“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” —Mahatma Gandhi

Take 14 athletes of comparable stamina, strength, endurance, and speed. In fact, make all of them exactly alike physically and throw them into competition against each other. Who wins? If no one's stronger, faster, or more bodily able, what would be the deciding factor? One answer: the mind. Since day one, paintball has been more about the mental aspects of tactics, strategy, and achieving a goal than it has been about brute strength and speed. It's one of the only sports where you can just as easily outhink your opponent as outrun them. Some people have gained enough control over their minds so they can think clearly in any game situation. Others, like Thomas Taylor, have evolved to such a level of mental concentration that it borders on pre-cognition. He doesn't need to guess what you're going to do, he already knows, and just when you think he's going to come at you from the right, you take five balls in the back of the head from the left. He's Albert Einstein with a mohawk, and twice the attitude. And when it comes to a winning mentality, he couldn't think as slow as you if he tried.

1. Over the past couple of years you've become recognized as one of the most destructive players in the league, which is not easily attained when the rest of your team are a bunch of all-stars, but you originally started your pro career with the Ironmen. What was the transition like to make the move over to XSV and switch play styles?

Well, the transition from Ironmen to XSV team wise was really easy considering the majority of the guys that started XSV all came from the Ironmen. The transition from NXL paintball to 7-man wasn't that easy, though. The style of play I had learned the year before as a first-year pro, was fast-pace running and gunning down the field. It took me a few months and a couple of tournaments to figure out not only what my job was in 7-man but also how to be successful in smashing people at the pro level.

2. After a full year of being second in command to team Dynasty, XSV is looking like they're quickly becoming the new team to beat. What in particular do you think has happened that’s now putting XSV over the top of the competition?

I think there are a couple things that have happened that are putting us at the top. First off we are now on our third season together and are gelling really well. In the last year we have made a few key pick-ups to give ourselves the deepest roster of top players in paintball. So now if anyone’s having an off day, there's a person who can play for them and keep the team playing at its best.

3. Do you think the loss of Oliver Lang was a big enough hit to Dynasty to cause them to lose HB to you guys for the first time ever, or was it just a combination of adding new players to your roster like Dave Bains, Glen Takemoto, etc.?

I think actually Dynasty came out even more hungry to win HB than they ever have. They were trying to prove to everyone that they could win without Oliver. I felt that we just out game-planned and outplayed them in the finals. Everyone on our team played really well.

4. Since its inception, XSV has always been considered one of the best three teams in the world. What makes your guys' practices and training so much more efficient then your competition?

I can't really say whether our practices and training are more efficient. What I do know is that we practice more than any other top pro team out there. We also have workout and diet programs that most everyone has been on since the beginning to keep us in top shape. I guess there has always been the extra motivation from the beginning to prove to ourselves that we can be the best team in the world, not just top three.

5. We’ve pegged you as one of the most focused players in the world, taking measured risks, reaping big gains, and really getting into your opponents' heads, to their detriment and your advantage. When did you start adopting this style of play for yourself?

I would have to say I adopted this style of play around age four or five. That’s when I started playing sports and from what I can remember it’s always been the same. I learned in football and in rugby to hit 'em hard and make sure they remember it. In wrestling I found that overcoming your opponent was 80 percent mental. So not only do I always feel that I can beat my opponent but I want them to think that I can beat them, too.

6. You’ve excelled at playing both 7-man and Xball formats. Is your tactic and strategy mindset different for each paintball format you play? How do you mentally approach each variation?

Yes, 7-man and Xball you have to play completely different. In 7-man I have to calm myself down and know that every move or decision I make can win or lose us a game. So, when I make a move I make sure that it's open and I don't force it. If I am in a gun battle with a couple of guys and being overpowered, I have to relax and get one of my teammates to help me out. Whereas in Xball it’s usually ride or die, make the move and blow the game open. Every now and then you can get caught or not blow the game open but there are 30 more minutes to get the point back.

7. How important of a role do you think intimidation and mind games play in paintball, where unlike other sports, you really only have a very small amount of time to make your moves and get your points?

I think it plays a huge role in paintball. If you can get under a player's skin, you can get them out of their game. When you bunker a guy and punish him he will think twice about going to that 50 again.

8. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about not only your own personal strategy on the field, but also those of your opponents?

I like to concentrate mainly on what I am going to do rather than on what the other team is going to do. It's good to have an idea of the other team's strategies so maybe you can tweak your game plan just a little to gain an advantage, but you don’t want to get stuck playing another team's style. If you play your way and make the other team have to do the same, then you can get them out of their element and put them on their heels. Right where you want them.

9. What can players do to help shake any intimidation factor and get their heads back into the game if they lose focus?

Well personally I don't really ever get intimidated. I would have to say always go into any match, any gun battle, knowing that you can beat the other person.

10. Is there anything in particular that players can do or work on to really get into the other team's minds, both to get a better sense of their game plan and how to approach competition, and also for intimidation purposes?

I think to really get into other teams' minds, you can never show any fear or lack of confidence. Figuring out a team's game plan can be done by sizing up their players and abilities, but mostly you have to watch and see what they do and what their tendencies are.

11. With the physicality of players becoming more and more important in competition-level paintball, should aspiring professional players be spending more time working on the physical aspects of the game or the mental?

With the way the sport has changed over the last few years and the way it seems to be going, being in good physical shape is a must. To make it to the pro level now you can't only be a good shot, a good laner, you also need to be able to react quickly and make moves. In years past you would play 12 games in a tournament. Now you can play 12 games in 50 minutes. Without being in good shape you won't make it. That’s not to say that being mentally tough isn't needed also. You can be a physical specimen, but if you're not strong enough to pick yourself up when you're having a bad game or get past the taunting of other teams, you will fall apart.

12. Is there anything in particular you do before a practice or a big game to get yourself mentally prepared for the upcoming challenge?

I was always taught to visualize your moves one by one before you make them. Minutes before the game starts I tend to get quiet, going over my job in my head, seeing myself sliding into my bunker shooting my lane or winning my gun battle and advancing down the field. Then there’s right before the game starts where my emotions start flowing. I get really loud and I am ready to tear the other team's head off.

13. Being in great shape yourself, how much emphasis do you put on diet and exercise in your training program, and do you feel that taking care of your body is giving your mind the positive energy it needs to succeed?

I feel it’s the biggest thing that has helped me to stand out over my competition. Since the first week I was picked up on a pro team I have been working out and maintaining a decent diet. Keeping myself in good physical shape keeps me in the top and will prolong my career. I wouldn't say that working out gives my mind positive energy, but it helps to feel I am as fast or as strong as anyone I am going to face.

14. Take us through a sample diet plan of yours as well as a typical workout session.

My diet basically consists of this: four or five meals a day, some sort of protein with every meal, good carbs (oatmeal, wheat, red potatoes), vegetables, and lots of water. In all my workouts I am training for muscle endurance. So whether I am working legs or upper body I am doing 15-25 reps or as many reps as I can do in a minute with short breaks of 45 seconds between sets. A lot of the workouts I do are called cross-fit. That’s where you’re basically working out a few different muscles while strengthening your core and getting a cardiovascular workout.

15. If a new tournament player is going out for some individual practice, what kind of practice routine would you recommend to help build up their confidence level, help them focus, and just raise their overall paintball game awareness?

The best practice routine always consists of working on the basic fundamentals of paintball. This would include snapshooting, running, learning how to play different styles of bunkers, and running and shooting. For snapshooting you can do a number of things. When you’re at home you can always use a mirror to snapshoot in. Even though some may make fun, snapshooting in a mirror helps you to see if your elbow is sticking out, if you're leading with your hopper, and what angle your barrel is at. A lot of the time you're out at the field, you think you're doing everything good but without someone to tell you those things you may not notice. Every weekend at the field a player should do at least a couple hoppers of snapshooting left hand and right hand at a target no bigger than a pod. Along with that, I always try to snapshoot with someone better than me to make my reactions quicker, force me to make my shots better and give me a goal to reach. Rich Telford pounded me into the ground for months before I could even beat him 50 percent of the time. The next thing to do is practice your shots from different bunkers and different positions. For example, do some snapshooting from one Dorito to another and from a lay-down to another (use a snake if possible). Getting comfortable playing all these bunkers will help your confidence in a game and make you a versatile player.

In today’s game, running and shooting is becoming a must. The first drill I like to do is running out to a corner while shooting at the back center. This will help in both Xball and 7-man. On some of the 7-man fields they are setting up now, the corners are a hard run, but if you can put paint back on the shooters you will make it out. The next drill would be running straight up the field, shooting at a 40 bunker or a back corner. With this you can learn to take a center 50 and get a G off the break. The last running and shooting drill I like to do that is great for making those big moves and breaking games open is a run-through drill. Set up targets (cones, buckets) behind four bunkers down the field. Place them so you have to run at least half the length of the field to bunker all four and make sure you switch from left hand to right hand, back and forth.

16. When practicing as a team, what drills does XSV utilize that any team should add to their repertoire.

Well, besides the basics I have talked about, we have a couple drills that work really well for team communication and making moves. One drill we do is the 50-yard-line drill. We will pick out a 50 bunker that is key to winning a game, like the center knuckle of the snake, for instance. Then we will put three or four guys in certain bunkers on each side of the field. The object of the drill is to get into the 50 and hold it for 10 seconds. Even if you’re the last guy left alive on your team, you're still trying to get into the 50. If one team gets a guy in and he lives for 10 seconds, the drill is over and new people rotate in. This drill helps players to move and realize the importance of having those key 50-yard-line bunkers.

The other drill we do a lot is three-on-five with a one to two-minute time limit, close-out drill. All the players start in their bunkers as if a game had been going on and these were the positions that were still alive. The goal for the three is to hold their lanes, communicate and shoot out the five as they advance. Now the main thing we are working on in this drill is the five people closing the game out and not losing bodies. This really forces the five to work together, with putting people before making moves, playing off each other's moves, and using positions to pinch players out. If the five cannot shoot out the three and do it without losing many bodies then they lose.

17. What should all your fans out there expect to see from XSV for the rest of 2006?

In the 2006 season I think our fans and everyone else should expect to see us in the top at most events. I also think we will bring home more first places than we did last year and hopefully that will lead to a first place overall for us.

18. Anyone you would like to thank?

Well, I always thank my dad for just being himself but I would also like to thank Rich because he’s done everything he can to help me become a top player.