Is Paintball really a sport?
Of course it is! it requires skill and tactics.
If you think about it, anything which involves physical activity is a sport, especially if it requires team co-ordination. I would say Paintball is actually a very good sport- lots of physical exertion needed to do it well, lots of fun etc- the very fact that you'd question whether or not it's a "legitimate" sport suggests that, despite the energy needed and so on, it seems enough like a game to be considered just "fun"- jumping rope may not be an Olympic sport, but it's still physical activity, and hence still a sport.
What is Paintball?
Paintball is a modern, quickly evolving adrenalin sport, which requires more than just speed, agility, strength and a good physical condition. During paintball you will need a great deal of tactical thinking while staying coolheaded. You will experience joy and euphoria from victory as well as disappointment, when you find out how easy it can be to lose. But one thing is certain- you will never forget your moments spent playing paintball, this sport really takes skill.
Skill?
Yep, that's right! skill!
Speedball / Hyperball / Airball takes considerably more gun fighting skills than woodsball does. Woodsball players typically only shoot with their right hand, they usually don't run & gun too well, they typically don't snap shoot very well, and they typically don't hold a "bead" on a target very well.
If I faced 100 woodsball players, I would easily shoot out 85 of them, but simply running to my right (their left), I'd wait for them to come out the same spot in their bunker (which the majority of them do), and I'd just aim to my left/their right side of the bunker, and concentrate my firepower to that one side.
There are quiet a few things that you can get away with in woodsball, that you can't get away with in airball.
Woodsball is fun, but airball will certainly hone your skills as a player much more. You will learn to snap shoot, use all sides of your bunker, shoot accurately with both hands, reload while firing, run and gun, bunker players, keep your gun up when firing, maintaining your bead on the target, stay tight in small bunkers, etc
These are skills not commonly needed or used in woodsball.
What is Speedball ?
Speedball is a variation of paintball that is played on small, flat fields, and as its name suggests, the pace of the game is very quick. Players are in much closer proximity to each other at the start of games and the only barriers on the field are man-made bunkers. Stealth is not as important as teamwork, timing, accurate shooting and fast-paced strategies. The objective of speedball is similar to other paintball games, with the goal to eliminate the other team or capture a flag and return it to your base. Speedball is intended for people who like to run, dive, slide, shoot fast, play hard and play quick games.
Due to the extreme pace of the game, most speedball matches last just a few minutes. Despite the short length, a player may shoot many hundreds of paintballs in a single game.
What is Woodsball?
Woodsball (or Outlaw Paintball) is a title given to almost any variety of paintball that is not played on level, professional fields. It often consists of simply a group of friends who decide to play paintball in the trees or in the desert. The primary difference between woodsball and speedball is the former is playable wherever it's safe to shoot a paintball gun while the latter requires a flat, prepared field. Woodsball also typically utilizes mainly the natural surrounds such as rocks, bushes and trees (many woodsball fields also have bunkers) whereas speedball fields typically only have man made bunkers and obstacles to hide behind.
There are countless varieties of woodsball games you can play including the basics of capture the flag and elimination. Follow the basic rules of paintball and woodsball will give you a great glimpse of the adrenaline fueled world of paintball.
