Wie schnell es gehen kannim Paintball ist in dem Artikel von Glenn Takemoto (Avalanche) auf P8ntballer.com zu lesen. Glenn beschriebt seinen Aufstieg vom blutigen Woodland Anfänger bis zum absoluten Pro beim top Team Avalanche innerhalb von nur drei Jahren.How to drive your team through the ranksBy Glenn Takemoto, AvalancheLike every other sport, you start out knowing nothing and you have to work your way up the ladder in order to gain the knowledge it takes to be a Pro. The following article on carving your way up through the ranks is based on my own experiences, as I started out as woodland noob three years ago, to today playing for one of the world's most high profile Pro teams, the mighty Avalanche. One thing unique about my situation is that I started out with a group of newbies. Now that same newbie group that I started with, is now a high caliber Pro team, only three years later. In this article, I am going to try to give you some insights on knowing when to move up to the next level, what to expect at a higher division, and what it takes to make it as group from start to finish.TICK TOCKLet us first begin at knowing when it is time to move up. There are always two aspects when you think about moving up in skill level, individual and team. For the most part, the two go hand in hand and the same ideas can be applied to both parts. So for now I will talk in terms of the team, even though it applies equally to the individual. How does a team know when it is time to move up from rental to Rookie, Novice to Amateur? It is up to the people on the team to decide that – only they can sack up and say, “I want to move up”.If your team walks over opponents without having to think, that is a big sign that says you are past that skill level. Some teams are happy doing that and since there are no rules saying teams have to move up, you get dominating teams in lower divisions. Hence the sandbagger allegations, like how my team was called sandbaggers when we stayed Novice for two years. However, sandbagging can be beneficial for a team.An example of doing what is best for the team was how we did it. Our first year playing the national tournaments we took 2nd overall in the series in Novice. However, we didn't win an event and we didn't feel we were capable of playing and competing at the Amateur level. Although we probably would have done alright in Amateur, we weren't sure of ourselves and were hesitant. So we stayed Novice one more year, gained vital experience by winning two events and finishing 1st in the series. This was valuable in gaining confidence and cohesion between the people on our team. Despite what everyone else calls you, do not listen to them. Think for yourselves, because in all sports your competition is out to get you. Who knows, had we moved up we might have done bad, the team may have fallen apart, and I might not be writing this article right now.When the team is trying to decide whether to move up from Rookie to Novice or from Amateur to Pro, everyone on the team has to want to take on the challenge of the next level. There has to be a drive in the team to get to the next level and beat the higher ranked teams. Without that drive or ambition to be better, a team will remain stagnant and it would be a good choice not to move up because the outcome will not be good. One good way of figuring if your team is good enough skill wise is to look at how they do against higher ranked teams. As a team, think about these questions. Can we consistently beat the higher ranked teams? Do we come out after a losing game saying we should have won that game but…? Do we consistently compete with higher ranked teams at practice? If your team can answer yes to these questions, then it is a good sign that your team is ready to move up. I say higher ranked teams in this situation assuming that your team is already at the top of your respected division. If you can't beat the teams in the division you are at, do not move up until you can.Another major help to decide whether your team is ready go move up is to get advice from people that have gone through this already. Try to find someone who knows the team fairly well. In our case we were blessed and had the likes of Bob Long, Darryl Trent and Rich Telford in our area to help guide us. I am sure there are other people in your area that have already gone through moving up and can help you. Their input will help your team out a lot, but in the end it is up to the team to decide, they know themselves better than anyone else can.SPEED BUMPSAfter a year of reading Smacktalk and the constant complaining about your team being wussies and sandbaggers, you decide it's finally time to move up. Congratulations, you have now broken down the dam and a whole flood of little problems are going to be coming your way. The first obstacle that you have to get around is the fact that you are going to LOSE.There is no way round it, when you move up to the next level, expect to lose until you get accustomed to the higher intensity and skill level. Think of it as going from middle school to high school. At one point you are the king of the school and then you go to high school and you become the school peons. Not until you work your way from the bottom and prove to everyone that you can hang with the big boys will you regain your status as a king. If your team can get through the losing part of moving up, everything else is easy. No one likes to lose and that is why people leave teams. Expect the worst and keep on practicing to get better and eventually your team will join the hip crowd and will be on top of the pile again.Once the losing part has sunk in, it is time to work on things to get ready for the next level. The first thing that needs to be worked on is field walking. You have to start walking fields in more detail. A good team will walk a field to the point that they are sick of it. Everyone knows all the bunkers and can imagine in their head all the angles and shots from any bunker on the field. They find out all the lanes on the field to watch and they set up zones if they need to watch over them. Everyone knows all the blind shots and the key bunkers. You need to have good game plans and a solid breakout on every field. A team with a good knowledge of a field will have the upper hand on a team that walked a field lousily.Individual improvements are a key to competing at the next level. Everyone should be able to snap-shoot accurately with both hands, be able to shoot with both hands, accurately run and shoot, dive correctly, run fast, shoot a lot of paint, aim very well, and be able to communicate on the field. Off the field everyone needs to have a part of the team's workload. The team's 'chores' need to be spread out so everyone has a job to do, everyone helps out with the sponsorships, setting up practices, transportation, paint, guns, gear, and money.I am sure there are tons of other PGI articles about those skills but these are the main ones your team needs in order to be successful. As your team moves up in rank, it is important to note that each skill becomes even more important than it was before. The stakes get higher, the competition gets tougher, and the pressure increases each division your team moves up. Your team has to be able to adapt to the current competition and demands in order to succeed.START TO FINISHMoving up as a team and keeping the same players together is a hard thing to do. When you start doing good, higher ranked teams will begin to notice. This is where the individual and team factor comes back into play. People who are out for themselves will leave at the first chance they get for a better offer. But like the saying always goes, the grass is not always greener on the other side. If you can keep your players in check and make sure they are in it for the team, the rewards of playing with your friends will far outweigh playing for yourself. On the other hand, if you are an individual that wants to move up and you think your team is not trying to improve and get better, it might be best for you to leave.One thing your team needs in order to stick together is a good captain. Without a good captain a team will eventually fall apart. He is someone that makes sure the team gels and stays on track. You can read many articles about being a good captain so there is no point in me explaining it, but if you look at all the good teams, there are one or two good captains on the team. They are the enforcer and backbone of a team and it is vital that they are there in order for a team to succeed together.The last part in order for your team to stay together from the beginning is a common goal to get better. Everyone on the team has to be on the same page in order for it to work. People on the team should be able to give criticism to each other, receive criticism, work on their mistakes, help out their fellow teammates, and have commitment. If everyone on your team has these qualities, it is only a matter of time and practice until Pro teams start looking like any other team out there.The moving up part applies not only as a team aspect but also as an individual aspect. There is nothing better than playing together with your friends and hopefully there will be more teams in the near future that will be like Dynasty, Trauma, and dare I say Avalanche. It is your goals and ambitions that will determine where your Paintball career goes. Only you and your team can make the decisions if you want to move up and take the steps to get to the ultimate goal of being Pro. WHAT YOU GOT?Novice or Pro? Here's how to work out who you'll be beatin' when your competin'…Novice: To compete at the Novice level effectively everyone needs to have the basic skills that make a team good. Communication is a must. At any time during the game your team should know: How many they have eliminated, how many we have eliminated, position of every opponent on the field, if they have moved and where to – and everyone on your team should know this because the word gets relayed to everyone. In terms of skill level, everyone has to be able to snap shoot with both hands, be able to out-shoot a 9V revolution without fanning it (8bps), run and shoot even though your spray covers the entire field, control the field, and finally, shoot at least a pod a game for front men, and six pods for back men, even though you do not see anyone. The things that separate a good Novice team from an okay team are: Ability to close a game effectively by breaking the opponents' zones, crossing up if you get down on bodies (a good back line), and shooting lots of paint all the time.Amateur: To compete at the Amateur level, all the skills and basic Paintball techniques you need to compete at Novice are further enhanced and they are required by everyone on the team. Communication is more important than ever; if your team misses a move or it does not get relayed, one opponent can change a potential win to a loss. Watching of zones and lanes. At NO point during a game should there be a part of the field left unwatched. Everyone has a specific job to do: Watch over their player at a 50, not let anyone make a key 50 bunker, or not let anyone fill a key bunker. All lanes/zones on the field should be accounted for and watched over. Individual skill level should be higher: Snap shoot accurately every time, run and shoot and have your paint go at the guy, be able to lane people off the break, not miss many shots, shoot 12bps, be able to see the moves and make them. Everyone has to play their role on the field, fun or not, no superstar individual stuff, because you are only as good as your teammates.Pro: In order to compete at Pro, well, that is easy, just look like you're good and your team will be famous. Shoot a lot of paint, yell at the refs, give free stuff away, scream a lot during a game, and party like a rock star. Those are the key points. You wish. Every basic aspect of Paintball has to be at its peak performance to compete at this level. Your snap-shots should be dead on to the point where you know where you missed. The counts during the game cannot be screwed up at all, nor can moves be missed. Everyone on the field has to know what needs to be done to take the advantage: Bunkering out a key guy, running across the field to fill a side that got wiped out, or making a key 50 bunker that will change the game. Accuracy and the volume of paint shot are two things that top teams do well. Do not stop shooting your guns or communicating during the game. Running and shooting is key, top teams like Oakland and Dynasty are guns up every breakout and they accurately shoot while running full speed. In my opinion Pro is a division where everyone has figured out how the game of Paintball is played; once you master the basics, you're Pro status. Oh, and you should be able to shoot 15bps without the help of trigger bounce or mysterious boards. Just kidding, you could play hopper ball and still compete, just do your job on the field and you will be fine.
