So You Want To Be A Back Player

For a back player, the name of the game is firepower. You have 1 mission: to lay down massive amounts of paint. The military calls it “covering fire” – you should call it whoopass. As a back player, your equipment should reflect your role – it’s as pointless for you to have an Angel Fly as it is for a frontman to carry 10 pods worth of paint. There are several paintball guns which you can use successfully as a back player – your choice, unfortunately, will often depend on your budget. In this day and age, there is absolutely no reason for you to not get an electric marker. More importantly, you should be getting an electric marker with an eye; 19bps will do you nothing if your marker is chopping even 5% of the time. Most high end guns these days will come with anti-chop eyes, or at the very least have the option. There are some low end guns which will do the same thing, for instance the new Ion’s have great bang for the buck, and are becoming a very popular gun for the new tournament paintball player.

The right gun is only a small part of the story. All your equipment needs to support the marker – next on the list is hopper choice. We’ve gone a long way since VL 200 loaders and even 9v Revolutions. The list is pretty extensive now, including Ricochet’s, Halo B’s, and higher end Revolutions. You should pick as fast of a hopper as your marker can support. This will also largely depend on your budget, and can range from $40 to $130.

Here is where most players go wrong – just because your equipment can shoot at 19bps doesn’t mean YOU can. You NEED to train yourself to shoot that fast! Easiest (and cheapest) is just to practice on that trigger when you’re not doing anything. While you sit and watch tv, practice that trigger finger. When you’re there on the toilet, practice that trigger finger. Practice practice practice. Soon you’ll be laying down enough firepower to make strike fear in the hearts of others.

Be forewarned, however – while back is definitely one of the most fun positions to play, it is by far the most expensive. It is not unheard of to go through an entire case of paint in 1 round. It’s also one of the worse positions to “show off”. Your role as a back player is to lay down covering fire, to support your teammates. They will most likely be the ones getting the “cool” magazine pictures. You are more likely to see a picture of yourself getting gogged. That’s just the way it goes. But then again, tourney paintball is a team game. They couldn’t do what they do without your support.

That’s a basic idea of what you can expect as a back player – if you go into it with the right mindset, and the right equipment, it can be a very rewarding experience.

Stay tuned for the next article, in which we will talk about what makes a good back player a GREAT back player – the ability to see the field and the ability to communicate with your team.