What Is Speedball?

Author: Sam Marquez

Now that you have been playing Recball for awhile and want to advance to the next level of paintball, you may want to know, what is speedball?

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Speedball is a game of paintball in which the playing field is composed of air bunkers on turf, of the same location and number on each side of the field, and provide an equal playing field for each team competing. Speedball is a team game usually involving 3, 5, 7 or 10 players per team. It can also be played recreationally with more people for an even more intense experience. Speedball is normally played on a smaller field and a short game time. To succeed in this format one must gain individual skills and teamwork such as aggressive movement and non-stop communication. Because of the small size of the field and the small bunkers, both teams can easily see each other, so this type of paintball is based on aggressiveness, marker handling, strategic movements, and communication. Players usually wear different attire than those playing Recball. Speedballer’s do not need to wear camouflage, so they opt to wear brightly colored jerseys and pants. Professional teams usually would wear matching jerseys containing names of different sponsors for their team and sometimes their team name. Tournament speedball usually entails a points system, but varies from league to league. In the NPPL, opposing flag format, points are awarded for staying in the game the whole round, shooting someone out, grabbing the flag, and hanging the flag. PSP is a "center flag" format, meaning that there is a flag in the center of the field on the 50 line. A team is awarded a point every time the flag is captured and hung on the opposing team's start box. There are a variety of Paintball leagues that use speedball as their format for tournaments. The three most notable are the NPPL, PSP, and The Millennium Series.