Tournament Ready?

So, with the next Blitz tournament coming up, lets talk about things to do to help you get ready.

This wont have anything to do with practicing, because hopefully you have already gotten that part out of the way.

This is more from a personal stand point, a check list of things to do, if you will.

1.  Clean your marker! --  I mean really clean it, take it apart (carefully) and clean the eyes, the breach, the bolt, etc.  A clean gun is an accurate gun, so make sure that thing is clean!  A word of caution though, you don't want to break anything the week before a tournament since it will be tough to get it fixed in time so be careful.

2.  Clean your hopper. --  This can sometimes be over looked, maybe you didn't break any balls in your hopper last time you played.  It doesn't matter, clean it again, take it apart carefully and fully clean it out.  Clean the inside and outside of the shell, clean the feed tray really well.  The cleaner the better.  Again, be careful.

3.  Clean your barrel.  --  I suppose this would go along with cleaning your marker, but I feel it is important enough to get its own spot.  It doesn't matter if you broke paint in it last weekend or not, clean it again.  Take a old toothbrush and clean out all of the porting as well.  This is a huge contributor of accuracy, so don't miss this step!

4.  Wash all of your washable stuff.  --  This includes your jersey, pants, pads, pack (make sure you Velcro all the straps back up as it will help the pack last longer), barrel swabs, barrel bags, any type of head wear that you use.  This will get all of the old paint that was on these items off, making it much easier on the reff's to not pull you for any old hits.

5.  Clean your pods.  --  Pretty simple, if you have a dishwasher just through them in there, don't put dishes in with it though.  If not just fill up a sink with hot soapy water and let them sit in there for a while.  Make sure to get all the old paint out, and any other dirt that might be on them.  Re-label them after your done so you can find your pods easier.

6.  Now that you have cleaned all of your stuff, (make sure it all works again; gas up your gun and dry fire it a few times, turn your hopper on and make sure it works)  Now its time to pack everything into your gear bag.  I like to lay everything out first, so that I can see what I'm bringing before putting it into my bag.  After I'm done, I'll mentally double/triple check that I have everything.

7.  Pack extra of everything.  --  If you have an extra mask, take it, if you have an extra pack, take it.  Murphy's law is in effect.  If something is going to break, it will happen at a tournament, so if you have extra bring it!

8.  Last but not least, get a good nights rest.  Also make sure to eat something before you go play.  Pack food items and water or Gatoraid.