Speedball Field Terms

Found this little nugget while trolling the net for paintball related articles and since I've never seen it anywhere else I'm gonna post it here with the appropriate credit and link given to the author at the end. It has been edited a little.

Speedball Field Terms

I looked around a bit and couldn't find any defining diagrams or terms to describe the field set up for a speedball field and thought it would be helpful if one was posted to help new players understand what is being called out on the field of play.

The triangles are Doritos, circles are pop-cans, the dumb-bell looking thing on the right is the snake and the rectangle on the left is another low lying bunker. Call it what you will.

The 50: The 50 is the center of the field. Any bunker on this line will be called out as left, center or right 50. Reasons for calling out a bunker would be to alert team members of an opponent behind said bunker or instructing a teammate to move up to that bunker.

Front players for both teams will try and scramble to this position if they can. If your team can control the 50, your chances for success are great. The 30 is between the 50 and the back bunkers. It's another reference point for calling out instructions/alerts. Mid players will set up here off the break and sometimes assist the back players in shooting lanes to give their fronts more time to get to their bunkers.

Keeping with the trend, this is also why the back bunkers are called out. These bunkers will be shielding the other team's back players who will be calling out to their teammates about your team's positions. The faster you can get these guys out, the better. If the opposing team loses their back players and doesn't realize it, they will be in trouble fast.

At the same time, you need to be aware of your back players. Should you lose one, someone is going to have to fall back and take their position/duties. This is usually a mid. Each bunker needs to be played differently.

The position of the bunkers will change the way the field is played, so if your regular field decides to take the pop-cans from the back corners and replace them with small doritos, your typical tactic of being able to stand back from the pop-can and watching the goings ons isn't going to work.

You're now going to need to be positioned closer to the bunker and crouching, if not laying down, which seriously affects your ability to move, change sides and snap shoot. Practice playing every bunker type, regardless of the position you play.

The bunker's position on the field is also going to dictate how you play it. You aren't going to play a tombstone at the center 30 the same way as the back right, so make sure you get exposure in all situations.

Pop-cans: These are tall bunkers which a player can stand up behind. The further away your opponent is, the further back you can stand from the bunker. This gives you an obvious advantage of being able to see more of the field. As your opponent approaches, get tighter into the bunker.

Be aware of any part of you or your marker that may be exposed. If you're up against someone that's using a marker they've had since 2000, and he fires a 3 shot burst at your exposed pod, 1 of 3 shots IS going to hit you.

Doritos: Pyramid shaped bunkers that are played crouching or laying flat depending on the situation. if you lay flat, you risk exposing your feet to someone sitting 30 feet away and to the side. Because of the Dorito's physical shape, it provides an opportunity to come up and over the top at any level.

Coming over the top however exposes more of your profile. The more profile you show, the greater the chance of your nickname becoming Christmas Tree before the day is out.

The Snake: 9 times out of 8 this will require you to crawl on your belly amongst the broken paint shells and who knows how many years worth of fill that has soaked into the field's astro turf (if you're so lucky to play on astro turf).

Movement in the snake is slow. Opportunities will arise where an opponent isn't paying attention and practically paints a bullseye on his back for you. At the same time, your prone position makes you easy pickings for the full court press.

Deadbox: perhaps i should have started with this one. This is where your team will start each game. Barrels typically are required to be touching the netting. This is also where you go when the paintball addressed to "Whom It May Concern" gets delivered to you. Once you are behind this net, the saying "Dead men tell no tales" applies.

Keep your mouth shut even if your best friend is about to get bunkered by two guys with electro paint hoses. That's all i've got. If anyone else feels i've missed something, posted misinformation or just plain disagrees, feel free to say so.

Article by ZfrkS62 lifted from http://www.paintballforum.com