their opportunities (what they need to be working on) but also give them positive reinforcement by discussing what they bring to the table and how that will help move the team forward.  Everyone can bring something to the table.  If they can’t, it’s time for a different sort of talk… you trackin’?

Step 2 is recognizing our short comings as individuals and as a team; then providing the opportunity to improve them. This is where we understand WHAT to practice and HOW.  Honesty is important here…we need to acknowledge our shortcomings and work on them.  We can’t say you need to work on this and then not provide the opportunity for them to work on it.  Work on it as a team, emphasize those who need it and build upon it.  If you don’t, you will sow seeds of discontent and things will come off the tracks.  Of course, it is a two-way street.  If you provide the opportunities and they still don’t improve, well then, it’s time for that “other” convo again.  Copy?

Step 3 is quantifying the goals. We have established our team/individual goals and we have established what we need to work on in order to meet those goals.  Now we need to determine or rather gauge what equates to achievement.  Plans never survive contact with the enemy, right?  So we need to establish what success will look like.  Sounds counter intuitive.  “But Bianca, if we set a goal, wouldn’t meeting that goal equal success?”  Yes and no.  We have to recognize improvement in steps.  Are we seeing improvement towards the goal?  Are we seeing improvement in a favorable time frame?  Are some seeing success and others not?  Ask yourself these questions and proceed from there.  You need to have reasonable objectives for everyone and be able to recognize when they are being met and when they aren’t.

Step 4 is for coaches, leaders, captains, etc. Lead from the front.  Be first.  Set the example.  Being the example is leadership.

Step 5 is recognizing the successes of the team and the individuals. When something gets done well, even if its small, make sure the team and the individual know.  Recognition is a great motivator (next to money but who are we fooling, we are ballers.  Money doesn’t translate here).

As Michael Jordan once said, there’s no “I” in “Team,” but there is in “Win.”

Remember, the real test of team motivation efforts is results. What have you done to motivate your team? An excellent question to myself. Or perhaps it is a question that maybe I did something to demotivate them… we better all check on that.

Be water my friends…

The creator of “gonzo” journalism, Hunter Thompson, once said, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” I agree with the sentiment.  Then there are those who say that, every once in a while, it’s worth going back to the basics. Don’t know who originally said that, don’t care.  The latter, when applied to paintball, is simply false.  It shouldn’t be every once in a while.  It should be all the time.  Teams would almost certainly see greater levels of success with just a little bit more effort in the basics of paintball and the practice arena… especially if they know how to practice appropriately.

I will ask a team, “What and how do you practice?” or “What does a normal practice for your team consist of?”  It’s a simple question.  The answers I get, as you can imagine, are diverse.  Some teams practice to their strengths in order to ensure they remain strengths while others practice their weaknesses in order to shore them up.  Whereas they are practicing and looking to improve, I find many are simply going through the motions.  “A pro said to do this so we need to do this or a good team we talked to does this so we should do it”.  Now, those statements may seem self-deprecating, especially to a guy who writes a blog to help people in paintball.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t do those things, whatever they are.  What I AM saying is you need to understand WHY you are doing those things and HOW to do them correctly.

What I see often at these practices or clinics is a lack of accountability and execution.  This can be due to a misunderstanding of the how and why or simply a lack of quality leadership. I learned a while ago that there are two big obstacles to running a successful program (winning). They are a lack of an appropriate practice routine and a lack of clarity at the leadership level. It’s not surprising that the teams that lacked a clear direction at the leadership level don’t see success frequently.   Look at it this way, if you think of your team as an airplane leading you to the promised land, then you can’t have 10 different pilots trying to fly the aircraft and shouting out different directions, at least not if you want to end up at your intended destination.  Logical, right?  Communication between teammates and leadership plays a heavy role as well.  You have to be open and honest with each other.  But I am getting off topic.

Let’s take one of the most basic tenants of paintball and break it down: field walking.

Some of you reading this may recall a time when you didn’t see the field layout until you arrived at the event.  This made walking the field, identifying key bunkers, how it would play out, and understanding how to play it an indispensable skill set.  Especially if you had to walk 10 fields… okay, just dated myself.  All good.  Moving on…

If you don’t get practice doing a field walk, you can watch a plethora of field walking videos on youtube.  Most of these vids will take a straightforward approach to the field and that is a good thing.  It will give you an idea of what basic necessities you will need to look for.  Some not so much but take in as much as you can.  You will notice patterns and consistencies which will make sense.  Some may not… ask why.

That being said, some of you have heard me say that you are thinking 2-dimensionally and that we need to be thinking 3-dimensionally.  Ask yourself, when you see something i.e. a bunker on a field, your brain “sees” that it is a 3 dimensional object.  You know that the other side of the bunker and the things behind it exist, you just can’t see them through the bunker.  That doesn’t mean they aren’t there, right?  However, we THINK about it 2 dimensionally.  We don’t think past what we see.  We see we are in the bunker but we struggle to see what we know is on the other side in our minds eye.  Make sense?  There is a reason I am bringing this up.

Without constantly studying this yourself, it is hard to understand and create the process in our minds of how to walk a field appropriately much less process data in our mind during a live game.  Here is the basic premise in a nutshell.  If you are going to spend time learning the execution aspect of a play or game plan on a layout, then you should spend just as much time understanding the development process.

What I am trying to highlight here is that you need a common, clearly defined process in which you can use to develop game plans consistently.  In order to operate at a higher level in our sport, we much adapt our thought processes.   It goes without saying that this is accomplished through hard work and dedication to the learning path.

Which brings me back to my original point, if you’re going to take the time to develop a plan… do it right. The way to do it right is to understand why we are doing what we are doing and create a process that is simple yet effective.  Here’s how I like to do it (something I learned from Coach Paul Richards, easily one of the greatest minds in paintball and the man who taught me how to simplify on the paintball field (miss you Top).

Identify specific bunker types.  Is it an “attack” bunker?  Is it a “support” bunker?  Is it a “containment” bunker?  Is it a defensive or “Alamo” bunker?

In other words, understand what a player can accomplish from that specific bunker and know this for every one of the bunkers on the field.  Once you have identified what a player can accomplish from each bunker, now you have a way to identify fluid and effective game planning.  “If I have a guy here, her can accomplish this.  However, I can double the chances of that player succeeding in what he is trying to accomplish by making sure that we get a guy into THIS bunker as well.”  So on and so forth.  Making sense?

But don’t get limited to looking at it 2 dimensionally.  Don’t just look at it from the D side or from the snake side.  Look at it 3 dimensionally and in full context.

Get it? Got it? Good.

Now go forth and walketh thy field..eths….

Be water my friends,

Bianca

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it” –  Bruce Lee

I remember meeting 3 young ladies at the 2000 Mardi Gras Open in New Orleans.  They were called the Fallen Angels, I believe.  They were a big deal because they were young attractive females who were playing a male dominated sport.   So who can tell me what is wrong with that last sentence?

No, this is not going to be about sexism or feminism or any other “ism”.  This will not be an argument for women in the military or who gets paid more or a glass ceiling or any of that.  The point is quite simple and I will put it out from the get go.  Are you a good paintball player?  Do you contribute?  Are you a team player?  Good.  Play paintball.

I will say that I believe women ARE different from men and I celebrate that difference; that is what makes a woman unique.  In other words, I appreciate women for being women and the differences/balance they bring.  That being said let me explain what brought this topic about and why I decided to write about it this month on Zen.  This is a topic that came to my attention when speaking with my daughter.  The gist of the discussion was about her wanting to play competitive paintball and what she would need to do to go about learning and being competitive.

Personally, I don’t understand why more women don’t play paintball.  Biologically, on average, men do have the advantage in size and strength.  But how does that translate to paintball?  Does my bicep size make my paintball gun better?  Do you really require great strength and size like a football or basketball player to be competitive in our sport? The answer is no.

Teams like the Fallen Angels and the Femme Fatales paved the way for teams like Fat lady Charms, Poison Ivy, and Destiny.  Regrettably, if you Google “Women of paintball”, you will be greeted with images of scantily clad girls holding paintball markers.  Not likely the end game Tami Adamson, Bea Paxson or Keely Watson had in mind when they started.  It should be about the ability just like when we look at any other player.  Of course, being friends with Bea, easily one of, if not the most recognized female in the sport, I decided to reach out to her and see what she had to say about how she got started and what it was like.

“The airball fields are what attracted me – how different it was from any kind of sporting activity I’ve ever observed or have been a part of. I wanted to be part of something different and paintball was, well, different.”

She went on to explain how being a woman in the sport brought about its criticisms.

“I didn’t like how I was accused of getting support simply because of my looks. Not saying that I’m the most beautiful person in the world, but because of being a female in a sea of males in this industry, it was somewhat easy for me to stand out a bit. But, I wanted to be more than just a “pretty face” and I wanted to earn my spot in the paintball world by being revered as someone that also knew about all aspects of paintball, to be able to explain it, to teach it, and to encourage others to get involved.”

Bea has advice for other ladies out there, “Just practice and train more to be treated equally and selected to play alongside other men. I remember in my rookie years, I wanted so badly to learn from my mistakes that I would go up to the many men that bunkered me or shot me to ask what I could’ve done better or what I did wrong. And 9 times out of 10, the guys were always willing to explain to me what I could do to improve…. diversify yourself as a player and learn all positions. Don’t just start in the back, too, like most females are typically set up in initially. If they do end up starting in the back, change it up and learn how to be a mid or front player, too.”

Excellent advice.

Now, I have experience with coaching females.  During the 2014 Season, I had the pleasure of meeting and coaching a young lady from Texas when she guested with one of the Prime squads for a couple of events.  One of the things I appreciated about Taylor Mitchell was that she didn’t want to be given anything because she was a woman.  She wanted to earn her spot because she could play.   And make no qualms about it, she did.

“…if you don’t bring up the fact that you’re a girl while playing, then people forget that you’re a girl and treat you like normal.”

What drew her to the sport? “I loved eliminating people. That’s the best part.”  Sound familiar guys? Taylor knew what was required.  She came to play and that is why I treated her like any other player.

Taylor has always been athletic and has played competitive softball almost all her life. But she firmly believes that being good at paintball has nothing to do with your gender and all to do about your ability to play and be a team player. “…it has nothing to do about your genetic makeup. But the effort and talent you put into it to become a better player.”

This past 2016 World Cup I was introduced to two other females who made me take notice for their attitude and ability. First is Willi Cohen, a former competitive dancer and swimmer.  Willi came down to help Birmingham Prime in the pits.  I had heard about her from my friends in the Atlanta area.  Willi was introduced to paintball through her boyfriend Cameron on an agreement, she would play paintball if he would go to one dance class (Yo Cameron, she’s still waiting on your end of the bargain, chief.)

Willi ended up enjoying the rec side of the game but didn’t feel confident in the tournament format. This led to her becoming a gifted “pit boss” but things are changing after this past year.  “I loved watching all the air ball players, but I was not confident enough to try for myself, so I did whatever I could to help out the teams at the field, which led me to pitting for the Kennesaw State team and then eventually Birmingham Prime. It was the NXL events this past season that made me decide to actually get on the field and play. Being in the pits and helping out allowed me to see what it truly means to be a team… when I saw teammates pushing each other to be better on and off the field I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”

And think about it, Willi’s background.  She was a dancer, lithe on her feet, and a swimmer who has great cardio.  Sounds like a great foundation for an excellent paintball player.  Bruce Lee use to talk about how, if he could train Fred Astaire for 6 months, he would have him beat any boxer.   Footwork is such an integral part of playing paintball and many players don’t understand that.

“In the long run I hope to be a part of a team after I get out school, but honestly I just hope I can prove to myself that I have the ability that if I put the work in and push myself I can accomplish my goals.”  Sounds like the attitude required to be a good paintball player.   “When we put the mask down we are all equal.” Here here Willi.

The other young lady was Karin Worhle’.  Karin had traveled from Germany with her boyfriend Felix who was guesting with Prime for the event.  Karin was there to guest with Destiny.  I believe Karin is the embodiment of what I am trying to say with this whole blog post.  It’s about the skill set not the gender.

Karin has played all over the world.  Malaysia, The United States, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, UK, France, Belgium, and she’s not done.  Unlike Bea who had a martial arts and cheerleading background, Willi who has a swimming and dancing background, or Taylor who had played softball all her life, Karin wasn’t really into sports at all. She wasn’t even introduced to paintball by a guy.  Her friends at her university suggested they all go for her birthday because she was “crazy” and would obviously enjoy this “crazy” game.  Little did her friends know it would change her life.

“I constantly try to surround myself with people whose goals and passions are consistent with mine. I became healthier – I stopped smoking, started going to the gym a minimum of 4 times a week (very strictly). Some months ago, I started to work with a personal trainer to improve my fitness and nutrition to the max. Last but not least I got used to car rides – long ones (for e.g. to Paris 1200km) and “short” ones (almost every weekend 500km to practice).”  Sounds like someone dedicated to the craft and who knows what it takes to be competative, yes?

With that kind of dedication and drive, you would think she wouldn’t have had a hard time finding a team.  Not true.

“… it was not that easy for me. The first team I approached did reject me, because they didn’t want to have women in their team. That’s the first time I had to realize there are apparently men, who definitely doesn’t want women to participate in this sport.   However, this didn’t stop me to keep searching and yes – it made me even more eager to play and compete in tournaments. I just had a lot of fun playing, getting to know the different people anywhere in the world. I wanted to improve my skills, learn the game, perform as much as possible and win!”

When you watch Karin play, it is easy to see she knows what she is doing.  Speaking with her while walking the field, you can certainly see she has a mind for the strategy of the game as well.  I can’t say that about half the guys I meet in paintball.

“I like to be “the killer”, the person who completely changes a game or situation. I also like to be a team mate everybody can rely on and trust on the field. In general, I want my team to be successful and I want to contribute to the max.”

These women all have something in common besides gender.  They are dedicated, enjoy the game and want to continuously improve their skills just like every other tournament player should.  So next time you see a female baller out there, don’t get complacent or look past her.  She’s likely to light you up… especially if it ends up being my daughter.  Just sayin’.

Be Water my friends.