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Thoughts on Physical Training, Mind Games Continued

In my first post on this site, I pondered about the strains that tournaments put on our body and mind. The solution for body was covered, and is nothing new, but what about the mind? Again most of these ideas are presented in other channels, but I see them important enough for repetition.

The mental side of paintball is often thought to be a totally different animal and it’s training somewhat unquantifiable. I think this only partly right. Physical training, when done well is about getting you to push through those mental limits that we all have. This constant “overdoing it” prepares the mind for the torrential rains of London, the heat of Malaga and the top players of the game. It really is the old platitude: No pain no gain. Continue reading ‘Thoughts on Physical Training, Mind Games Continued’ »

Thoughts on Physical Training

I’m the first to admit that I hate winter. Especially this one where all warmth has left us Finns to the embrace of record snow falls and at worst -25 degrees Celsius temperatures and gusty winds. This has been a time, when I’ve doubted my sense to go jogging into the bitter cold. Thank the maker for gyms and central heating.

I believe that physical fitness is something Finnish Paintballers aren’t concentrating enough on. Of course we, the competition paintballers, have left behind the time, when our back players were all over 30 BMI. Still, Cyclones target for this year: getting to play all the games in the final day of all the Millennium tournaments, is something I think few of us Finns are equipped to deal with. It really takes endurance both from the body and mind to keep pushing through those snakes point after point and game after game.

Continue reading ‘Thoughts on Physical Training’ »

Beyond Sweat

A few weeks ago Cyclone had a nice chill-out weekend over at my place watching the PSP Phoenix webcast and munching through a pile of burritos. Having a big part of the guys over and watching the ‘cast was a good way to spend a weekend out of harms’ way but it also had a more profound meaning in revealing some aspects of training that I had not considered in such depths. Hearing Matt Marshall mention game momentum and mental tenacity time and time again really resonated with me, and a thought stuck to the back of my head. How can we as individuals and as a team achieve the proper mentality to be able to turn games around?

Continue reading ‘Beyond Sweat’ »

Riga Recap!

A great trip but right here, right now I’m tired as ever!

Somewhat surprisingly, this time around the trip went like a breeze. No problems whatsoever with the law & order, we didn’t even miss the ships, no fatal car crashes, no one went to demand the consigliore to get supplies from McDonalds or for other entertainment…and overall, nothing which “didn’t occur” occurred. Weird? Continue reading ‘Riga Recap!’ »

The Art of Winning

I have now been playing paintball for now more than 15 years with first international tournamet outside scandinavia around -93/94. I have been on the podium on international events more times than I remember from Amateur A ranks all the way to taking 3rd place in Paris Millenium ‘05 in CPL. During this time I have seen a number of tournaments where teams step to the table and perform where others have lost even before the buzzer starts the game.

In paintball the real games start on sunday when you are getting to the semifinal stage. Until that stage you can have a number of different level teams against you in prelim games but on sunday the free ride is over. When you are getting to semifinal stage the teams are usually really close to each other in terms of skill and the deciding factor is often no more or less witch team is more hungry for the win.

I have never understood teams that are content to just gettin to sunday. C’mon what the hell is that all about? Sure you can have your goal to get to sundy first but after that you should be ready to push it forward and not just sit on your ass and be happy about it. At that point you dont have anything to loose just to win. Often those teams that just play their hearts out and go for the win are the ones that take the tournament favorite down. Its a coin with two sides if you have one strong favorite for the tournament. The favorite team is expecting nothing more from themselves than to win and if they are too confident about it or arent hungry enough then they usually end as runner ups.

So if you want to win you have to learn how to win and be hungry enough!

15 Years of Finnish Paintball Pt. 1

So, 15 years of Finnish Paintball it is then. Now that these new pages are finally being released I was pressured to write something to them. After a while of thinking and a lot of beverages I thought it best start from the start… And yes… I know there are a lot of players that have played a lot longer than I have and they probably have some great stories too. Unfortunately I’ve never actually read any of these great stories, so dear reader, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.

The other reason for my topic is ofcourse the constant nagging of the younger players about my age. These guys seem to think that a forest is something with mushrooms in it and speedball is remake of an old computer game. The basic player in my team these days has been playing from 2-5 years, an infant compared to my years. So here it begins then…the flow of thoughts from my head. And if you happen to find some sort of hints towards autobiographical writing, congratulations, you’ve passed the first IQ and collect you price at www.cyclone.ax

More soon to follow…

Lisäyksiä edelliseen…

…mutta näin se vaan on että kausi 2008 kaikesta mielenkiintoisuudestaan huolimatta on takana päin. Loppuyhteenvetona sanottakoon että Cyclone VDO:n kausi meni alkukankeudesta huolimatta kokonaisuutena paremmin kuin hyvin ja loppujen lopuksi kakkosdivarin kirkkain pysti löysi tiensä allekirjoittaneen olohuoneeseen. Kiitti vaan :) Joku voisi tietysti sanoa että voitto oli tiukilla ja niinhän siinä tietysti loppujen lopuksi kävi. Vaan kivempi on voittaa kun kilpailu on tiukkaa, eikös? Continue reading ‘Lisäyksiä edelliseen…’ »

Joining the Family

It’s quite a step in life, moving from a small and inexperienced team into an established one. I certainly did not know what to expect! A lot of things scared me. “What if I’m not as good as they expect of me?” “Are they going to see me differently as my former teammates did?” The new organization was solid, everyone seemed to know what their job was – both what to do and when to do it! First it all seemed rather strange, in a small team one was accustomed to having to do everything by oneself. If you failed to do something you could be sure that no-one else would do it for you.

It was the year of 2007 when I was first introduced to what is now my team, and indeed the first tournament felt strange, playing alongside guys who you barely knew the names of all the while sensing the fact that they were much more experienced than you. Additionally, it felt odd that suddenly there was a coach who told you what job you were supposed to do on the field and how. Even so, when the day was done I realized that things were not as perplexing as they initially seemed. Deep down I knew I had done the very best I could. Yet, certain amounts of anxiety was still to follow me until the next outing, where I noticed that everyone were treating me as if they had known me for a long time. It felt amazing, and thereafter the season passed by very quickly every subsequent tournament being better than the previous one. Still, I hadn’t been able to figure out what was it about this team that gave me such a special feeling.

For the 2008 season I returned to my original team feeling it was where I belonged. Cyclone VDO invited me to stay, but I had a lingering feeling that my original friends would still be my one love. Unfortunately I was to be wrong on that account.

However, at the time of the first tournament of 2008 I still had a good and strong feeling about the upcoming season. Yet, I do remember thinking I might have made a mistake leaving Cyclone VDO to return to play with my original crew. Weird indeed was the draw toward Cyclone. Fittingly, it soon unfolded as my fit with my former team rapidly deteriorated. It was then when I made one of my biggest decisions. I decided to move to Helsinki! Upon arriving, Cyclone welcomed me back with open arms – again something I was not prepared to expect. It was then when I understood that this is no commonplace paintball team, far from it. Everyone seems to say the following, but Cyclone is the benchmark of a family! I had become a part of it, and today I can say I cry and bleed blue and black! Finally, I’d like to end with the following remark: Helsinki Cyclone – Honest Gambling!

Terve!

Hola! … ja tervetuloa Cyclonen uusille ja entistä ehommille sivuille. Omasta puolestani valitan heti alkuunsa että sivujen updeittaaminen kesti näin julmetun kauan, mutta asioilla on tapana ottaa aikansa. Allekirjoittanut edustaa blogi-osiossa lähinnä omaa kantaansa toki Cyclone, Cyclone Voodoo ja oldskool-linssien läpi katsottuna.

Allekirjoittanut piti 2000-luvun alun jälkeen muutaman vuoden tauon pelaamisessa ja Joksan ja Raffen kuumottamana tarttui mutkaan kaudella 2007 parin pelatun skaban muodossa. Kaudelle 2008 valmistautuminen oli huolellisempaa ja kevään aikana kentällä tuli lingottua jokunen tuhat palloa kohti parempaa tulevaisuutta. Täytyy myöntää että ennen liigaviikonloppua poltteet pelaamiseen oli kovat, ihan niin kuin odotuksetkin. Vaan mites siinä sitten kävikään?

Suoraan sanottuna aika ristiriitaiset tuntemukset tällä hetkellä. Allekirjoittanut seurasi SPBL:n sarjojen tapahtumia koko viikonlopun ja vielä reilusti viikonlopun jälkeen takki on täysin tyhjä. Lauantain liiga- ja 1-div.päivä oli pituudeltaan jotain täysin käsittämätöntä ja Suomen olosuhteissa ennenkuulumatonta. Liekö syytä, seurausta vai jotain muuta, mutta iltaan kello 21.30 asti vesisateessa venyneet pelit eivät kuulosta enää järkevältä. Sunnuntain osalta keli oli parempi, mutta päivä jälleen kerran jotenkin turhan pitkä. Päivien pituuden päälle vielä parit torikokoukset, ylimääräinen kapteenien miitingi lauantaina, sekavia sääntötulkintoja ja ongelmia valotaulun kanssa niin hip hip hei vaan.

No, enivei, pelit pelattiin kaikkien sarjojen osalta ja voittajatkin saatiin ratkottua. Cyclone Voodoon osalta sijoitus oli jotain ihan muuta kuin odotettua ja ainakin allekirjoittanut on varsin pettynyt. Periaatteessa kentän toimivuus ja hommat muutenkin olivat selvää pässin lihaa, mutta kuin ihmeen kaupalla lapasteltiin ja pataan tuli kahdessa ensimmäisessä alkusarjan pelissä 2-1. Ensimmäinen piste voitettiin molemmissa, vaan kun se ei tahdo riittää jos kaksi seuraavaa häviää. Karmivaa ailahtelua ja keskittymisen puutetta, kukaan VDO:sta ei ollut tulessa. Itse asiassa allekirjoittanut alisuoritti vahvasti, kone ei vain yksinkertaisesti käynnistynyt. Valitan etten pystynyt antamaan katsojille sitä jossain määrin tuttua viihdettä tulenpalavien läpijuoksujen ja muiden yberkuumien muuvien muodossa. Hävettää suorastaan.

Viikonlopun positiivisin puoli on ehkä se että väsymyksestä ja kipeistä lihaksista huolimatta pelaamaan pitäisi päästä välittömästi ja että seuraavassa turnauksessa keskittyminen ja motivaatio on varmasti kovemmalla tasolla kuin Kirkkonummella.. yleisesti Kirkkonummen setti oli hyvää harjoitusta suurimmalle osalle paikalla olleista ja pitkistä päivistä ja lauantain vesisateesta huolimatta Suomen paintti-skene tuntui ehkä yhtenäisemmältä kuin millaisena olen se koskaan aiemmin kokenut. Tuntuu että joskus aiemmin kyräily tiimien ja pelaajien välillä oli huomattavasti yleisempää kuin nyt ja nykyään rakentava palaute ja muiden tiimien jeesaaminen otetaan lähestulkoon lämmöllä vastaan. Eli kaikesta säädöstä huolimatta meininki oli oikeastaan aika hyvä ja propsit on pakko jakaa kaikille läsnäolleille, tuomaeita unohtamatta. Tuomareilla oli jälleen kerran raskain ja epäkiitollisin taakka koko hommassa.

Tässä vaiheessa on vielä pakko toivottaa tsempit Cyclonen millebändille ja muillekin jotka Toulouseen matkaavat. Mun puolesta kundit saavat jälleen kerran näyttää että Suomessa todella osataan pelata kovaa ja hyvin, paineita pelkäämättä. Ensi kerralla paremmin, kovempaa ja kaikkea muuta jänskää. Jeh.

Winter Training

Physical fitness. Those still seem to be two words that lift the eyebrows of Joe Paintballer. That’s right Joe, if you want to hack it in the game today you need to lose a few kilos.

After season 2008, we went back to the drawing board. The season had been successful to say the least and most of our goals set pre-season were met. Still, we know that to take ourselves to the next level we need to be better. And by better we mean better on all the levels. We figured that all the snapshooting drills, all the hours spent fine-tuning technical aspects, all the great kit we get to use is not enough unless we commit to the sport fully as an extreme sport. We need to be quicker, stronger, leaner and more agile. The tone for the winter training has been set. We will take ourselves to the next level.

Citius, altius, fortius.

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