Types of Paintball Tournaments

The popularity of the sport of paintball has been steadily increasing since it was invented in 1976. Over the years, it has progressed from generally involving a casual group of friends getting together for an afternoon of fun to include paraprofessional paintball tournaments and scenario paintball which can last for days at a time. Although, even with the increasing popularity of organized paintball, casually gathering friends together to play paintball is still popular.

Basic paintball tournaments will generally fall into one of two categories. The oldest tournament type is a woodsball type of tournament Woodsball is played over a fairly large wooded area, preferably with rough, uneven terrain that has bunkers in several areas over the playing field. Two popular types of woodsball include elimination and capture the flag. Elimination is a basic game of in which you must eliminate the other team’s members by shooting them with the paintballs until there is only one team with members left on the field. Capture the flag is very similar to the elementary school game each team tries to capture the specified flag from its location and move it to a different location before the other team. Camouflage is popular in woodsball-type paintball tournaments.

Another type of tournament is based on a popular type of paintball called speedball. This is a more recent style than woodsball, and is more popular in paintball tournaments. Speedball takes place over a much smaller area than woodsball and the area is generally flat and free of most natural debris and shelter. Artificial bunkers and obstacles replace the more natural debris in woodsball. Due to the smaller field-size, speedball generally involves fewer players and a shorter playtime than woodsball. Camouflage is not generally used in speedball, as it would not help the player stay hidden due to the artificial nature of the field and its obstacles.

Speedball has grown in popularity over woodsball in paintball tournaments due to several factors. First of all, it is easier for observers to watch because they are able to see most, if not all of the field from one location. It is easier for referees to make appropriate calls due to the ease of view as well. Speedball is also thought to be more action-filled, since players can see each other from the start of the game and keep track of one another more easily as well. Therefore, the shooting starts from the beginning of paintball tournaments and does not stop often until the battle is over.