Paintball 101...

Way back in the day I had an idea I might write a booklet about paintball reffing. Half way through I discovered it had already been done, a couple of times - by writer's who had a lot more writing skills than I did. Here's something I was going to include in the section on "Paintchecking."

THE "PSYCHOLOGY" OF A PAINTCHECK

WHEN A PLAYER YELLS "PAINTCHECK!" THEIR ALREADY HIGH LEVEL OF ADRENALINE SOARS EVEN HIGHER. IN TURN, THE PLAYER'S "FIGHT OR FLIGHT" THOUGHTS ARE FURTHER ACCENTUATED - AS IN, "I WANT TO GET BACK AT THAT PLAYER/TEAM RIGHT NOW (FIGHT)!" OR " I NEED TO GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW (FLIGHT)!"

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO GET TO THE PLAYER QUICKLY AND IN A CALM, CONTROLLED VOICE ASK, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN HIT?" THIS QUESTION HELPS TO DISPLACE THE DOZEN CONFLICTING THOUGHTS THAT ARE RUNNING THROUGH THE PLAYER'S MIND AND HELPS TO BRING THE PLAYER BACK TO THE ACTUALLY TASK AT HAND - DETERMINING IF THERE IS INDEED A HIT.

LET ME EMPHASIS "IN A CALM, CONTROLLED VOICE." PAINTCHECKS ARE OFTEN A FRANTIC, HEART POUNDING EVENT. THEY CAN NORMALLY BE DONE IN LESS THAN 10 SECONDS. BUT BY SIMPLY SLOWING THE PROCESS DOWN TO 20 SECONDS WILL INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF LEAVING THE PLAYER LESS FRANTIC AND BETTER PREPARED MENTALLY TO RE-ENTER OR LEAVE THE GAME.

Tomorrow: THE BASICS OF A PAINTCHECK

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