Aiming Your Paintball Gun
Getting good at shooting with a paintball gun is very important. One of the biggest factors to your accuracy in paintball is how you aim the gun. As someone using a paintball gun, you should be standing between 5-10 meters away from your target when shooting it. Being closer or farther than that will decrease the likelihood of you hitting the target. You want the guns air tank to be in your shoulder. This helps you stabilize and shoot while moving. If the tank of the gun is not in your shoulder, you will not be as accurate.
You want to look down your paintball gun’s sights when shooting. If you don’t have a scope or red dot already attached, your gun might come with iron sights that should be placed on either side of the front end of the gun to help you aim and shoot while playing this sport . At Action Paintball Games you get the top of the line markers that dont require sights or scopes!
The easiest way to aim you gun is to keep BOTH eyes open and look down the side of the gun. Fire one shot and adjust for the next. Its is that easy.
PRO TIP: If an enemy is far away from you and you dont know how high to adjust your aim, just start super high and shoot rapidly with each consecutive shot getting lower and lower. This is guaranteed to get a hit on the other player!
Holding Your Marker
Holding the gun straight and steady is going to be your best shot. If you want to learn how to aim and shoot a paintball gun, it’s very important you try not to shake the gun around while shooting. It will take some time before you get used to aiming and shooting a paintball gun.
Keep both hands on the marker! The front hand pulls the gun into your shoulder and your dominant hand focuses on pulling the trigger. Dont grip the gun tight with your trigger hand!
You will have bad days where all your shots miss or hit the side of the target instead of dead-on center; there are no exceptions. Do not lose hope! Keep playing, keep practicing, and eventually your accuracy should improve as you play more often.
Since everyone has different strengths when playing paintball, their accuracy will vary depending on what type of shots they can hit and which type of shots they struggle to make. For example, some players might excel at shooting enemies who are running across open fields but not be as accurate when trying to shoot enemies in wooded areas. And vice versa.
Being Aware of Your Surroundings
Being aware of your surroundings is the basis of personal security. Learning to aim and shoot is redundant if you end up getting shot. I recommend listening carefully for potential attackers and practicing looking around constantly.
Knowing your paintball gun’s limits is also important because it will help you determine where you should avoid standing during a game, such as behind trees or inside hallways. Standing too close or too far away from obstacles and other players will decrease the likelihood that you’ll hit your target if your gun isn’t equipped with a scope or red dot sights. Shots made beyond 25 feet without those accessories attached could possibly miss the target completely!
Also consider that sometimes you can step back to get more room and still be covered by a wall, tree or obastacle.
Consider your footwear when you are playing paintball because you will require complete focus and optimal grip especially when running to avoid being hit. We always recommend footwear with ankle support and an agressive tread. Trail running shoes are ideal.
The best way to improve your aim and shot is practice. You can use old cans for some target practice before going out on the field. Get familiar with a paintball gun and soon enough you’ll be a pro.
Written by Mike Bird