Like anything in life, if you want to excel, you need to practice.  Paintball is no different in that you need to put in the hours to become as good as you can be.  This means that you have to improve your individual skills and your team skills.  You have to know your capabilities and your limitations.  You need to think on the same page as your team and you need to use your strengths to complement your teammates'.

Practice doesn't have to be hard and painful.  Paintball is a sport to be enjoyed and you can practice hard while still having lots of fun with it.  If you really want to excel, take the time you need to improve your skill set so that you can compete in top form.  Practicing doesn't assure victory, but it does help you play at the top of your game.

Twenty years ago, nobody would have thought about batteries when they decided it was time to play paintball.  They just popped on a 12 gram CO2 tank and headed out to play.  Now, though, basic maintenance typically requires changing your batteries, and not just for high-end guns.  If you want to stay on the field, make sure you have extra batteries in your bag.

Paintball equipment is not a good investment.  Some things appreciate with age, such as many houses, classic cars and baseball cards.  Paintball is not one of them.  Paintball equipment crashes in value as soon as you get it and then, if you wait a while, it depreciates even more over the course of the first year.  Since new equipment is rarely significantly better than the previous year's model, I highly recommend purchasing used gear.  You will get gear that will work phenomenally well and will save you an arm and a leg.

Between field fees, paintballs and air, it's easy to drop over $100 for a day of paintball.  If you add in the cost of equipment, clothing and other gear, the price of paintball increases substantially with time.  Because of the high prices, many people simply leave the sport, but that's not the only option.  If you are careful, selective and pay attention to how you play, there are many options for saving money.  Simply cutting back on paintballs is a great start but you can also reduce costs by being selective with where you play and the events you go to.  Even equipment, from guns to shoes, can be saved on if you look for used gear.  While it's fun to always go to every tournament and have the best gear, spending yourself out of the sport is not what you want to happen.