V… is for velocity.
Now this is very, VERY important. No matter what level you play paintball at, velocity matters.
Don’t worry, we’re not gonna get bogged down in Science here; there are many articles explaining the theory of Velocity and how it works. The reason we mention velocity and the reason it makes it into our A-Z is because all paintball parks, no matter what the format, must enforce a legal maximum velocity setting for all paintball markers (300fps) to ensure safety. But what is velocity?
In simple terms, velocity is the speed in which something moves in one direction. In our case, a paintball. The higher the number, the higher the velocity rate, meaning the faster the paintball travels.
Parks will operate around the 260–300fps (feet per second) velocity range with 300fps being the MAXIMUM legal limit allowed. Anything more could cause injury to a player of varying degrees of severity. It’s pretty simple to adjust the velocity of most paintball markers, so there should never be an excuse to be over the legal limit when playing on the field. There are many factors that can cause velocity creep, such as heat, paint quality, accuracy of Chronograph (the device used to measure paintball velocity) but adjustments should always be made before walking onto the paintball field to keep things safe, and fun for everyone.
Many high-end tournament players will aim to set their markers as close to 300fps as they can to give their paintballs the advantage in terms of speed they travel, giving them more chance of hitting their opponents first. But, this is a high risk strategy and with variables at play can potentially cause an issue. Professional paintball players know the safe margins they can operate within and ensure they walk on the right side of the line.
For new players, paintball parks will always run at lower velocities to reduce any margins for error and to ensure all players have a safe and fun day.
So, play safe, be smart and have fun. And remember… 300 is the magic number.
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