Player Movement, Time, Distance, and Exposure

4. Player movement: time, distance, and exposure

This section describes simple models for how long a player takes to move between positions on a paintball field, and how that movement compares to paintball flight times. All distances are defined in relation to clearly specified positions on the field, so that comparisons between player movement and ball travel are physically consistent.

4.1 Simplified movement model

Two nominal ground speeds are used to represent player movement in full gear:

Average player in full gear: 15 ft/s. Fast front player: 20 ft/s.

For a movement distance d (in feet) along the path the player runs between two positions on the field, the travel times are:

t_player,avg(d) = d / 15, t_player,fast(d) = d / 20,

where:

t is time in seconds, and d is the ground distance in feet between the player’s starting position and ending position along their actual run path.

These speeds are simple working models. They are slower than track sprint speeds (because of gear, footing, and field conditions) but fall within realistic human ranges. They are not official league standards.

4.1.1 Distances relative to the shooting player

When these movement times are later compared with paintball flight times, two distinct distances are used:

Movement distance d_move is the ground distance the moving player covers between a defined start position and end position on the field (for example, from their own start box to a specific bunker). Ball distance d_ball is the straight line distance in the air from the shooting player’s marker to the point in space where the moving player is located when the ball would intersect their path.

In any numerical comparison:

Player time uses d_move between the moving player’s starting and ending ground positions. Ball time uses d_ball from the shooting player to the moving player’s position at the relevant moment.

This keeps all timing relationships defined explicitly from the shooting player to the moving player’s position at any point along the run.

4.2 Example movement times

For reference, travel times at 15 ft/s and 20 ft/s for some common distances are:

10 ft: average player 10 / 15 ≈ 0.67 s; fast player 10 / 20 = 0.50 s. 20 ft: average player 20 / 15 ≈ 1.33 s; fast player 20 / 20 = 1.00 s. 30 ft: average player 30 / 15 = 2.00 s; fast player 30 / 20 = 1.50 s. 40 ft: average player 40 / 15 ≈ 2.67 s; fast player 40 / 20 = 2.00 s. 60 ft: average player 60 / 15 = 4.00 s; fast player 60 / 20 = 3.00 s. 90 ft: average player 90 / 15 = 6.00 s; fast player 90 / 20 = 4.50 s.

These values represent the total time a player would need to traverse the corresponding ground distance between two positions, assuming they maintain the nominal speed for the entire run.

4.3 Measuring ground distances on a paintball field

4.3.1 Using the tournament style grid (layout diagrams)

Standard tournament layouts often use a tournament style grid (for example, 150 ft × 120 ft with 10 ft × 10 ft squares). On such a diagram:

1. Identify the moving player’s starting bunker and destination bunker. 2. Count the number of grid squares separating them: Squares across (sideways on the field). Squares downfield (toward the opposing start box). 3. Convert squares to feet using 10 ft per square.

Example:

If the run is 1 square sideways and 3 squares downfield from the start box to a bunker:

Horizontal component: 1 × 10 = 10 ft. Vertical component: 3 × 10 = 30 ft.

A straight line ground distance between those two points is:

d_move = √(10² + 30²) = √(100 + 900) = √1000 ≈ 31.6 ft.

If a player’s path is an actual diagonal run that closely follows this line, this 31–32 ft value can be used for their movement time.

In later comparisons to ball travel, the line of sight distance from the shooting player to any point on that path is d_ball, which may differ from d_move depending on where the shooter is located.

4.3.2 Using a measuring wheel or tape on the field

On a physical field, distances are commonly obtained with a tape or measuring wheel:

1. Place the zero point at the front edge of the moving player’s starting bunker. 2. Walk or roll along the actual ground path the player would run (straight or curved). 3. Stop at the front edge of the destination bunker. 4. Read the distance in feet.

Example:

Start box to a D1 bunker measured along the ground path = 45 ft.

This 45 ft is then used as d_move in the movement formulas.

Separately, for ball travel calculations, the straight line air distance from the shooting player’s marker to points along this 45 ft path defines d_ball for those positions.

4.3.3 Converting ground distance into movement time

Once a ground distance d_move has been measured:

Average player time: t_player,avg = d_move / 15. Fast player time: t_player,fast = d_move / 20.

Example with d_move = 45 ft:

Average: 45 / 15 = 3.0 s. Fast: 45 / 20 = 2.25 s.

These values describe how long an average or fast player, modeled at those speeds, would typically take to move from the starting position to the ending position along that 45 ft path.

4.4 Exposure: "time in view" along a line of sight

In a neutral, physical sense, exposure describes how long a part of a player’s body is visible along a line of sight between two positions on the field (for example, between a shooting player and a moving or peeking player).

4.4.1 Exposure during a run between bunkers

Consider a player running from one bunker to another with no intermediate hard cover, and a shooting player whose line of sight intersects that path. If the run distance is d_run along the ground and the path remains visible from the shooting position, then:

Average player exposure duration (for that path): t_exposure,avg ≈ d_run / 15. Fast player exposure duration: t_exposure,fast ≈ d_run / 20.

These are the same as the movement times, because the runner is out of cover for the full time they are traveling between the two bunkers along a visible path.

Example:

Ground distance between two bunkers d_run = 20 ft. Average player: 20 / 15 ≈ 1.33 s. Fast player: 20 / 20 = 1.0 s.

If the run is fully visible from the shooting player’s position, the moving player is in view along that line of sight for roughly 1–1.3 seconds.

The corresponding ball distance d_ball for any given shot is the straight line air distance from the shooting player’s marker to the moving player’s position at the moment that shot is taken.

4.4.2 Exposure during a snap or peek

When a player is behind a bunker and performs a brief lean or snap out of cover:

Only part of the body (for example, mask and marker) becomes visible. The actual movement distance in space is small (often on the order of inches to a foot).

Here, exposure can be described by a duration t_peek:

t_peek is the time interval during which any vulnerable part of the player is outside hard cover along a given line of sight. In practice, t_peek can range roughly: Around 0.2–0.3 s for very brief, tight snapshots. 0.5–1.0 s or more for slower or more extended peeks.

The straight line distance d_ball for a shot in this situation is measured from the shooting player’s marker to the exposed part of the opponent at the moment of the shot.

4.4.3 Relation to reaction time and ball flight

Typical simple human visual reaction times are often around 0.25 s from stimulus to muscular response, though real world values vary.

If the ball speed is approximated as 300 ft/s in air, the ball time to a target at line of sight distance d_ball (in feet) is:

t_ball = d_ball / 300.

A simple combined reaction plus ball time can then be represented as:

t_reaction+ball ≈ 0.25 s + t_ball.

Examples:

At 30 ft line of sight distance: t_ball = 30 / 300 = 0.10 s. t_reaction+ball ≈ 0.25 + 0.10 = 0.35 s.

At 60 ft line of sight distance: t_ball = 60 / 300 = 0.20 s. t_reaction+ball ≈ 0.25 + 0.20 = 0.45 s.

Neutral timing relationships:

If t_peek is much shorter than t_reaction+ball, a purely reactive shot has relatively little time to be seen, fired, and physically arrive at the exposed point during that same peek. If t_peek is much longer than t_reaction+ball, the exposure window is long enough that a reactive shot can plausibly be seen, initiated, and have a ball reach the exposed location before the peek ends.

These comparisons depend on:

The line of sight distance d_ball from the shooting player to the exposed part of the opponent, and The opponent’s exposure duration t_peek or run time.

4.5 Movement times and ball times: physical limits

Using the same ball speed model of 300 ft/s, ball time for a straight line distance d_ball is:

t_ball = d_ball / 300.

Example with a 45 ft line of sight distance from the shooting player to a point on the runner’s path:

t_ball = 45 / 300 = 0.15 s.

If the moving player’s ground distance between starting and ending positions along their run is also 45 ft, the corresponding movement times from earlier are:

Average player: t_player,avg = 45 / 15 = 3.0 s. Fast player: t_player,fast = 45 / 20 = 2.25 s.

Comparing these:

The paintball covers the 45 ft line of sight distance in 0.15 s. The player needs 2.25–3.0 s to complete the 45 ft ground run between bunkers.

A neutral conclusion from this is that at distances where player movement is on the order of seconds and ball flight is on the order of tenths of a second, a paintball can physically arrive at a point on the player’s path long before the player completes the movement, provided that the shooting player has a line of sight to that point and the timing of the shot and the player’s position along the path align.

This does not imply any particular tactic. It simply reflects the difference between human scale running speeds (15–20 ft/s on the ground) and paintball flight speeds (about 300 ft/s along the line of sight). It also highlights that outrunning a paintball in mid flight in a strict physical sense is not realistic; what matters is when and where the moving player is exposed in relation to the shooting player’s position and the ball’s time of flight.

4.6 Simple conceptual analogy

A simple way to visualize the scale of these numbers without any field specific context is to imagine a 30 ft line on the ground between two points:

A geared up player modeled at 15 ft/s needs about 2 seconds to run that 30 ft. A ball traveling at 300 ft/s needs about 0.10 s to traverse the same 30 ft line in the air.

If the shooting player is at one end of that line and a moving player passes through a point along it, then the player’s movement between positions is measured in full seconds, while the ball’s travel from shooter to that same point is measured in fractions of a second.

The overall framework is:

Distance: Ground distance between the moving player’s starting and ending positions along the run path (d_move). Line of sight air distance from the shooting player to the moving player’s position at a given moment (d_ball).

Speed: Nominal player speeds (15 or 20 ft/s on the ground). Nominal ball speed (300 ft/s in air).

Time: Movement time = distance ÷ speed for the player. Ball time = distance ÷ speed for the paintball. Reaction plus ball time = reaction delay plus ball time.

Combining these definitions produces a neutral, physics based description of player movement, exposure, and ball flight on a paintball field, always measured from clearly defined starting and ending positions in relation to both the moving player and the shooting player.