Why paintball sometimes bounce

We’ve all seen paintballs bounce, but can you do it on purpose?

One of the most frustrating sights is to watch your paintballs fly toward an opponent, land on him squarely, and then bounce off without bursting. Of course none of us would mind to be on the receiving end of the stick.

So how can you do it on purpose? First, we will have a logical discussion, and then get into the physics behind the infamous “bounce.”

First of all wear soft clothing. I have found long sleeve 100% cotton sweat shirts to be the most effective. Especially if worn over a few layers of cotton t-shirts. The more layers the better. Why cotton? Cotton is a very soft non-abrasive substance that absorbs a lot of the pressure when paintballs land on you. If you can find sweat shirts that are “heavy” cotton, that will be better. I remember once playing in colder weather with the clothing described above. I ran out of paintballs and made a run for the flag. I got the flag and was about to run back when I tripped. The opposing players began shooting me from their towers from about 10 feet away. I was hit over 30 times, but not a single ball broke. I ran back after getting up and made it unmarked.

Do not wear a lot of fanny packs or butt packs. These usually carry hard paint tubes. The surface is very hard and will easily break a paintball. The harder the surface the more breakage (see physics down below). I remember my younger brother playing once in a tournament with similar clothing. He was the last one left, three opponents were rushing him. He was shot over 50 times and not a single paintball broke. Finally someone shot him in his fanny pack.

Walk backwards while being shot. Why? The physics will explain, but for now it just softens the hit. Why do boxers move their heads back when taking a huge jab to the face? This will dramatically increase your survival rate. Once I was playing in a standing position walking backward when they began shooting at me. No balls broke on me. After the game the I heard opponents saying, “man, he’s invincible, I shot him so many times and he didn’t get eliminated.” They think it’s magic, I think it’s strategy.

Now why does all of this work? There is a little formula in physics that defines these strategies. The term in physics is “impulse.” But what is impulse? Impulse is usually denoted by the letter “J”. Impulse J equals the force multiplied by the change in time. Huh?

So how do we extend the time? All the tips we mentioned above. Walk backwards, wear softer clothes, and no hard fanny packs. Think about it, a paintball hitting a soft sweatshirt will stay in contact longer and hence lower the force. What about fanny packs? They are very hard, the paintball will hit them for a very short amount of time, and hence the force will increase. The force will be greater. What about walking backwards? Same deal, if you are walking backwards the paintball will stay in contact with you longer and the force would be decreased.

Now I am not suggesting that these tips will save you. Nor am I recommending these tips for use on a paintball field. After all, paintballs are made to break, let them do their job. I personally have stopped wearing multiple layers and now wear only a thin t-shirt. See my article on My Wear for a more definitive description of my clothing styles.

Be well and play safe!