Speedball, Paintball in High Gear !

Instead of creeping slowly through the woods, Speedball is played on a very open dirt field, which may have trenches, trees, and various kinds of bunkers or barriers made with plywood or even some inflatable barriers in the middle of the field. 

In the center of the field you may find a big red button wired to a buzzer – the goal.  Teams start with their backs against the wall of this arena-type field with their paintball guns, and try to be the first to hit that buzzer, while keeping the opposing paintball team from doing the same.  

If it’s a speedball tournament, you may have a commentator and spectators cheering on the paintball players or harassing them, depending on what side they’re on.

This is all different than the woods fields that many paintball players used to be accustomed to.  The speedball fields have made it easy for paintball to become a spectator sport.  

You can cheer on your favorite player a whole lot better when you can actually see him (or her).  It also encourages professionalism and good sportsmanship in the paintball players themselves when they know they are being seen and heard.

Finally and maybe most importantly, speedball is a great venue for a paintball player to actually show off his skills.  This more than anything else may be the extra boost that players need to start taking the game of paintball a lot more seriously and so give it that credibility as a sport that professional paintball really needs.