Coming back after 15 years, and then some.. I'm so lost.

[Hellion360]

Good news is you can get a sweet angel for not a lot of money.
And the current boards take 9v and can be adjusted via bluetooth.

Angels still shoot aces, great guns. I use mine from time to time.

[Sherwoodsghost]

Just use what you like and have fun. Possibly find another angel and teach the kids that ask about it.
As for speed ball, that sounded more like rec ball, you'll have to find a team to communicate with or have to do a crash course before starting the pick up game.

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Been playing since 2012. So not to far off from 2010. Besides prices going up. Game has stayed the same. For sure less people are playing post covid though. Play like it's 2010 again I guess. Buy a planet eclipse setup and hit the field. Shoot them, while not getting shot yourself. Simplicity man. Other people can answer your other questions better.

Wear a watch?

[romeoecho84]

Coming back to the sport after a long time, and boy do I have a lot to catch up on. Some context and maybe you fine folks can help point me in the right direction for which rabbit hole to go back down. Not looking to get back into competition hardcore, but certainly doing local state-wide speedball / local 1-off tournaments.

I played from 96-2003, highlight being World Cup 99'. My marker was a plain black Angel LED, and I loved every shot with it. Fast forward to 2010; I decided to pick up the sport again, but sadly my Angel was sent off for repair/full service in 2010 and never returned (shop closed down/business went dark shortly after - Claims went nowhere).

Determined to "Get back in", I picked up an Ego (unsure of model, but I remember it was Champagne color) to replace said Angel, and it wasn't 'too much' of an adjustment, but the playtime only lasted about 6 months before having to give up the sport again (Met the now Mrs, kids, etc). In that short 6 months, things still felt as 'connected' as a few years prior.

So, now in 2025 with my Wife's colleagues getting into the sport for the first time, she volunteered me to go out and have some fun and help the guys feel not so 'new'. Guys.. it was a whole different world. I felt so foreign and out of place. I asked for a rental package and if they had an all-day Aircard, and if it was for CO2, Nitro or Compressed air... I got looked at like I had three heads. "What the F is an Aircard?" I got back as a reply. I wasn't offended at all, but luckily the Head Ref (who was about ~10 years younger) pulled me aside to bring me up to speed. When I asked "How do I clear a jammed bolt, there is no bolt-pin", I was told "They don't work like that anymore". I'm still processing that one...

Best I can gather from 3 hours on with a 30 man group of mixed pickups and skilled players and some dated Youtubing:

• Spool Valves markers reign supreme
• Poppet Valve markers are damn near extinct
• Hard to identify what brands are on top nowadays, who survived/bought out
• Tank Regulators are no longer common / tanks are all just screw in now?
• Timers (on heads or built into markers) are also a missing thing
• Theres now 'Mechanical' play and Electronic play (still getting up to speed on this)?
• Talking about props in yardlines and shapes was like speaking Greek to the pick up speed ballers (they had enough modern equipment > "they looked the part")
• Almost no communication, let alone friendly trash talk/after game banter

The game felt different. The random woodsball felt the same, but speedball and airball felt "empty & different". I'm not sure what all I was expecting, but the individualism of the game and play really struck me as stark.

I'm glad to be getting back into the sport, and seeing the change, but I feel like I've got some shell-shock. I know I've got a lot to catch up on, but I feel like I have to learn everything all over again. I know what I used to know, but not how to translate it to 2025.