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By Rust Glaze 25 Oct, 2018

What is The January Project?

 

Courtesy of PBNation.com

 

In 2016 Ben Carroll (featured in the above video) played every day of January. A week later he won a Twister CS1 in a one on one tournament. Since then he has gone on to have a successful season with the New York Outlaws, winning the 2016 Nashville Open, getting to travel to Colombia as a guest on Cali Paintball and many other events and adventures.

 

He attributes that success and enjoyment through a philosophy of admiring paintball as a valid path of human potential. He says when you look at it through that lens you see beyond the wins and the losses, you see that somehow, in someway everything is working to catalyze your highest evolution. In that theory he believes heart and hustle can get you forward quite fast.

 

“Not a lot of other people want to grow as bad as they want to win. When you focus on growth you transcend the highs and lows of winning and losing. The fear of losing, the fear of going into those uncomfortable places that you’re not good at, all dissipates. Your character starts to grow fond of going into what is uncomfortable until it is comfortable. That path takes you far, fast. But you have to fall in love with missing. Losing. Failing. When you do, you grow. And the funny thing? It seems like it’s the backdoor to getting what we all want. The elation of the win, but it’s done in a healthy way. One that helps you enjoy the whole process.”

 

This year, he is at it again, although this time, he is inviting you to join him on the journey. Setting the tone early and often is a very important principle to Ben. He believes showing up to practice early, stretching, preparing mentally, doing those little things early and often, sets the tone for the whole day. He calls those things “Inches”. Those little things that are easy to do, and easy not to do.

 

He says, “You’ll get a lot more from the time you have on and off the field. You only have one maybe two days on the field per week. If you just start hustling a little smarter, doing those little things early and often, you’ll get a lot more out of the time you already spend at the field. When you do this, you grow a lot faster. Imagine you get just 10% more out of your day, week in and week out. At the end of the season, that adds up, and can be the difference between Sunday or getting knocked out early.”

 

This year, he wants to set the tone early. He’s doing the January Project again, and is inviting you to join him.

 

 

—— Welcome, Ben.

 

 

Q - How does it work?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by benpb03

This is a 31 day challenge to give yourself the gift of preparation in 2017.

 

Pick one thing that you want to do every day in January. If you see this January 5th, just start it that day or the next. Then do the project through February 6th.

 

If you fall off, and miss a day or two. Just recommit and go forward. Avoid beating yourself up, discipline is a step by step process of recommitment. We will inevitably falter until our resolve becomes bold enough and strong enough that the journey has taken root, and the long game come into focus.

 

I missed a day last year. It taught me a lot about myself and about commitment. Ironically when I just recommitted it helped me more than it hurt me. It actually added to the project lol.

 

So take that philosophy, let your enthusiasm fuel a commitment. Then everyday recommit. If you slip? Breath deep, recommit and begin again.

 

That is the path to mastery. Just keep moving forward.

 

Handle business young king.

 

 

TIP  - Try to pick something you could see yourself doing everyday or quite often, beyond the project.

 

Options: Running, yoga, Movement Practices, Martial Arts, whatever it is, whether it’s a physical class, a video from youtube or a mix of your own stuff…

 

Do it everyday. And if you want to switch it up or change it, go for it, just make sure you continue to do SOMETHING, everyday.

 

Then, add drilling and playing whenever you can, say every Wednesday night.

 

By Jeff Stein 25 Oct, 2018

The primary goal of my ‘system’ is to disperse responsibilities so that each part of the organization can focus on just one thing, and do that one thing to the best of its ability. This creates an environment where players need focus only on playing, so they can do that to their full and best ability. This also creates pits that are compartmentalized, organized, prepared and depressurized.

Take the Bandits team as an example. 

Players

The players play, that’s all they do. 


Team Captain

The team captain helps to move the team where they need to be at different times. Getting the team together to stretch, organizing a huddle to motivate players, having conversations from a peer to peer standpoint. A captain is a positive leader usually elected by the player whether officially or naturally. 


Pit Boss

There is a “pit boss” who runs the pits. I explained how I wanted things to run and he took it and made it his own. It is his only responsibility and he has complete authority. No one (but me) overrules him and I very very rarely overrule him. 


C oach

There is a coach who owns the X’s and O’s of paintball. That is his only responsibility and he has complete authority. No one, including myself, overrules him (although he usually listens to my suggestions when I make them). 


General Manager

This person is in charge of organizing the team logistics. Flights, hotels, rental cars, entry fees, itinerary and collecting fees from the players. The GM usually has financial skills and the ability to pay for things without having to collect all the dues. The GM is also involved with personnel selections and team decisions. 


Nobody is trying to eat the elephant. Everyone is taking just their individual bite. The end result is a system and organization that has dispersed responsibilities and tension and is better prepared to deal with the unexpected screw-ups and general stressors of a tournament.

Not everyone has a pit boss and a coach at their disposal. So I would suggest to most teams that you target the 80% of the 80/20 rule.

By Lori Miller 27 Apr, 2018

Have a young or new player who would love to find a team to play some competition paintball with? Over the winter we began a partnership with BKi School of Paintball  and are working with some of the BEST Pro Paintball players in the game to bring teaching and learning even more closely together.


Our tournament series The NEPL - New England Paintball League  is proud to always try to help new players get more involved and so we are happy to introduce the BKi P.U.P. League at the May 20th event. Individual players may sign up for a whole weekend of learning, training and competition.

The BKi P.U.P. League is a new way in which The NEPL and Boston Paintball will work to help new players learn more about tournament paintball, how to play better tournament paintball and to help newer players find teams to play with.

 

Players that register for the P.U.P. League will take part in the clinic part of the event on Saturday at the Boston Paintball Maynard Field where they will learn from some of the top players in New England. We will use many of the drills used in the BKi School of Paintball curriculum to help players improve basic skills and to help them prepare for competition style play in the actual event on Sunday.

 

Players will also be learning all of their new skills on the EXACT event layout which means that they will be training specifically for the event the next day. We will work on individual skills as well as team skills once we build teams out of all of the players that have registered.

 

Players will register individually but we will keep any players that register with a friend together throughout the weekend.

 

Registration is open to any players ages 10+ that are new to tournament paintball or have a current APPA rank as low as D4.

 

The fee includes entrance into the clinic on Saturday with one case of paint as well as entrance into the 3 Man NEPL event with their assigned team on Sunday.

 

Cost is $150 per player and the deadline to register is Sunday May 13th.

(Players may require additional paint on Sunday)

By Rusty Glaze 27 Jul, 2017
It’s been a rough ride for homebuyers lately, as prices have hit the roof with little respite. All of that looks to change soon.
By Rusty Glaze 27 Jul, 2017
We’re pleased to announce the addition of a real estate veteran to our team. Andrew Stevens joins us in our main office after 10 years in our northern branch.
By Jeff Stein 23 Dec, 2016
I’m guessing that it was a bittersweet moment for Dave Painter, the founder and godfather of the 187 cRew. It’s a labor of love, running a pro team. It’s stressful and expensive and it gives you a glimpse into just how good the top teams are, up close and personal. As time wears on and you first start thinking about the end of your run, you worry about both taking care of your players and your legacy. At least I did. And when you decide to pull the plug, it hurts. And a week later, it hurts less. And two months later, you’re saying to yourself, “wow, how did I carry that weight that long?”

________________

Paintball is different than other sports in that a player’s ability to advance is predicated on his access to teams at the next level. If you grow up in an area without nationally competing teams, it’s really hard to get on a team that competes nationally. Saying it like that makes it sort of … duh. I know. But most sports have town leagues, high school teams, college teams. None of that exists in paintball. The strength of a region comes from the team OWNERS that exist in that area. People like Dave Painter, Beau Milo (NYO), Sean Wyatt and Brett Messer (Bay State), Dean Carleton (PMob), Rob Lospannato (Landslyde), Kermit (CTO), Arnold (MOB Crew) and Adam Zippin (Crusade) (and many more - New England is spoiled) aren’t so much created by NE paintball as much as they make NE paintball. The more of them that exist today, doing a good job running teams today, the more will exist tomorrow. When people like Dave hang ‘em up, teams die. When enough people like Dave hang ‘em up, regions die.

Which brings me to the NEPL Combine. Boston Paintball’s 12-years running clinic-and-team-building extravaganza. Two years ago, Boston introduced the Coaches’ Clinic, hosted by Todd Martinez. This year the class is being taught by Rusty Glaze. And, with all due respect to the excellent pro players who come in to coach players, helping them refine their skills to the point where they are ready to join teams and advance their ‘careers’, the Coaches’ Clinic helps create the teams those players need to put those newfound skills to good use.

I am attending Rusty’s clinic. Bluntly, I wonder about any serious team that doesn’t have someone attending. This is the guy who coaches DYNASTY. Forget all the years he played professionally and all the skills and knowledge he garnered playing with Infamous and Dynasty, the greatest team in the history of our sport hand selected him to lead them.

If you are a coach, if you are a player who thinks he may someday become a coach, if you are a team captain, if you are a player on a team who wants to know how he can help the entire group move forward, find a coaching clinic taught by someone who actually knows their ****, and take advantage of it. Come with questions (I’m coming with a bunch for Rusty), pay very close attention. Without people learning what Rusty can teach, it won’t matter how good you are as a player. Ryan, Damian, Billy and Nick create players.

What Rusty will be teaching can create a region.
By Lori Miller 03 Dec, 2016

It happens every year, but we know you'd rather not talk about it, maybe you can't even remember what it is you're not talking about. It's ok. It's a new year and you can turn this all around! Paintball Office party - and before you say #notmyoffice paintball has changed. See these kids?

By Lori Miller 16 Aug, 2016

Paintball vs LowImpact vs SplatMaster

Always wanted to play paintball or maybe it’s been suggested and you just aren’t sure it’s a good fit? Let’s talk - ok let’s read - about it!

At Boston Paintball we now offer 3 different versions of the game:

  • Traditional .68 caliber Paintball (ages 10+)
  • Low Impact .50 caliber Paintball (ages 10+) and
  • SplatMaster .50 caliber (ages 8+)

Boston Paintball started it’s business almost 25 years ago with traditional .68 caliber paintball. Since there are now a few new options to help just about anyone enjoy the game, we've started to refer to it as exactly that - Traditional Paintball to help distinguish from the other options we offer.

Traditional paintballs are about the size of a dime and travel at approx 280 feet per second (just shy of 200 miles an hour) and that translates into it packing a little bit of a punch. You will certainly feel the pinch a tad more easily with traditional paintball if  you don’t layer up appropriately but remember “Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever.” Nah it’s not that  bad but it is usually the best type of play for players over 13, players that have played paintball before or for those who measure higher on the dare devil scale.  

Maybe you have a smaller, quieter, less daring Dare Devil and when you hear paintball you start imagining Rambo, camouflage and face paint and are thinking “Ummmm…. No. Pass. ” Now not so fast! Low Impact Paintball is the PERFECT fit!

Low Impact paintballs are smaller and weigh in at .50cal (fifty caliber) so, what that means is that they are 40% the size and weight of a .68cal ball. Think marble size (.68) and half a marble size :) Low Impact paintballs travel at slower speed which if you like math means approximately 225 fps. There is much less 'force' on the ball and the paintball hurts a lot less when it makes contact.  

Another great side effect of low impact is that the paintball markers are able to be made much smaller and lighter because the equipment needs to do less work. This makes the .50cal set-ups much easier for smaller players to manage.

And lastly, our Splatmaster equipment uses a spring driven system to shoot a .50caliber paintball at a small portion of the speed of the first two examples. If your player has ever played with a Nerf gun, the Splatmaster gun will be very familiar. The idea is that reduced flight speed and lighter ball (again only 40% the size and weight of a traditional .68 caliber paintball, but now with less than 50% of the travel speed) will further reduce impact, leaving you with little to no 'ouch' factor at all. It is a great introducion to paintball for young players and easy on the mature kids too!

 

When trying to decide which is best consider there three things:

  1. The age of the players - different requirements for different versions 
  2. The experience of the players:

If your players have already played regular .68 cal paintball, they may not want to do Low Impact and most players over 13 crave the “all in” version, to them it makes for better stories!


3. Composition of the group:

If all of the players are 10 yrs old+ and played a few times, but some of the players are just 10 and/or never played at all, then Low Impact would be a great place to get started because it is so visually similar to traditional paintball.

 

Paintball has been a fun, safe and all inclusive game for decades and the new versions only make it even more so! More girls are playing paintball because of SplatMaster and Low Impact, more offices are getting in on the game and more families are having the time of their lives running around burning off some calories and energy and making memories that will be brought up time and time again. Call your local field with questions, read all the info and check it out some weekend you are running errands. We love our game and we want you to love it just as much #playpaintball !!

By Lori Miller 11 Aug, 2016

Boston Paintball’s Paintball University was created to be used as a tool for all aspiring paintball players to learn from more experienced players and to introduce players to other players. Not every person that finds paintball has a friend to bring along and not everyone has a paintball mento,  so when you have a need for something - you fill it!  

 

The goal of Paintball U is to provide an atmosphere of growth and comfortability, where players can expand their knowledge of the game. Our lead Professor and program creator Anthony Vitale 3 (AV3) on the how and why: “It’s personal because through my 12 years of playing competitive paintball there have been a countless number of friends and mentors who have helped me along the way. I wanted to give back to the community that gave me so much when I was growing up.


Paintball taught me a lot about how to communicate with others to achieve a common goal, think creatively, and helped me handle responsibilities that were assigned to me. Along with the physically demanding aspects of the game we are also working to hone our mental skills. Paintball is a combination of physical strength and high speed decision making, through practice we will help fine tune your skills.”


Paintball U combines the meet up point, the connections and the education to help players to keep playing, competing and getting better. Unlike traditional sports, paintball doesn't have as many entry points so providing all of these fundamentals is important to ensure the growth of not only the player who plays but the sport as well.  


Classes are offered in sessions and usually meet on Friday Nights at the Chelsea location. If you want to know more - follow the Boston Paintball Facebook Page or like PaintballU on Facebook!


www.facebook.com/PlayBostonPaintball

www.facebook.com/PaintballU  

By Jeff Stein 20 Jul, 2016

So, how do we plan around not having a coach?

The first step happens before you get to the event, at practices. Learn the field as best you can and create a ‘playbook’. Playbooks have fallen out of grace in recent years because they somewhat limit you. You have your ‘canned’ responses and are potentially limited (or at least, challenged to think outside the box in a time-sensitive, pressurized situation) to what you’ve already drawn up. But, without a coach, at least at the beginning, it will probably help because it’ll focus your thoughts onto a challenge you can deal with. Eventually you want to get away from a playbook but to start, a playbook will help you focus on controlling your pits and creating the calm, focused environment you want.

The second step: set up your first # points. Who is playing what breakout? Again, as with the playbook, you are accepting some limitations (flexibility) in exchange for some benefits (control, depressurizing). Eventually you’ll want to become more fluid and to create responses to the field in real time, but to start, this will help.

Next step: scout like hell. Watch every point of every team you play. Between scouting and the playbook, you’ll be able to map the first # points for each match 30 minutes before you play (in what will hopefully be a nice, calm team discussion).

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