Starting and Maintaining a Team in the Sport of Paintball (part 3)

The front man's responsibilities are vital to the success of any paintball team. This player responsible for taking the most ground off of break; this player also has the best opportunity to get the first touch on the flag. The front man also has the best chance to get into key offensive positions on the field. These key bunkers allow the front man to have great lines of site and to make the most kill shots for your team.

Drills designed to sharpen the front man's instincts and abilities on the field are vital to the success of any paintball team. The following drill is proven to increase the player's awareness and performance level come tournament time.

Front man Paintball Drill 1: Moving Under Fire

This paintball drill will work on your front man's speed and stealth as well as their ability to move under the protection of cover fire.

Set up your field the same way it would be for a normal game.

The game will be played in a two by three format.

Begin the game by having four of the paintball team member's step to the home bunkers with full ammo.

The front man then steps to the "drill side" with full gear but NO ammo.

At the break, have the two paintball team members on the opposing side run to two bunkers of their choice. These bunkers must be behind the 30 mark and once there they must stay in this location for the duration of the drill.

On the other side of the paintball field, the two backs will do the same; they will run to a bunker of their choice (behind their 30), but these players may move back and forth to any bunker of their choice (behind the 30) in an attempt to give their front man the best cover fire possible by pushing the two opponents back behind their bunker so the front man can take some real estate.

On the break, the front man (with empty gun in hand) runs to the bunker of their choice. This player's sole job is to take as much real estate as possible without taking a hit. During this time, have your two shout out the location of the opposition; they should also be making it known when the opponents are pinned down. This will allow the front man to make moves without being seen. If the front man gets the flag and makes it to the opponents end of the field without being hit then they ran the drill perfectly.

When my team runs this drill, we have each front man (we have four) take turns. We also run the drill two to three times each depending on the day and the time we have available to us. Running this paintball drill will help the members of your paintball team in a big way when it comes time for a tournament. My team actually scored a flag pull and flag hang in a tournament game when our front man's gun jammed about 30 seconds into a game. It was great, and the success of that game is a tribute to just how much these paintball drills can help you and your team.

Benefits:

While this paintball drill is meant to primarily improve the front man's abilities, it also has its benefits to every member who takes the field.

The opposing backs get great practice shooting under fire, and they are less likely to lose sight of a front man in a real game.

The back that plays behind the front man gets great experience by providing cover fire and calling out their opposition.

The front man gets the most from this exercise. Their speed will improve greatly. They will become more accustomed to sliding and diving into bunkers. They will learn to keep an ear on their teammates and what they are saying. The front man will also be far less likely to freeze up in a game situation in the event that they have a technical issue with their equipment.

Coming up on Starting and Maintaining a Team in the Sport of Paintball (part 4):
Front man Drills - Front man Drill 2: Run and Gun