Paintball is one of the most exciting and fastest-growing outdoor participation sports today. Ever since it was introduced in the '80s, paintball has captured the world's attention and is now played in over 40 countries. Paintball is a military style combat game. Teams comprised of a number of players try to eliminate the opposing teams by shooting a paintball gun at the other players. When a player gets hit by the paintball, he is eliminated from the game.

What sets apart the sport of paintball from other sports is the equipment used, mainly the paintballs and the paintball gun. Paintballs are made of vegetable oil-based dye in different colors and variations encased in a thin-skinned gel like capsule. When these paintballs hit a player, they break open and leave a mark on the person. Gas-powered paintball guns are used by players to shoot these paintballs at each other. The paintballs provide realism to the game.

There are many variations of paintball games, the most common of which are capture the flag and elimination. In a capture the flag game, two teams try to capture the flag of their opponents' team while protecting their own. In an elimination game, the team that eliminates all opponents on the other team wins.

Woodsball is generally played in a wooded area and involves a lot of stalking and strategies. This style of play takes more time than Speedsball, which is played on a field roughly the size of a basketball court. Here, the players use artificial bunkers and it is a much faster-paced game. There are also large-scale scenario paintball games that usually have a theme, such as historical, science fiction and fantasy paintball games.

Paintball is an exciting game that requires not only speed, strength, and agility but also intelligence and alertness. Players also get to develop their teamwork and leadership abilities as well as gain self-confidence. Paintball is a very thrilling and adrenaline-pumping sport first-time players will surely get hooked on.