Sunday, Feb 28 2010

Played at the new CDR field and got a little more practice footage today. Look for a video later this week!

CEPP TRIP: What we do to play.

We left our wet weather climate last weekend to get some solid grindout time down at CEPP in Sacremento, California. We left at 10:30pm from the Puyallup area, with Big Geoff piloting the Ford Excursion. Loaded up with 60 cases of paint, 6 people, the clothes on our back and enough caffeine to fuel a jet we headed south on I5. Along the way we managed to dodge the Fuzz and average good time, making the trip down with 1 stop in about 10.5 hours. Most of us didn’t sleep much the way down, I got about 2 hours total. We arrived at the hotel at about 7:30 am, and hit the field at 9. The weather was crisp and clean, overcast and cool. We played from 10:00 to 1, ate lunch, and played a few more hours. Fuzion is a good team. A squad had a rough start, but by the afternoon they had ironed out the wrinkles.

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All 11 of us stayed in a two room hotel, so it only cost something like $13 each a night. A team favorite is Panera bread, which we ate for dinner, and then spent the rest of the evening watching the Winter Olympics. The following morning we hit the field early, and started playing by 9, and finished the day by 1pm. Between the two days, we shot about 55 cases of paint. We had already checked out of the hotel, so we grabbed Panera (again) and cruised on back home. Thank god for onboard DVD players! We watched everything in the car the way back up, arriving back in Puyallup at around 2am. From there I jetted home to catch a few hours of sleep, and dragged myself up to go to work at 9…

55 cases of paint

23 hours of driving

11 hours of sleep

80+ games 

Salvatore

Test from phone

NEW LOGO

Top Secret- But coming soon

CEPP Video- Thanks to Ovrpaintball

Capital Edge Paintball Park 2.21.2010 from OVR Paintball on Vimeo.

More Practice Pics

Pics from CEPP in California

More at http://splatphotos.com/images/PaintballPics/CEPP2-21-10/index.html

Weekend Update:

Hello All,
We are back from California. Trip review and pictures to come later today. Good to be back.

Woodsball tips-

For those of you who like woods ball, here are some tricks I’ve learned over the years.

Don’t shoot at people you can’t hit. This seems like an obvious tip- but it draws attention to your position.  Often times out of reach players will unknowingly get in range, or you can flank them without being noticed.

Shoot at other players when they’re shooting at someone else. They won’t know where you’re at, only that they’re being shot at.

Not moving can work as well as camouflage. Eyes are sensitive to motion. Just freezing in dense foliage can conceal your position, as long as you have some coverage.

Be quiet when moving. Being heard is as good as being seen. This means not shaking your hopper, not talking, not shooting your marker. Avoid splashing puddles, crunchy leaves, and rustling foliage. It’s better to quickly walk than to run, if it’s the difference in giving your position away, especially behind enemy lines.

Carry a strait shot or a pull through squeegee. They work better than swab, you’ll have time to use it.

Shoot bright filled paint. Yellow and orange are easier to see. This means the guys your shooting will have a tougher time wiping. Woodsball players love wiping too!

Wear ankle support. Rough terrain will roll your ankle eventually.

Wear knee pads and elbow pads. Rocks and hard and sharp, and so are sticks. They’ll get you too.

Take the high ground. High ground is hard to take from an opponent. Take it while it’s unoccupied .

Use a quiet hopper. Hoppers that run when they’re on empty will- and give away your position when you don’t want them too.

Crawling low- works.

Check to see if it bounced before you go out! Enough said.

Ambushing people can work better than taking them head on. It’s easier hide and let the other team pass and shoot them in the back.

Salvatore Santamaria

The Breakout: Part 3/3

By Graham Arnold
Part 3/3

Executing the Breakout

“Shoot-shoot-shoot, kill-kill-kill, win-win-win”. The Ironmen had it right with their pre-game chant. If you are not shooting your paintball gun you cannot eliminate you opponent. Seems obvious enough, but many teams do not follow this principle. They often have only a few players laning and the rest running. Every player should be shooting off the break. This is where all those hours of running and gunning drills bear fruit. Becoming proficient at running and gunning can raise your breakout to a whole new level. It is simple probability. More people shooting off the break = more paintballs in the air. More paintballs in the air = an increased chance of eliminating opponents. More opponents eliminated = a greater chance at victory. The point of paintball is to win…right? Another result of shooting off the break is containing your opponent. Even if you don’t eliminate your opponent you can force him/her to improvise in order to escape the rain of paint bearing down on them. This dominance can trap your opponent in the middle of the field, leaving them in a dire situation. There are no downsides to shooting off the break. If you are able to safely make your positions why not run and shoot? If you cannot make the position while running and shooting then practice, practice, practice. Running with your gun down should be a last resort. Limit these instances as much as possible! Use your guns to control the breakout, and ultimately control the game.
With sideline coaching in the RaceTo format, lining up in a nondescript formation is also a necessity to achieve maximum confusion of your opponents. Line up the same way every time. Even while executing a snake run, line up as if you are going to run and shoot. This may be awkward at first, trust me, but with practice it will become more natural and fluid. Angle Fragoza of Dynasty, one of the most prolific snake players in paintball, is a prime example of this technique. Watch his breakouts and you can this technique in action. This simple change in breakout execution can give you a must needed edge over your opponents.

Conclusion

It is critical that the importance of the breakout is understood. Whether you are investing thousands of dollars into playing a national event, or are just playing in a local tournament, nobody wants their investment to go down the drain in a matter of seconds. A properly planned and executed breakout will increase chances of victory significantly. Consistent “victory” in the first eight seconds of the game can directly translate into victory on a larger scale, in the form of championships and glory. Plan your breakout, practice your breakout, execute your breakout, and win. It as simple as that.

California Practice Checklist

Luxe
Hopper
Charger
Kneepads
Elbowpads
Pants
Jersey
Goggles
Cleats
Zune
Phone
Air mattress
Cash
1 change of clean clothes
Costco Pack of Diet Rockstar's for 10 hour drive
Desire

Supergame XXXIX in Oregon!

http://www.supergame.tv/index.html
Supergame dates are out. These games are always a blast with 300+ players per team. April 30-May 2, 2010 in Oregon. I've played 6 of these and hope to make this one as well with Gino.

How I got here, part 3: OTC

In 2006 I graduated WSU and was eager to begin paintballing seriously. I had already been playing for years, but mostly in the woods. I had traded my Angel Speed for an Ion so that I could play over the summers, (using the extra cash for paint!) The first check I got, I went out and bought an 06 Ego, brand new. A friend of mine came out to play one summer weekend, and he brought with him the rest of what would be OTC.

This was at Hole in the Walls new field in the Maple Valley area. We decided we’d make a team and play tournament paintball, and entered in a tournament a few weeks later, at Black and Blue Paintball. We won, but only because there were only three teams (including us!) in attendance, and it was a very relaxed day. It was a hot day, and we brought beer, much to our and the other two teams enjoyment.

Afterwards, we decided that we would compete the next year for the entire 2007 season. Later, I would find out that only because we’d actually won the tourney did the team stick together. During the fall we practiced hard at the best place that I had found, DBS’s indoor field during Thursday nights. We liked Thursday nights because the competition was stiff, and we still had our weekends to goof off, work, or recover from wicked hangovers. It was at that those Thursday nights I met most of the DBS Kidz, and a lot of other good paintball friends.

The roster for OTC consisted of Ryan Burgess, Justin Hylen, Brandon Gee, myself, and my brother, Gino Santamaria. Ryan, Brandon and Justin had all known each other for years, and were mutual friends with my good friend Andy Lake (who unfortunately never played tourney ball again after the Black and Blue win) We had a rough start the 2007 season. We got beat handily at the NWPS, but managed to eek out wins at the Smoking Guns series. At the time Smoking Guns was handing out cash for prizes, and it was nice to walk away with some dough in our pockets. Losing at the NWPS kept our drive to practice high.

We kept practicing Thursday nights, but our team focus was quickly turning from paintball to drinking. In retrospect, we really were a drinking team with a paintball problem. But it’s what paintball is really about, having a great time with your friends and replaying the memories over and over in your head at work the next week. Getting up at 5 am to drive across state to adventure at some mud pit, and sharing dreams with tired eyes and friendly faces. The pain of losing, the joy of winning, and being able to loudly talk it over with too much beer later that night.

The Smoking Guns series had ended prematurely and we had ended up on top, but we were having trouble in the NWPS. We were essentially tied for 1st with Syper. We managed to finish ahead of them in the tournament, and played them best of three for the series. We bended the rules to play 5 man since both teams had 5 players, and the format was 4 man. Winning meant a lot of respect, and win we did. We were ecstatic.

On the way home, Justin Hylen quit paintball forever. He left on top.

We did well the rest of the season, playing about 16 tournaments total, including Ninjaball and Survivor series. At the end of the year, we had actually made a few hundred out of winning the tournaments, which was really great. 2008 was our rookie year. Our record for the previous year included two series wins and numerous 1st in partial series we had picked up along the way, but trouble was ahead in 08…

Next week: The Death of OTC Paintball

DBS Kidz- Heading to Phoenix soon!

Best Game Ever - Philly vs Russians WC09

If you want to watch some of the best paintball entertainment I recommend buying the 3rd game of finals Philadelphia Americans vs Boston Red Legion. Only $2.99 at http://pspstore.mobilerider.com/store/index.php

Both of these teams are so much fun to watch and even more fun if you recognize who is on the field, here is a quick rundown of each player.

Philadelphia
Tim Montrossor- 140 points 0 penalties, enough said.
Jason Edwards- Single-handed-ly cut Russians doritio side down in the first match of this best of three finals. He was shooting lasers.
Ryan Moorhead- Great player, didn't shine as much as he usually does, but it is hard when you are playing the Russians.
Chad George- Most underrated snake player in the game. I can't wait to see where this kid is in a few years.
Sam Monville- Another up and comer. Definately made a name for himself in these finals matches, crazy to think we used to play against him back in the day. Too bad he didn't have anything on DBS Kidz back then.
Konstantin Federov- Philly's go to guy when they need a game breaking play, couldn't put it together against the Russians thought, they had him mapped out.
Pat Roberts- Great support put him anywhere on the field and he will push his front player and fill in if needed.
Steve Dabilis- Its too bad Philly won't be together to watch Son mesh with his new team.

Boston
Kirill Prikhidni- Quickly filled in Federov's shoes as the Russian's MVP. If you blink he will be in the 50 doritio shooting your team in the back.
Visiliy Panteleev- Great snake player but better support. You see him first into the snake a lot, but I would like to see him play behind Jrab. He is a strong consistent player and good person to have on the other side of the field to Kirill.
Justin Rabackoff- I would like to see him play more points. He is a ton of fun to watch and amazingly cool under pressure, can't wait to see where his career takes him.
Aleksander Berdnikov- This kid is a machine! Watch Maloy off the break he looks just like a robot and plays almost every point.
Dave Bains- Strong back center, heavy gunner, and from the interactions I have had with Dave seems like he brings the level headed thinking and calmness every team needs.
Matt Blonski- Consistent and smart player. One of those guys that is always alive when the point is won.
Sergey Solnyshkov- Great all around player, he plays all over the field which is hard to do at this high level of play.
Mikhail Knyazev- Russian's #2 killer. If Kirill isn't putting in the work, or needs a breather, Mishka is down the other teams throats.