Position is nine tenths of the game

The core of success in paintball is always exchanging shots with your opponents in a situation when they are more likely to be shot than you are. One way to do this is to position yourself so that you can see a larger area of them than they can see of you. Then just fire away and the laws of probability will do the rest.

The minimum angle

A good rule is that all the enemy within range should fit into a 90° arc from your current position. If the angle is greater than this it is hard to ensure that you have adequate cover to protect you from all opponents. More importantly it is hard to keep an eye on them all, which could mean that you are locally outflanked and caught unawares. In general this makes the middle of the field the most dangerous position and the flanks the safest.

Dead Man's Shoes

If a team mate is shot out, don't promptly move up into their position. The chances are that they were shot because it is a risky position, and that you will be too.

Wandering about

When in a safe area of the field you may stroll from tree to tree, waiting for something to happen or just moving to a new part of the field. This is an excellent way to get shot. Always stay in cover except when moving, and do this as fast as possible. Not only might there be someone lying in ambush, but also stray paintballs can travel a surprisingly long way and still burst, especially if they hit something hard such as a gun or goggles. Catching a stray ball is particularly frustrating, so minimise your chances of being unlucky.

Redeploying

Often as the game develops team deployment will become unbalanced. In other words there are too many players in one area and not enough in another. You should keep an eye out for this and be prepared to move a group to compensate. It is almost always safer to pull back directly away from the enemy and cross the field near your team's baseline before going forward again at the chosen point. Crossing the field further up is needlessly dangerous and will not save you much time.