paintball preperations?

ok, once i get my camera, i plan on shooting some team practices and hopefully some tournaments

i know there are paintball photographers in here, can you share some tips to get great shots, and also protect yourself and your gear
ive played for several years so im not afraid of getting hit, im afraid of my gear getting hit

ive seen people at national events shoot with wristbands around their lenses, does that even work?

little hints and tips would be awesome, thanks

I've shot paintball for over a year, I never use any protection. But I know people wrap their lens and body in plastic and also use rain covers, like the kata cover. Ummm lets see, there's some debate over uses filters or not, I have always shot without filters and have had multiple shots to the glass with no damage, but some people swear by filters. Basically just be smart out there, you understand the game so you can anticipate moves and try and get some cool and different angles. And don't spend the entire time worrying about your gear, for the most part camera gear is pretty tough.

The first time I shot I was overly protective of my camera, I had much more stuff to protect it than I needed. By the end of the day I had just a small hand towel wrapped around my 80-200 and protecting the body. Honestly since youve played and know the game you shouldnt be to worried about it

Pretty much what jimmy said, try to find those new and exiting angles

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one thing that i find helps with getting paint on your camera from rubbing and laying on the ground is taking a sock and cutting the toe off of it.. and if your camera dont have a bat. grip then it should fit around it perfectly.. and you can still use the lens through the sock.. but you wont get any bunker rub or any other form of oily paint on that nice camera of yours !!!
ive seen many people use really thick filters and swear by them.. the only hassle will be when you break it and getting the dang thing off .. i personally just make sure im away from the lanes of paint. laying down helps alot too. you could also place a towl over your head and your camera body. but then you cant really see where the paint is going. or who is makeing a move so then you could get lit up from across the field..

i would see no reason to not use a filter. theres a pic in pb2x or something where they gary baum or someone got hit in the lens, shattering their filter. filters arent that expensive at all, and if you do happen to get shot right in the lens you'll be glad you had a filter or two on there.

otherwise you should know where the paint lanes are...try to keep your camera out of them. jsut be smart about it. and have something clean to keep the lens clean. the closest ive gotten is a ball hit the lenshade....but it was my school camera. it didnt do anything but splatter everywhere, but i was way more careful after that.