Are team coaches good for paintball?
What are Paintball Coaches?
If you don’t know what paintball coaches are, you are probably a recreational paintball player. In speedball, teams often have coaches on the sidelines who are yelling to their players where to shoot, when to run, where the other team’s players are, and more. Often, these coaches have voice amplification so the players can hear their coach amidst the noise of paintball guns shooting.
Are Paintball Coaches a Fading Position?
Sideline coaching is not new to professional paintball. For years, paintball coaches have been allowed to stand on the sidelines and tell their players about the situation on the field. While this is still common practice in PSP leagues, the NPPL does not allow sideline coaching.
Are Paintball Coaches Good for Paintball?
Some players dislike the notion of sideline coaching. Dana at Paintball Journal wrote recently
I really, really, really dislike it. It is entirely unnecessary. No other sport has any type of coaching similar at all to it. The closest thing I can think of is baseball, and that’s still not as interfering as the coaching in paintball. Paintballers shouldn’t rely on the crutch of sideline coaching. We should just let the players play the game, without aid from coaches. (source)
I agree with Dana. Part of the game is being aware of what is occurring on the field. It sucks to have an opponent hiding from your shots, and then to make a break for a bunker only to have the opponent’s coach tell him to shoot you.
How Did Sideline Coaching Start?
I wonder if sideline coaching started from parents yelling to their kids, and evolved into a restriction that only one nominated parent, or “coach,” per team could give the team instructions. Of course, this is just speculation, but I still fail to see how sideline coaches make paintball any better.
Do You Think Paintball Coaching Should Remain?
Do you agree with me and Dana? Or do you think sideline coaches are good?
4 responses so far ↓
1 Dana // Oct 16, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Pfft, this Dana kid has no idea what he’s talking about…
2 Snider // Oct 15, 2008 at 8:40 pm
In PSP coaching is totally necessary, in 3-man or 5-man or 7-man coaching is stupid, but in X-ball its legit. X-Ball is so fast that you cant really expect a player to know everything always, plus coaches arent really that interfering, at most they talk to 2 people, usually only concentrating on one. Now i can see how spectator coaching could be a problem bc of 100 idiots yelling at you can mess you up; but how is that any different then a football stadium? And as for coaching QBs have mics in there helmets where an O-Coordinator tells them everything, so how is that unlike coaching in paintball?
tl;dr:
3-man,5-man,7-man no need for coaching
X-Ball coaching is totally necessary and i dont see it going away
3 Chris // Dec 16, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I truely blelieve that Coachs are an important part of any professional sport. I use hockey as an example which X-ball was modeled after. Coaches play an important role in training, line changes and troble shoting player and play faults. I disagree that they should be allowed to call out apponent positions or tell there own when to shot. I hockey the player can’t hear the coach over the crowd and relies on the training he’s recieved by his coachs. I say keep the coachs but keep them in the player’s box and off the sidelines.
4 luijo // Apr 14, 2010 at 8:52 pm
i think side line coaching does not let players develop their field proyection. Paintball players who rely on their coaches to tell them are weak players. Also sideline coaching prevents the real best team to win. Any random team can win. We all have seen ollie langs great move on youtube, he was playing nppl. Do you think that play would be possible for ollie if there was a coach yelling?
Leave a Comment