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 A
million scenarios, and a million ways to react
to each. But only one will work. This is Dynasty’s
official guide to executive decision-making
By Ryan Greenspan
Paintball is a giant game of variables. You never
know what is going to happen, nor can you ever
really plan for everything. It is like a giant
math problem when you look at the field, an equation
with so many possibilities that anything can happen,
like something you see in a movie. Being able
to visualize all of those possibilities on a field
while you are playing is close to impossible.
You can always set up a game plan to stop this
or that, but if something were to happen that
makes your original plan go wrong you are screwed
if you cannot think straight.
Some people have the ability
to see certain things and do things in a fraction
of the time that it takes a normal player to do.
Maybe that is what separates the Pros from everyone
else, that little edge, the nerve pulse that goes
off in the back of our heads when we see something
or when we need to get something done. It is almost
like driving a car really fast through traffic;
you see an opening up ahead, but it may close.
The car next to you may swerve into your lane.
What do you do? That is where you have to pay
most attention. The Paintball field is similar,
watch what you are doing before it is too late.
So many things are going on at any one time in
a Paintball game – well, in most Paintball
games anyway. That’s what makes some games
really exciting to watch, if you know what to
watch for. To tell you the truth, I get frustrated
a lot of the times that I watch Paintball games.
When I see moves that people should have, or could
have done, it just gets to me. But in all fairness
it isn’t entirely their fault that they didn’t
make the moves or didn’t see what was going
on, is it? As anyone who plays Paintball knows,
there are hundreds of variables going on at any
given moment. There are so many options flowing
through your head constantly…Do this or do
that…How to decide?
Well the first thing that I do
is look at everything, good or bad, in a positive
light. Of course, that is risky to a certain extent,
but all in all if I have a clear mind, everything
should work out. So we’ve lost two or three
guys off the break, so what? The key to winning
is keeping a straight head and not panicking.
Just make sure that you always know what is happening.
If I need to stay on a zone, that is what I’ll
do. Instead of looking around to see what’s
going on, I’ll just ask someone else.
There is no need for me to risk
myself stupidly. We have people like Oliver, Alex
and Angel to make the daring moves. I just keep
in mind my position and remember that my job is
to do something. Of course, in the event that
something goes awry, I know exactly what must
be done. The problem for many people is, how do
they know what to do and when to do it? I mean,
there are so many different moves that could be
done at any given moment, when is the right time?
From the beginning, when I first
set foot on the field I sit at the back for a
few minutes and go over all of the possibilities
in my head for where and how people are going
to break out. From the flag station you can almost
see the entire field. As long as you know what
the other guys can do, you know what is going
to happen, at least for the most part. Everyone
knows that walking the field is key, so I am going
to skip over all of that boring information and
head straight for the stuff that wins you games.
A lot of times hundreds of scenarios fly through
your head before you are going to make any type
of move in the game. Many players are told exactly
what to do and where to go both before and during
the game. Put that type of person on your team
in a time of need, when they have to improvise
to win the game, and you may have a problem. It
seems that is what XBall is all about – “Go
to your spot, shoot, count to 10 and then go,
go, go!” That is why all of these new names
have come up on the scene. If you give most of
those guys a gun and tell them to do that in a
7-Man game, they are going to have a tougher time
because they are not taught to think for themselves.
You have to trust your own judgment.
Every time, from the breakout to the end of the
game, win lose or draw, trust your intuition.
Generally, your initial thought is the best one.
How many times have you come off the field saying
to yourself, ‘I should have done this’
or ‘I should have done that’? I used
to do that all the time. Now I just go with what
I think. As long as you are calm and you have
time to check things out before you make your
move, you are, 90% of the time, going to make
the right decision.
I see things like this happen
all of the time against teams that we are practicing
or teams that I just happen to be watching. You
know when you see the guy kinda put his hand on
the bunker and sway back and forth, maybe trying
to get some momentum. Then you’ll see him
stop and look at his back guys, shake a few more
times and then just either dart across the field
and get mowed down, or end up not doing anything.
That is the worst thing to see, especially from
the sidelines, because you can see everything
from there.
As long as you are confident,
you really have no problems. Poke your head up
for a quick glance and if you see the move, do
it! I have had a ton of games where I would just
stick my head up and be able to catch a guy or
two moving around. No one is ever prepared for
sporadic movements; no one’s reflexes are
quick enough to shoot someone who pops up for
a second. You can get a lot of information in
just one second. Just think, how many moves or
plays can happen in one second of any one Paintball
game? The possibilities are endless.
If I am in a bunker and I am
fighting it out with someone in front of me and
they are giving me a hard time, I will just go
in and let them shoot at me. I just make sure
to let one of the other guys on my team know to
watch that zone and I will just look for someone
else to shoot at. I try to keep my options as
open as possible and keep the other team guessing.
I don’t have to take stupid
risks if there is someone else that I can catch
off-guard. If that person just can’t be put
in and they won’t stop until one of us is
gone, I will just let them keep shooting, that
is one more gun that our team doesn’t need
to worry about as much.
Now there are exceptions to this,
of course. If I were playing on a back tape and
I needed to stop the other team from wrapping
around on to the center, I’d figure out a
new plan of attack. Maybe I would wait it out
and watch his stream of paint slowly move, or
maybe I would get someone else to shoot at him;
risks like that can wait a minute. Remember, your
bunker is usually fairly big and there are plenty
of options to avoid being shot.
If you are in a forward spot
and you think that bunkering the guy in front
of you is the only way out, by all means do it.
This is where it gets tricky though: When is the
right time to make a move like that?
In some of the games that I have
played, I knew what had to be done and I just
did it. If I see a great opportunity to take someone
out, or I can make a move to win a game, I will
do it. Of course, I would much rather put someone
else into that position, but if I need to do it,
I can.
In the last tournament we played
in New Jersey, we were up against the Naughty
Dogs in the semifinals and we lost two off the
break, Alex and Oliver. We had shot only one of
them, and our two front-tape guys were out. I
just waited patiently, put the back center player
in, and made a move outside to fill Alex’s
spot. Johnny was my back guy and Angel was left
on the other tape. The main moves were from Alex’s
spot. When I got another chance to move, I went
out to the larger 40 bunker; I did it without
them knowing and shot two players immediately
across the field, then I wrapped around and shot
the back center guy.
At times like this, things just
seem to fall into place. This left only two players
on the field and I knew that the player in my
mirror was important, and I knew that he was holding
up movement on the other side of the field. It
only took a second or two to figure out that getting
him off the field was going to be a game-winning
move. So I traded out with him, leaving only one
player in the back corner to try and fight off
the rest of my team. I have confidence in everyone
on the team, knowing that they can handle any
job, and slowed down the pace to figure out what
needed to happen. In the beginning of the game,
we were down bodies, but our team just kept composure
and waited for the right time to make the moves
to win the games. That is how games are won and
lost. If we had panicked and forgotten what our
ultimate goal was, we would have lost.
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Forking
paths
Who
to shoot at
