Many newer players expect a new "high-tech" gun or piece of equipment will solve all of their playing problems. While you will find that this is mostly untrue, shooting accuracy involves player skill AND gun preparation. Gun performance plays a major role in how accurate you are as a player. There many factors which affect whether or not the ball will go where you want it to go.
BARREL LENGTH
Try different brands of paint and experiment with paint/barrel combinations. Make sure that your paint is always fresh and has that crisp sound when you mix it up. Look for roundness and dimples (they may affect the flight of the ball). Experiment with different colors too. Some weigh more than others and some separate in the fill, making the ball lop sided in weight. Drop balls one at a time from about 2 1/2 feet. If more than one in 15 breaks, get new paint.
VELOCITY
GUN SIGHTS
STOCKS
GRIPS
SHOOTING AT PLAYERS FAR AWAY.
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
SHOOTING AT PLAYERS ON THE RUN Please feel free to email me if you find any broken links or if you have any suggestions regarding the Links on this page and I will attempt to verify and correct the information within the week.
Let's talk about barrel length. Length DOES matter (no matter what your lady may tell you). In regular outdoor play, most engagement is at 100 feet or more. For this type of play I recommend a 16" Smart Parts drilled (All American) barrel. I have used every major barrel made and have found these to be the best. The diameter, coating, length, and spiral drilling, make for a great barrel. If you play speedball or a lot of close-up play, barrel length doesn't really matter. Keeping your barrel clean is vital to straight shooting. Also clean the gun feed, the bolt, and the receiver. When you oil your gun, take the barrel off and take a few shots to blow out the oil to prevent getting oil spray in the barrel.
The ideal paintball velocity lies within the 270-285 range. Setting your gun to the limit (300fps) doesn't make your gun shoot better. In fact, you will a lot more that curve at 300. I usually play at 285. For me that is the best trade-off of straightness in flight and distance. Practice with your velocity set at the same velocity that you will be playing in tournaments with. That will give you more consistency and allow you to anticipate the arc of the ball better, making you more accurate.
Newer players seem to be the only players that use sights anymore. Sights are only good if you plan on taking one shot and you want it to count. That style of play is long gone from today's competitive paintball. Back in the day a player might carry 10 10-round tubes (100 balls) on him. Today's player can carry 1000 easy. So the "one-shot-one-kill" attitude that you see in the movies isn't how it is played on the paintball field anymore. It's more like "100 shots = one kill". When you fire a paintball gun without a site, keep both eyes open which helps your peripheral vision. Paintballs only travel at about 200 miles per hour, so tracking their trajectory by eye is somewhat easy. It's even easier if you use light-colored paint (highly recommended, my favorite is white). A site is very likely to be hit and they are hard to clean. You can tuck in better by not having to look through a site.
If you really want to be accurate, you should learn to hit a target with the first couple of shots by FEEL. It should just come naturally. If you have ever watched a really good player then you know what I am talking about. They just bring the gun up and fire the ball straight to the target. This is not a natural ability that is inbred. It takes practice and is a learned skill. So you don't want to be dependent on a sight!
If you want to be a great paintball player, you have to use a stock. If you don't already use a stock, GET ONE. A stock is the best investment you can make in your gun, especially if you run a remote. If you run a tank on-gun, then that is the same as having a stock more or less. There was a time when I thought that a stock would take away from my freedom of movement. This is really not true. The advantage of having a stock becomes obvious when you quick-draw your gun to your shoulder and it FEELS right (the same) every time. There is also another hidden advantage to using a stock: TRIGGER SPEED. A stock will allow you to pull the gun against your shoulder and hold it up without using your trigger hand to hold it up. This lets your trigger hand grip the gun loosely, letting you use more wrist action to bounce the trigger, giving you greater trigger speed. That is why the fastest shooting player all use stocks.
Contoured grips are great because they keep your hand steady and let you grab the grip quickly without messing up your "feel". If your gun has a lot of recoil this is especially true. Flat straight grips might slip and really aren't that confidence-inspiring. I use the Smart Parts wood grips, but there are many rubber ones available that are contoured.
This is a great tip. When you are moving up on a tape or trying to hit players that are far away, the last thing you want to do is "open-up" on the player, hoping that one of your balls is going to hit him. Put yourself in the other players position for a minute. He might not even know that you are there, but when balls come in on him like rain, he is going to dig in and take away your chance for a tag. Here is what you do: set yourself up on one knee or place your gun on your bunker to keep it steady. Any slight variation in gun handling makes a big difference when you are shooting at players that are far away. Now, take ONE shot at the player, make any adjustments that you need to, and take ONE more shot. After about two or three shots you should be set up to have you balls fall right on his head. Now is when you open up on him. By the time he senses the rain coming in, he will be hit.
Shooting while running. The only way to get good at shooting and running is to practice. Run down a trail in the woods shooting at targets in front of you and off to the side of you. Keep your gun down until you have to take the shot. Practice bringing your gun up quickly and taking the shot.
When a player is running at you or away from you, you only need to guess is the arc to shoot at. But when a player runs from right to left or left to right, he is 10 times harder to hit. Most players try to hit the player as he is running or shoot right in front of him as he is running. This almost never works. Don't ask me why, it just doesn't. Here is what WILL work. If the player is running laterally, set up to shoot about 20 feet in front of him. Steady your gun to get the range figured out. Fire a stream of balls at this position and let him run into them. This gives you more time to get the distance figured out and increases the likelihood that you will hit him multiple times. You will also be less likey to break balls in your loader. Here is a good place to give you a HUGE hint. NEVER run away. When you stand up and run away from another player, it is as bad as running directly at your opponent.