Think of it as “The only way I’m not going to get killed (shot), is if I kill (shoot) them first.” Your physical speed, your mental confidence, your mental focus all has to be blended together if you really want to be a paintball superstar. Much like you can’t be a great boxer if you don’t get punched, you can’t learn how to be a great paintballer without getting shot. You have to use failure as a learning experience. Ask yourself learning questions, like “Was I afraid in certain situations? What should I be more focused on? How can I mentally prepare myself before and during the game?” It’s a constant learning process. No two paintball games are ever the same, and those who have the correct mental mentality, the person that learns, that practices the emotional and internal aspect, will surpass you. Remember what aggressive means. Aggressive means to push yourself from within, to have that attitude to shoot him or get shot yourself. Mentally, it’s all about visualizing greatness. The mental aspect and the need for your ego structure to be great, to dominate, to continue to demonstrate that you’re the toughest and the best. That’s the attitude of a champion. The thinking that no man can defeat you. If you want to play just to have fun, you won’t be competitive enough to be a pro, and if you are pro right now and don’t have that “I wanna kick everyone’s else’s ass” attitude, eventually you’ll be overwhelmed by those players who’ve adopted that mindset as their own. So if you’re gonna dive into that end of the pool, you better know how to swim, or else don’t even get your feet wet.

Prepare for Battle
You can’t just come off the street onto the paintball field and say, “OK, let’s go.” It’s the same way you can’t go into a gym and start working out if you weren’t planning to. You have to change your whole mentality if you really want to excel. If you want to take that kind of attitude and bring it into paintball, it doesn’t matter about physical stature either. It’s the attitude of wanting to be the biggest ass-kicker in the world that matters. It’s about learning. The 20-year veteran of any sport is still always learning after every game. To him, there’s more reason to push himself because there’s a greater awareness of what goes on around him and what goes on within himself and how to regulate what goes on within him to better master what goes on around him.

You have to be proactive to be a successful paintball player. I’m not talking about aggression as a way to overcome anxiety, and I say this because many people freak out and underperform in a “real game” than they do during a practice. You have to understand that a real tournament game is the same as a practice game, and your mental attitude should reflect this. That loose but aggressive practice mentality where you weren’t worried about losing but instead just focused on getting better and winning, that’s what you should be bringing to the tournament field with you. Treat every practice game and tournament game the same and you will have your emotions under control and will be able to continually perform at a calm, cool, yet aggressive level.
This is what a competitive mental edge gives you. It allows you to stay within yourself and play your game your way. You use that aggressive intent to set the stage to where your presence is felt on the field right off the bat because of the kind of impact that you’re projecting and the damage you’re doing to the other team. Now they’re thinking about staying out of your way and avoiding you, rather than trying to get you. Once you can get into the other team’s head, 9 times out of 10 you will win. You have to be 100 percent of a player, focusing on your plays, your moves, etc. If all of you isn’t a player, what’s the other part doing? It’s protecting itself, trying not to get shot, and trying not to fail. Well, you can’t do that. You have to be 100 percent player. That’s the realm I have just prepared you for, and now nothing will be able to stop you. You now know more about winning than 95 percent of your favorite professional players. Take that edge, and use it to win some tournaments and respect.