The Coaches Show

09/07/2026

08/31/2026

Unfortunately, both Ryan Gray and Zen and the Art of Paintball have commitments and will be unable to host a show tonight. Next Monday as well as it is Labor Day. But not to worry... they will be back before you know it! In the meantime. Check out their fantastic sponsors: MAXT BKi School of Paintball and Virtue!

08/30/2026

Sign up for the Coaches Clinic at
www.majorleaguepb.com/coachesshow

The clinic will ne held Thursday Sept 17th at the Major League Paintball vip area and pro field!

08/25/2026

PAST VS. CURRENT: Coaching, Culture & The Evolution of Paintball

This week on The Coaches Show, we’re joined by Coach Kevin Bredthauer of Tampa Bay Damage for a conversation that goes way beyond X’s and O’s.

Paintball has changed dramatically over the last 10–15 years. The players are different. The technology is different. The coaching is different.

But have we actually gotten better?

We’re putting Kevin in the hot seat to find out.

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� SEGMENT 1 — PAST VS. CURRENT

Ryan grills Kevin with questions about how the game — and coaching — has evolved.

What do teams routinely underestimate?

What did teams do 10–15 years ago that we wish they still did today?

Are today’s players more skilled, or simply skilled in different ways?

Has coaching become more important as the game has become more sophisticated?

Has technology made players better thinkers — or more dependent on information?

Is coaching harder than playing?

How do you coach a player who doesn’t agree with you?

And then we get personal:

What’s your biggest weakness as a coach?

What’s one coaching mistake that taught you something important?

What’s something you used to believe about coaching that you no longer believe?

And there’s just one catch…

� If Kevin gets it wrong, the shock collar might come out.

The audience gets to decide.

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� SEGMENT 2 — AGREE vs. DISAGREE

Two coaches. A statement. No sitting on the fence.

We’ll tackle some of the biggest debates in coaching:

“The best player should always be on the field.”

“Practice should be harder than a tournament.”

“Players need to earn playing time.”

“A coach should never yell at his players.”

“You can’t coach effort.”

“Culture is more important than talent.”

“A coach’s job is to make players uncomfortable.”

“The best teams don’t need motivation.”

“Players should understand why they’re doing a drill.”

And perhaps the most controversial:

“Sometimes you have to hurt a player’s feelings to make him better.”

Agree or disagree?

Let’s find out.

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� SEGMENT 3 — OPEN FORUM & STORY TIME

We’re opening the floor to you.

We’ll take questions from the live chat, talk coaching, answer your questions, and let Kevin tell some of the stories that have made him one of the most entertaining coaches to have on the show.

And if you’ve watched Kevin on The Coaches Show before…

You already know story time can get interesting. �

� DROP YOUR QUESTIONS IN THE CHAT!

What would you ask Coach Kevin Bredthauer?

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� LONESTAR COACHES CLINIC

Want to take your coaching to the next level?

Sign up for the LoneStar Coaches Clinic:
Major League Paintball — Coaches Clinic

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� THE COACHES SHOW IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

BKI Paintball
Maxt Sportswear
Thunder Valley Paintball
VIRTUE Paintball

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting The Coaches Show and the paintball coaching community!

08/14/2026

What if we’re watching paintball points all wrong?

On this episode of The Coaches Show, we’re taking a different look at how coaches and players should analyze a point.

Instead of simply watching a point as a series of events — the break, the first kill, the moves, and the finish — we’re breaking it down as a series of changing problems that teams have to solve.

� THE ANATOMY OF A POINT

THE BREAK — What Are We Trying to Accomplish?
What information are we trying to obtain? What territory are we trying to establish? What interaction are we trying to create? And what does success actually look like?

CONTACT — What Did We Learn in the First 10 Seconds?
Did we survive the break? Where are the zones and positions? Who has field control? Did the game plan survive first contact?

INITIATIVE — Who Is Making Who Respond?
What do we want the opponent to react to? Have we gained, lost, or maintained the initiative?

THE MIDGAME — What Problem Has to Be Solved?
Where is the choke point? What is keeping the point from moving forward? What is an acceptable risk?

THE CLOSE — Controlled or Chaotic?
Are we closing the point on our terms, or are we simply hoping the point ends in our favor?

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� WHY DO GOOD TEAMS LOSE?

We’ll also break down five patterns that can cause good teams to lose points they should win:

1. Winning the Break but Losing the Point
Getting the initial advantage doesn’t mean you’ve converted it.

2. Gaining an Advantage Without Exploiting It
We’ll look at three critical types of advantage:
• Numerical
• Positional
• Information

3. Taking Unnecessary Risks
How should a team’s risk tolerance change based on the score?

4. The Communication Gap
What happens when the game plan says one thing, but reality on the field says something completely different?

5. When the Game Plan Stops Working
The mistake isn’t having a game plan.

The mistake is becoming loyal to the plan instead of loyal to the objective.

This episode is all about decision-making, communication, risk, initiative, and coaching philosophy — and our goal is to get you to watch the next paintball point differently.

� JOIN THE CONVERSATION

What do you think is the #1 reason good teams lose?

Drop your answer in the comments and let us know what you see when you watch a point.

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� LONESTAR COACHES CLINIC

Want to take your coaching to the next level?

Sign up for the LoneStar Coaches Clinic:
Major League Paintball — Coaches Show / Coaches Clinic⁠

⸻

� THE COACHES SHOW IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

BKI Paintball
Maxt Sportswear
Thunder Valley Paintball
VIRTUE Paintball

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting The Coaches Show and the paintball coaching community!

08/13/2026

🔥 WHY DO GOOD TEAMS LOSE?

On this episode of The Coaches Show, we’re looking at paintball differently.

Instead of watching a point as a series of events, we’re breaking it down as a series of problems teams have to solve.

🎯 The Break
💥 First Contact
🧠 Initiative
⚔️ The Midgame
🏁 The Close

And most importantly — why do good teams gain advantages but fail to convert them?

👇 What’s the #1 reason good teams lose? Tell us in the comments!

🎟️ SIGN UP FOR THE LONESTAR COACHES CLINIC:
www.majorleaguepb.com/coachesshow

Brought to you by:
🔥 BKI Paintball
🔥 Maxt Sportswear
🔥 Thunder Valley Paintball
🔥 VIRTUE Paintball

PaintballPodcast PaintballStrategy MajorLeaguePaintball

08/10/2026

Moving this show to Thursday this week!