Each Airsofter has always wanted it. Be the best on the field and smoke the enemy out…right? Well, sure you want that but if you want to join the ranks you perhaps don’t want to get shot in the first minute…right?
So how do you get that feeling of where to go and what to do? How can you operate efficient within your team and contribute to that common goal of winning the game?
Learning all these skills require practice… a lot of practice. Well, that’s OK as long as we know what to do and where we need to pay attention on. I found out that there is more than only shooting at your opponent. Well, even shooting can be hard if you have never done that before. So…..
1.Train and practice yourself
The best method to learn something is learning by doing… So the best and quickest way to learn Airsofting is by doing it. Where can you go if you don’t have any experience in holding a gun and shooting at a target?
Well, the first thing you can do is taking your gun to your backyard, set some targets and learn to shoot properly. You can do that by shooting on some empty plastic water bottles. Start with learning the basics by, for example, focus on your target and try to hit that bottle as you were meant to. Are you doing well? then go to the next step and try hitting the bottle form an increasing distance, at odd angles and while your moving. I think this is a great way learning how to use and control your gun. Practicing on the move is the most difficult so if you control that you made great progression!
Your progression depends also on what kind of gun you have. I hope you didn’t bought a Sniper Rifle as your first gun because that role is difficult to play and you need experience for that. I wrote an article about what kind of gun you need as a beginner. Follow this link to that article. In that article I will explain in-depth everything you need to know when buying an Airsoft gun.
2.Where can you actually practicing?
First of all, most of you have learned shooting in the backyard. That is the most common place to go for testing your latest purchase. You can practice reloads, aiming from your offhand and maybe even drawing your pistol.
You can practice your basic marksmanship by shooting around the house, in the backyard or even in the garage. If you really not down with like shooting while moving or quickly suppressive fire while moving then practice until your confident with it. WARNING! Practice only in an enclosed backyard, garage or other enclosed area. You don’t want to present your gun in public to avoid misunderstanding.
So practice your skills and gain experience. Get that feeling of where your put your equipment. Get that feeling of what your gear is and how it reacts. Practice until it becomes second nature for you. Remember that military guys spend the whole day practicing getting into high ready. That means practicing how to handle stressful situations and become confident.
If you think you are pretty confident , you can go and play on a local field.
3.Go to a local field
source: airsoftc3
You learned the basics and are ready to play on an Airsoft field. The first and most easy thing to do is go to the website from your local field. There you can find all kind of things you need to get started. It’s important to check out who the organizer is so you can meet that person when you arrived on the field. He or she will be very pleased to help you out.
On the field, make sure that you learn the routes that people use and the way that people go. If it’s your first time it could be a little bit frustrating because you see other Airsofters going their way and you are struggling to find your way.
When you are on your mission you can always ask someone what his favorite route is or how he/she would go about this or if he knows where the sweet spot is. You can learn the field by yourself or with others who have been there before. It’s your choice.
When time progress you will know where to go and how you can develop your own tactics around the field. Both are going to vastly improve your game play because you are going to be able to outmaneuver your enemy! Developing your own tactics will take some time but you can work on that while you’re playing.
4.Learn to use tactics on the field
Most of the times you will play on a mission with a team against another team or several other teams. To accomplish a mission it’s important to have some tactics in order win the Airsoft battle. This is maybe advanced information for you but when time progress you will find out that you need some tactics in order to outrange your opponent.
One of the basic tactics is advancing around both flanks of your enemy and surrounding them. This is a very old but effective method that was invented during the power of the Romans. But anyway, be aware of these tactics. You can apply them but also the opponent could use this tactic. However, this method will work against most inexperienced teams.
Another tactic is to sneak snipers behind enemy lines. That way the Snipers of your team can attack the opponent from behind. This is for experienced players and requires some good insights.
When your team will be attached the best thing you can do is strike swiftly and stay on the attack. If that is not possible then use guerilla tactics Mostly that will be a temporary and local dominance against an enemy who is far superior in terms of manpower and firepower. That way you can overwhelm you opponent!
You’re not only think about what your tactic will be but you should also have in mind what your opponent could do.
The first one is the defense orientated player who tends to stay in general area, either guardian an important location or laying in wait for passing enemies*. Airsofters who choosing this type of playing have selected a superior position and have hidden themselves well. The only thing you can do is listen where the gun shot is coming from. Then try to maneuver around his field of fire and try to take him out.
The second one is to misleading the sniper by pointing your weapon on some other direction while your actually secretly watching him.
The third is the offensive orientated player. This player don’t wait until you attack but they always take the approach to attack first. Normally they easier to find but that could also be a trap to let you come out of your hiding place. A smart thing to do is to scan the area around the offensive orientated player and when nobody is escorting him, then take him out. But always be aware that others will find your hidden place when you take him out!
5.Learn from your mistakes on the field
Now you know more about tactics and the different style and skill levels. So you should be able to protect yourself and don’t get shot. The reality is that you get shot, especially as a beginner. How do you react when getting shot? What is the best thing to do?
The best thing you could do is learn from your mistakes! When you get shot take a minute and ask yourself why you have been shot. Maybe you was not in cover or was it a moment of inattention. Think about why you get shot, notice it and go on. That way you will be aware of what went wrong and the next time you will be remember that situation better than before. Or even you can incorporate it into your training to help prevent the next time that you play.
6.Work with people you know
What also will help to make you a better Airsofter is to go out and play with friends. That is because most of your friends know you for a long time. So you don’t have to think about each other moves. You just know what their going to do in most situations. It’s like football. You can see when a team is well played on each other. Each team member knows what the other is going to do and that results in….goals….
In Airsoft it’s the same. The more you work together the more you will be a cohesive unit. That will lead to working more effectively. That may not make you better as an individual but that is going to benefit your team as a whole. That is because you know each other for a long time and you can trust each other to watch your back. You also going to be able to accomplish your objectives more easily because you working all together by pushing toward that common goal of winning the Airsoft game.
7.The more you play the better you will become
If you want to learn to play Airsoft – and you by now know that it’s not all about shooting 😉 – you have to practice! Practice is the mother of all skills they say…well this is also the case in Airsoft…. You probably are surprised….
So get out there, have fun, practice and you will be a good Airsofter!
8. Practice your shooting
When time progress you will find out that most of the people on the Airsoft field are right handed. So, when playing on the Airsoft field, most of your opponents also know that most of you are right handed. naturally most Airsofters are going to pop out on the left side of a building or on the left side of a corner. So when the opponent stays in front of the building they naturally looking at the left side when shooting right.
What if you do exactly the opposite? Well, that would naturally give you an advantage. Because that is not natural for you you have to practice that to become better until it becomes as natural (if you are right handed). For instance you now shoot from the left corner and shoot with left. Shooting offhanded give you the opportunity to surprise the opponent because they don’t expect you there being on the left.
9. Learn to shoot from different positions
What I mean by that is this. Most Airsofters pop out at face height or at chest height. So most Airsofters are playing at the same level of height. Maybe you can learn yourself shooting from a different angle. For example when someone pop out at chest height and you pop out low around the corner while you are kind of tuck under a car, the opponent will be more surprised because you don’t expect to be hit from that height naturally. So you automatically don’t look often around you at that height…
Be aware of your environment. It’s a 360 degrees environment so from every corner and from every height you can expect the unexpected. So be smart about how you are playing; straight on angle isn’t always the best.
10. Take your opponent out with a barrage
Trying to get the opponent out of the building is not easy. First of all you don’t have any shelter to hide you, while the opponent is save in the building. How do you get closer to the building?
If you are playing at a team and you come close enough to the building and not be seen then do this: As a team you build a barrage en shoot the structure/building as much as possible while making a bunch of noise. That way you allow your teammates to come closer to the building – with some barrage cover- and get a better position to take the opponent out of the building. This is a very effective method. Because inside the building all you hear is rattling BB’s against the wall. So the opponent only cares about being covered and is not aiming for the person who he’s aiming.
For this kind of shooting you need at least a gun with semi auto, better is with full auto. The G&G Combat Machine Radar, The ICS M4 Sportline or the Elite Force M4 are great guns for this type of work.
11. Communication Skills and Organisation
Learn to communicate with your teammates. Knowing what the other person is meaning is crucial. You can not always talk so regularly you have to count upon someone’s gestures. Sometimes you are assigned to a other group and even then you have to know what to do and how to communicate. So let your teammates know what happening, what you’re doing or plan to do. Sometimes it’s safe not to talk at all because it can give away your position. On the other side when you are constantly yelling at each other you may give away your position but your at that time your teammate could have a better angle to take down you opponent. So communication is huge to get things done.
The organization of your team helps also to communicate clearer. Each team must have an organization. Every team needs several squads with 3-5 Airsofters. Each squad is controlled by a squad leader. Each squad should be made up of mostly rifleman and 2 other classes. Snipers always remain near their squad. Ranks should be given from command and combat skill.* A back up leader takes in charge when the leader comes to die, informed by their Walkie-Talkie.
12. Upgrade your Airsoft gun
After you developed your marksmanship quantities and training you are allowed to upgrade you gun a little bit. You can easily do 2 things in order to upgrade your gun. Put in a better barrel and hop-up to improve your guns accuracy and performance. You don’t have to take you gearbox apart in order to replace the barrel and hop-up.
The replacement of the inner barrel and hop-up can really help you out because then you can make those shots you’re trained for. You can also train yourself with real firearm so that you get experience with recoil guns.
Both – real steal firearm and replacement of inner barrel and hop-up – can help your marksmanship and increase your skills like nailing those shots from 150-200 feet away.
13. Get in shape
When playing Airsoft you’re dealing with obstacles and a lot of running and shooting at the same time. Running and shooting at the same time means being able to hold your gun at “high ready” longer than you used to. That means you have to train you arm a little bit to hold your gun up longer. When your opponent comes around a corner you don’t have to to bring up your gun first and then fire at them.
If you want to play well you have to practice on shooting on the move and getting in a better shape so you don’t get exhausted and start heaving up air while you have to be focused. So eat a little bit healthy, jog sometimes will give you more endurance and you will be alright.
So this was actually all I got this time! If I forgot one, leave some feedback in the comments!
* source: www.wikihow.com
*www.instructables.com
