Whether you’re new to paintball or a seasoned pro, there are certain skills even the most experienced player can struggle with. Shooting while on the move, shooting with your off hand, shooting while crawling, snap shooting and using various covers are all skills that can require a lot of practice before they’re mastered.
If you’re looking to improve your game off the field as well as on, following are five simple drills you can do to practice these essential paintball skills outside the arena.
1. Shooting on the Move
This is one of the most important drills you can do to improve your paintball skills. Shooting while running is essential to winning games, especially in smaller arenas. The best way to improve this skill is to set up a stationary target and practice shooting at it while running in different directions. Don’t just practice running towards or perpendicular to the target – try shooting while retreating or running towards cover, as well. Once you feel your shooting-on-the-move skills have improved, try adding a variation such as snap shooting. If you’re serious about improving this skill set, spend about one hour per move practicing.
2. Shooting with Your Off Hand
This exercise is pretty self-explanatory. If you’re right-handed, set up a target practice session and only use your left hand. If you’re left-handed, use your right. Being able to accurately shoot with your off hand is one of the most important skills a paintball enthusiast can possess. It won’t be easy, especially if you don’t use your off hand very much. But the more you practice, the better you’ll get. Once your skill level improves, try incorporating snap shooting or shooting on the move.
3. Snap Shooting
Snap shooting is another name for “shooting from the hip.” It involves quickly drawing your paintball gun and accurately firing off a number of quick shots. The drill for snap shooting is a little more complicated than the others. First, set up a number of small targets, such as coffee cans, about 100 feet from your practice area. Step back about 25 feet, sprint to the shooting area, and stop. Quickly draw your paint ball gun and fire five to ten paintballs at each target, then run back to your starting position. This exercise will help improve your reflex time as well as your accuracy.
4. Shooting While Crawling
Crawling quickly while still being able to shoot is another important skill to have in a paintball game. Whether you are playing in an indoor arena or an outdoor area, there will most likely be times you will need to get a few shots off while on your belly. Luckily, this drill is relatively simple. Set up a target about 50 to 100 feet from where you will be shooting. Step back 10 to 15 feet, get on the ground, and crawl to the shooting area, firing off paintballs as you go. Try incorporating some rolling into the exercise, too. Or, if you’re really feeling energetic, combine the crawling and snap shooting exercises into one drill. Crawl for 10 to 15 feet, quickly get on your feet, run for another 10 feet and immediately start snap shooting.
5. Sliding For Cover
Believe it or not, this is one of the most dangerous parts of any paintball game. Many players get injured simply trying to take cover, so it’s important to learn how to slide correctly. For this drill, start without your paintball gun. Simply pick a spot as the “cover,” get a running start and practice sliding exactly to the cover spot. You’ll notice that this is harder than it sounds – it’s easy to slide beyond the cover spot or not make it there at all. You’ll want to practice sliding both feet first and head first. Of course, be careful not to hurt yourself while practicing. Make sure you wear appropriate clothes, such as padded pants, paintball jerseys, jeans, or something equally protective. Once you have gotten used to sliding, add the paintball gun and practice taking shots once you’ve taken cover.
As you probably know, the only way to get really good at paintball is to practice. Using these simple paintball drills, you can improve your fundamental skills and greatly increase your chance of owning your next paintball game.
Great drills. I’ve used these training my team in the early months of the season. Another one to consider is simply shooting with the marker in the other hand.
Good drills to do for paintball game. Another one to consider is simply shooting with the marker in the other hand.
your drill for snapshooting is nothing at all what snap shooting is. If you want to know a real snapshooting drill, go watch ollie lang and alex fraige have snap battle. thats all you need to do in order to get better. Practice does make perfect but you cant get perfect at snapping if your doing the wrong thing. Snapping is not hip firing either. its quick shooting but not from the hip. you essentially get in your shooting position and quickly “snap out fire 1-3 shots and pop back in. Why the hell am i explaining. just watch the video