• Become a Better Athlete By Trying New Sports

    As an athlete, you should always strive to improve your skills. The best and most common way to accomplish this is by practicing the skills your sport requires the most. However, once you have a good base set of skills, expanding your horizon and trying other sports can help take your skills even further. By using your current skills in a different way and gaining new skills you can become a better overall athlete. Below you will find just a few ways that trying a different sport can improve your skills in your favorite sport.

    Learn New Physical Skills

    If you only play one sport, you likely practice the same movements over and over again. This will help build up the muscles and improve the muscle memory of the body parts you use the most. This is a good technique, but trying another sport and building up other muscles can make you stronger all around. When you are stronger all around, you can do more and become a more valuable player.

    Playing paintball at AC Paintball is a great way to improve your overall physical fitness. Paintball requires a lot of endurance, strength, and movement so you are sure to learn something new and useful.

    Learn New Mental Skills

    Not only does playing different sports boost your physical skills, but it boosts your mental skills as well. When you perform the same drills over and over again, your brain starts to get used to the same thing and you don’t have to think as much. However, games are more unpredictable and require more thought. You need to keep your mind sharp if you want to outwit your opponents. Trying other sports is a great way to accomplish this. You are not used to the actions so you have to problem solve and figure out the best way to accomplish your goals. This keeps your brain healthy.

    Visiting AC Paintball is also a great way to boost your mental health. Paintball is a highly strategic game that requires planning and thought if you want to be successful. You have to get into your opponent’s heads and figure out how to gain the upper hand.

    Challenge Yourself, Get Inspired, and Build Your Confidence

    While you love your sport and are enjoy playing it often, there may be times when it gets boring. You may lose your drive from time to time. When this happens, trying a new sport is a great way to challenge yourself.

    As mentioned before, trying a new sport gives you different challenges and allows you to think in different ways. You can learn a lesson in one sport that translates well to another. These new lessons can inspire you and give you new interest in your sport. Overcoming the challenges will also give you more confidence which will translate to you playing better.

    Individual vs. Team Sports

    In sports such as golf, gymnastics, and swimming a single individual can be the entire team. In sports such as soccer, volleyball, basketball, and hockey you need 6 or more players working together to play the game. Trying a sport with a different type of team can also offer a new perspective.

    When you play in a team, you learn to focus on communication and supporting your teammates. You also have to figure out what position to put each player in to succeed. On the other hand, when you play an individual sport, you learn to stand on your own and handle more responsibilities. If you make a mistake, no one else is there to make up for your mistake. Paintball can help you practice with this idea as you can play individually, in a small team, or in a team with as many as 100 people.  

    Visit AC Paintball to Try Paintball!

    Want to try out paintball and see what it can teach you! AC Paintball in southern New Jersey would be happy to host your game! You can schedule a game here: https://acpaintball.com/schedule-paintball-game/. You can also call 609-561-3883. We look forward to helping you improve your overall skills as an athlete and providing you with a fun learning experience.

  • How Paintball Can Help You Improve At Other Sports

    runner-808932_960_720When you play a sport for a school or club, you may only focus on developing skills that are important to that sport. This is a smart strategy when starting out because you can prioritize practicing the skills you need the most. However, if you have been playing for many years, you may find more improvement by practicing other sports.

    Although every sport calls for a basic level of athleticism, every sport works differently. You use different muscles and develop some slightly different set of skills. For example, soccer focuses on your feet, while handball focuses more on your arms.

    Even though sports focus on different aspects, trying a different sport can improve your ability to play your own sport. Paintball has many different skill improvement areas to offer. When practicing paintball at AC Paintball, you can help develop a variety of skills found below.

    Running and Moving

    Many sports like outdoor volleyball, hockey, and running require the ability to navigate tricky terrain. If you want to improve your ability to move fast while watching where you step, playing Woodsball is great practice. AC Paintball has three main Woodsball fields to offer: the Black Ops Pentagon Woods Field, the Blue Thunder Woods Fields, and the Red Dawn Woods Field. You never know where there will be fallen branch or a rock that you may step on. You have to watch where you step but still move fast and quietly.

    Paintball also allows you to practice skills like diving, sliding and rolling. If your opponent is shooting at you, you may need to utilize these tricks to get out of the way. Learning these skills can be useful for athletes playing sports like baseball and football.

    Conditioning

    exercise-841167_960_720Almost every sport calls for a certain level of conditioning. Whether your game lasts a long time or you have to play many games, being able to endure is important. Paintball is a great sport to play if you want to build endurance. All AC Paintball’s fields are outside and exposed to New Jersey weather, so you will be exposed to the elements and weather. When you are exposed to harsher conditions than normal, playing in normal conditions becomes easier.

    Paintball also works all your muscles. Carrying a gun builds up the muscles in your arms. Running, jumping, and bending in various ways builds your leg and core muscles. By strengthening new muscles you may find increased ability with your skills. You can enhance your skills as an athlete and perform better.

    Aim

    Good aim is needed in sports like basketball, soccer, and hockey. You need to be able to aim for the basket or goal, usually while moving. With paintball, aiming is one of the most important skills you need, if not the most important. If you can’t aim well, you can’t eliminate your opponents and will likely be taken out yourself when they retaliate. There are many times when you have to aim while running. You have to constantly be judging your target’s speed and adjust the angle of your marker accordingly. At AC Paintball you can improve your aiming skills while having some fun.

    Decision Making

    Every athlete needs good decision-making skills. You need to know when to move, where to move, when to pass, and who to pass to. The list of decisions goes on. In paintball, decision-making is a critical skill. A bad decision can result in the elimination of you or a teammate. With this in mind, there is more pressure to make that right decision than in other sports. Playing paintball can help you learn to make good decisions under pressure. This is an important skill to have when your team is down with only a few minutes left.

    Team Communication

    When you play a team sport, communication is crucial. If your teammates don’t know your plans and you don’t know theirs, you can end up making preventable mistakes. You could collide or miss a pass. In paintball communication skills can be the difference between winning and losing. If you don’t tell your team where you are, what your plans are or that you need backup, you will likely run into trouble.

    Paintball forces players to count on one another. Scheduling a few games at AC Paintball is a great way to teach your team to communicate and bring them together. To book a game, follow this link: https://acpaintball.com/schedule-paintball-game/.