1. It’s just a game! – The most important thing to remember in being a good sportsman in paintball is that it’s just a game! Keeping this in mind will help you become a fun player to play against.
2. Don’t cheat to win – don’t break or stretch any of the rules or violate the spirit of paintball, just to win! If you cheat, you only cheat yourself.
3. Be good-willed and courteous – paintball is based on taking out your opponents! This harshness needs to be offset by an exaggerated sense of good will and courtesy so that it doesn’t get serious and weird.
4. Don’t be obnoxious – Mild swearing no big problem, especially if you get hit pretty hard! However, malicious rudeness and profanity to the opposition is strictly not allowed.
5. This is an honour sport – it’s your duty to say when you’ve been hit in paintball. Just as you would be annoyed if someone you hit carried on playing, always announce when you’re out. If you think you’ve hit someone who hasn’t said “out”, don’t jump to accuse! Just ask them to check themselves, and then take their word for it. If you genuinely don’t believe them, call a ref. If someone asks you the same question, best thing to do is give a quick and polite answer.

Offence

Lead group: The most experienced group that go ahead to aggressively locate and flush out the enemy. However, in paintball fields that say your offence should stay in one group, sending the newbies ahead might be better – otherwise you may use your best players in an ambush!

Defence

Flag Defenders:Stationed in the immediate area of the flag, and stay in the same position pretty much during the entire paintball game unless they have to chase the stolen flag.

Forward defenders:Should move forward at the beginning to a point downfield then lie in wait to take out approaching opposition. Forward defenders may eventually become either attackers or flag defenders during the paintball game, depending on the circumstances.

There are some key things you can do to work better as a team:

1. Listen to your team leader – Designate a team leader, and listen to them! Your team leader has information about all the players and is better able to make decisions than you might be from your vantage point.
2. Communicate with each other – Your team will probably be divided into smaller groups so pay attention to those close to you and let them know what you see. The more information you have during the game, the more successful you‘ll be.
3. Split into smaller groups – it’s much easier to communicate in a small unit, which can focus on covering a smaller area of the pitch. Splitting into attack and defence units will help you push forward.
4. Cover your team members – watch your team closely for weaknesses. When you can, reposition yourself so you can help your teammate out with cover.
5. See what went wrong – Between games, do a quick evaluation – what went wrong? How could you improve? What’s the plan for the next game?

1. Move! When the ref blows the whistle, get to cover! And don’t waste time shooting people on your way!
2. Keep your team spread out! It makes it far harder for your opposition to move around your flank and take out half your team.
3. Travel in pairs if you can. It makes moving much easier when your partner is covering you.
4. Move down the sides of the course instead of the middle; it gives you a much better angle when trying to take people out.
5. Fire heavily at the opposition (and make sure your as many of your teammates do too) when moving for the flag. It’s a huge advantage if the opposing team is unaware of who has the flag and where that person is once it has been removed.
6. When you capture the flag, only run towards the base as fast as possible (although don’t keep to a straight line) if there are only a few opponents left.
7. If there’s a huge opposition left when you capture the flag, make sure your teammates cover your run back to base – or pass the flag to one of them!
8. Decide what to do in case the opposition reaches the flag first. If it’s a small course a center third of your team should fire on the enemy positions while the other two thirds charge down the flanks. If it’s a large course then it’s likely that a team member located on the flanks of the field can snipe the runner if they make a break for it.
9. Break cover and start shooting if an opponent has the flag and is running towards their base. Better the loss of half of your team than the loss of the game.
10. If you find yourself cornered, launch yourself quickly and unexpectedly from cover to cover, firing as you go. This will hopefully shock the opposition and still give you a winning chance.
11. Make sure your team has the whole field covered. If you get flanked, you’ve given the game away.
12. If you’re being covered, it may be better to move without checking where the opposition is. This will make it more difficult for the opponent to guess your location.
13. Communicate! If your team is works together to coordinate their movements then a win will be secured. Hand signals are best – as it can get difficult to hear in the heat of a game.
14. Never give up, even if you’re the last remaining member of your team you can still win. Stealthy movements and sniping can still win you the game.
15. Firing when you move just slows you down. Don’t make it easy for the opposition and get to cover quickly!
16. Remember, you can also win by elimination. If the flag is too well defended, concentrate on taking out the team!
17. When playing against new players, be bold. They are often scared to come out and fire. Use this to your advantage to get around them.
18. Don’t just move for movement’s sake. You’ll end up far from your teammates or shot down.
19. Think before going it alone – Running and shooting on your own is going to get you shot in the first minutes of the game!
20. Don’t be scared of getting hit! Keep moving – a shot will only hurt for a few seconds!