Paintball Magazine Paintball Magazine March 2020 Issue | Page 72

Marcus Davis Talks
Woodsball
What went wrong, how we got here, and what he and the Predators are doing about it!
Marcus Davis, Captain, UK Predators
Then came the first electronic guns: 5,
10, 15, 20 balls per second and so it went
the race continued from the woods to the
arenas and there was a period of time when
the sport of paintball played in the arenas
looked unstoppable. A consequence of this
was there was less and less woodsball being
played and we began to lose players at an
unprecedented rate, something we didn’t
want, as we wanted the sport to grow,
especially when now everyone wanted
to play with their electronic capped or
uncapped markers in the woods where they
weren’t designed to be used.
Classic style and rules paintball in my humble
DLX/SP
refine
what
an
opinion continue
has been to the
savior
of has
our been
beloved
immensely
successful
for them
over
game
we all
play in marker
the woods,
because
the
years
since
they
released
the
Luxe,
and
without the classic movement many players
it will power
one just
of basically
the very lost
best the teams
in
including
myself
love to
modern
paintball,
Houston
Heat,
into
2020.
play woodsball and here is why. Since I began
With a lineup
as good
as anyone’s
the world
playing
way back
in 1984
with a in
Splatmaster
capable
of
winning
whenever
they
step can
on
there has always been race to see who
the field
of faster
who might
be waiting
make
our regardless
guns shoot
and faster,
from
for
them
at
the
opposing
start
box,
there’s
no
the Splatmaster to the pump guns to slam fire
reason
to believe
Heat
won’t
for event
auto
triggers
to the
first
semi contend
auto, faster
and
titles
and
the
series
in
2020,
Luxes
at
the
ready.
faster we went.
072
paintball.media magazine
So began the decline in the recreational walk-
on woodsball players and events, to a point,
where there was almost no woodsball events
bring promoted or run anymore. This initially
didn’t have any impact on the tournament
game or its players but slowly and surely it
became apparent there was something not
quite right, there was a missing element to
Joining
Heat As
in many
the DLX
stable have
will be
Tampa
this sport.
people
realized,
Bay
who senior
look sharp
heading
into
a lot Damage,
of the more
players
who were
the
new
season,
and
Aftermath.
The
Shocker,
not quite up to the athletic side of air ball
which
has nowhere
been blasting
with
great
in
then had
to play
and
the success
breeding
the
world
of
mechanical
paintball,
will
also
be
ground for our upcoming paintball players
represented
in the
pro woodsball,
division (with
a battery
whether they
played
rec-ball
or
in
the
grip)
in
2020
in
the
hands
of
air ball came to an end. We started Pacific
losing
Northwest
squad Seattle
Thunder.
paintball players
in droves,
some With
never four
to
pro
teams
in
their
garage
for
the
upcoming
play again, while many switched to airsoft
season,
and SP the
are fun
likely
to add
hardware
instead DLX
because
had
stopped
and
to
their
sizeable
trophy
case
in
2020.
father, son, daughter and friends were no
longer able to safely play in the woods thanks
to getting shot to pieces by a guy with the