Paintball a sport that is now becoming more and more played by all sorts of people. It is a great way to exersise and have fun at the same time. In a game, there are two teams. Each person on the team has a paintball gun, a c02 or compressed air tank, to provide force to propel the paintballs,and a  mask (to protect the eyes and the face). Other than that paintball varies a bit. The most common questions people ask are

1.Q: Does it hurt when you get hit?

   A: Generally, no, but it does depend on where you get hit. if you were  hit on the arm when wearing at least a layer of fairly thick clothing, it would feel like a pinch. The only spots it really hurts to get hit in are the neck (which some masks cover, or you could wear a neck protector) and the back of the hand (which can be prevented by wearing gloves).

2. Q: What kind of gun should i buy?

    A: Get to that one later*

3. Q: Does it take a lot of skill to play?

    A: It depends. If you are just playing ametuer, nothing serious, then not really, the great thing about paintball is the marker (the paintball gun is called this because it is used to "mark" the opponent with a splat of paint). The paintball marker is the great equalizer. It doesn't matter if you're Lance Armstrong or a 12 year old girl, behind the marker, you both have just about the same capabilities. If you are serious about doing pro paintball, or just dumping a lot of heart and soul into it, then it requires skill. You need to be an average marksman, in shape, you need to run kind of fast, and be good at tactics, all of which can be mastered with lots of practice.

4. Q: Is it expensive?

    A. Again it depends on how serious you are. You can buy an ametuer gun pack that comes with a C02 tank and a mask for $60-$180. It will cost you no more than $5 to fill your C02 tank, probably more like $3, compressed air is a little bit more expensive. You will have to get a C02 or compressed air tank refilled, a twelve oz. C02 tank will last about 800 rounds, which is way more than enough to get you through a game. If you are very serious, you could end up dumping a hefty bit of cash into your gear.

Here we come to a fork in the road. The major question. Are you a woodsballer or a tourneyballer? Perhaps you've seen tourneyball (short for tournament paintball) on TV. It is where the paintballers run around an enclosed course filled with inflatable bunkers called doritos (because they are triangular and they are red and blue). There is a lot of money in Tourneyball, but you also have to put a lot of money into it. Touneyball games last a very short time. Woodsball is, obviously played in the woods, or other natural terrain. In woodsball, the players use the elements to hide, sneak or take cover. In woodsball you have the terrain to master, and the course is a little different everytime.

*Good woodsball markers: for woodsball markers, Tippmann is the only name you need to know they manufacture rugged, hardy paintball guns that are easy to maintain and rarely malfunction and are made in the USA. There is the Tippmann 98 Custom, which is the flat out best woodsball gun you can buy for under $150, it retails at $140. Its big brother the A-5 is in my opinion the best woodsball gun you can buy.

*Good tourneyball markers. Viewloader and Spyder make some excellent touneball guns, there are many uprgrades too for tourneyballers. You can get a good Viewloader for around $130, and a good Spyder for about the same

There should be a paintball place near you, you may have to go out of town a little, but you can find one in the phonebook or on the web. They usually have woodsball courses and tourneyball courses.

Now you know everything you need to know, get out there and play!!