Hey guys,

I was just out slinging this morning to start my day when I thought I would try out the style shown in David Taylor's videos. My style has always been a completely vertical throw, and it always does well and with a decent sized rock I can get it to about 250 or 300 feet without really straining myself. So I experimented with the horizontal throw and, after smacking myself in the back of the head, realized that it really does afford alot more velocity! Unfortunately I live in the suburbs so I am not able to practice that throw much since accuracy in the horizontal plane is much harder to perfect.

Have any of you had a similar experience?

I've found that an underhand whip gets more distance than overhand, even if I let it drift out to the side a bit (like an underhand/sidearm hybrid).  I think it's due to the backspin effect that's been discussed in other posts.  I want to try more sidearm stuff, just 'cause I think I'll be able to use a longer sling.

Hi WildAtHeart
I was born and rise in a big city (Madrid (Spain)3.000.000 people ) and it was hard to find a place for slinging, luckly we went afield almost all weekends and school was in the outskirts, so we could get out of school and find some open spaces. I started vertical and moved to horizontal with the time, i think just a matter of evolution as you get more confident with the sling. I also found horizontal more suitable for close range, that's why i moved to it.
When i coudn't go to a safety place for slinging at full power i used to practice slow slinging just  to keep on improoving accuracy and getting used to the sling motion, time of releasing etc....

I have always thought the horizontal spin felt more natural.  BUT there's the awful question of accuracy & safety.    A rock poorly launched from a vertical spin usually doesn't do a lot of damage.  A rock poorly launched from a horizontal spin can go anywhere.   mgreenfield

Right  mgreenfield.... i know where is my "danger" zone, and if there's people, i turn around so danger zone don't includes any people in a wide safety zone.
Also i know what can be dangerous shoots  (too big or too odd shaped stones... lot of spinning,  excesive force or strange movements ...) then i try to avoid all those and  to sling easy.

Yeah I've always used the vertical swing because I was afraid of hitting things to the sides of me. But I think if I go out in the woods I should be okay to practice my horizontal throw. I was amazed by how much velocity I felt at the release! The stones sounded like they were whizzing very very fast. I definitely want to experiment with this technique more.

Do you guys have any more tips for me? I still have alot to learn about slinging.