Playing your first Paintball Game

While most games have teams in paintball, you do not have to be on a team. Players can be by themselves as "walk-ons" and they can play by themselves, but they could always ask friends, family, co-workers to play with them.

It's always recommended to call your local field and ask if walk-ons are allowed and when if they are. A lot of fields however will have practice times for teams, so you won't be able to play solo then. While it's not necessary to be in top notch physical condition is it definitely recommended because you will be constantly running, crouching and crawling through various mixtures of terrain and will leave you out of breath.

In general, no field will look the same, but they all play the same types of games. It's best in choosing a field with a field owner that sounds knowledgable. Most field owners will offer some good advice and suggestions if you tell them if it's your first game.

A lot of fields will offer different types of layouts and some fields may have a stream flowing through the center and some may have mobile homes and some may even have people who have taken the time to build structures on the field. These fields will also have a tournament type of field known as speedball and these fields are the size of several tennis courts with bunkers on each side.

The price of playing on fields will vary from field to field and they always have an initial field fee but this can sometimes range from free to as much as $50, it just depends on the day you play on. While some fields will offer free rental gear with your field fee, some will charge extra for rental gear so it's always best to have your own gear.

A lot of fields will require you to use field paint and while it is expensive it is a requirement for good reasons. Old paint can break and hurt considerably more and for some fields, this is the only way they can make money for the upkeep of their fields. Almost all of fields will allow the use of your own gear and will charge for air re-fills and paintballs.

Remember to always find out when pre-game meetings are and while you're there make sure to ask questions you don't understand and discuss the rules of the fields and talk strategies gaining knowledge anyway you can.