Many people have argued over what is the best gun, or the best paint, or the best mask in paintball, but the one thing you will almost never hear anyone argue over is what is the most important part of the game of paintball. That would be the break. The first ten seconds of every game... when you are either made, or broken.. So what is the secrets of "The Break"? Let's take a look:
Before the game: Walk the field. I can not say this enough, you need to know that field inside out, upside down, and backwards. There has even been a few games where I have gone blind from splatter and had to play the rest of the game with just my back man and my memory. When you walk the feild it is important to remember that your opponent is not dumb, I usually find where I would like to go and walk the field as if I was going there. Then I will walk the field with one of our backmen, have him tell me where he would be shooting, if one of them made the move I was trying to make. After seeing that I correct my first bunker, and have a back review it and the proccess continues till you have a plan of how to get there and limited exposure.
What to look for?: Look for virtual walls of bunkers. Sure the Center 50 is no where near that left 30 doritto, but if you run at just the right angle, the two bunkers keep you hiden for the entire run. Also, never lose track of those back cans, remember they (and snake killers) are a fronts worse nightmare...and a back players h**l as well.
In the box: Alright, you got two choices here...either have your own space and be nice and comfortable before the start and get yourself spanked...or go with a little less comfort and a possible win. What do I mean by this? Well it's easiest if I tell it to you from my own point of view. My back player gets to his position ready to fire and key off the break. I need something good to push off of, so I use his feet. I put my feet on top of his feet. He then puts his knee up against either the small of my back or my butt....When the whistle blows as he turns to shoot his knee gives me a push and I push off his feet slowing his turn and getting a little extra speed, so it works for both of us. Is aukward but it worth it.
Also something else that makes many people feel aukward is running with their gun in the wrong hand. If I am running to the left I want my gun in left hand so that my body (which is soft and has a chance for a bounce) covers my gun (which is hard and will not bounce).
Run like a bat out of...: I shake my head in greif everytime I see a front runner shooting his gun as he runs to his bunker. If you try to shoot and aim you have to run to slow, if you don't aim your just wasting paint...either way it means you have time to waste that could be spent moving even farther up the field...leave the shooting to the backs, that is why they carry 12,000 pods.
Listen: Once again your most powerful tool is your other sences then your eyes. Listen to each bunker you run past. Are balls hitting it meaning someone has a line on you? Or do you hear silence meaning no one cares about little old you and you can bust all the way up the field? When playing Airball here is a tip, Tap-n-Bounce. Pick a close first bunker, run to it like it's your final bunker. As you run up to it tap the bunker lightly with your palm, as you move to the next one. This does two things, it confuses the other teams back players as to where you really are, and if you hear the bunker getting lit up you can grab a good chunk of bunker and pull yourself back in an abort the run in mid stride....takes a lot of practice, but is a perfect trick.
Slides: Never end your run with a prissy little tip toe into the bunker, unless you'd like the other teams back players to leave a nice one on your @$$. Slide in, or for low snakes and such, dive. Then remember what I told you about "Pretty time" keep it limited. From there read the other articles in this series to play the rest of the game out...
Back players- stay tuned for "Off the Break- for a back" coming soon...
Good point Automags, you just got to watch out as some tournaments count dropped pods as a part of the body and won't let you beyond 10 feet of them as long as they are full. Check the rules at your local tournament before you try that trick.
There is also the trick of brining along an empty Pod. If I notice a hole in a bunker I need to crawl past, and I am fairly sure they will be gunning for that hole, I will crry and empty pod and shove it in the hole to block the line. Again check youfr local events rules to see if empty pods need to be taken with you or not.
Yeah well basically most people have to worry about either shooting or running... once you're more experienced you can do both; you see this a lot in xball, people shoot and run, or shoot then run. In the past couple of years a lot of what used to be cardinal rules have been starting to be broken, like running and shooting, shooting from the hip, only posting on one side of the bunker (doing a specific job), or coming over the top. As we get better as players we develop better technique and are able to do these things effectively.
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Robert Rivera formerly #86
Penn State Paintball Legend
not patient enough to sit here and read all that 
