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Message started by Paleoarts on Oct 18th, 2011 at 2:57am

Title: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by Paleoarts on Oct 18th, 2011 at 2:57am
Q: what is the best type of sling?
Q: what is the best length of sling?
Q: what is the best material for slings?
Q: what is the best style of slinging?
Q: what is the best type of ammo?
Q: what is the best ammo weight?

A: to all of the above...whatever works best for you. try everything and settle on what feels right and gives you the best results.  :P

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by curious_aardvark on Oct 18th, 2011 at 6:49am
lol
you left a few out.

q: how do I get accurate with a sling ?
q: how do i increase my distance ?
q: how do I stop hitting myself with the sling ?

a: practice

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by JamHam on Oct 18th, 2011 at 1:13pm
Well, that's the end of the slinging.org forum I guess :)

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by Masiakasaurus on Oct 18th, 2011 at 1:45pm
;D I'm putting a link to this in the "advice to beginners thread." Not that anyone will read it. :P

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by Paleoarts on Oct 18th, 2011 at 9:56pm

JamHam wrote on Oct 18th, 2011 at 1:13pm:
Well, that's the end of the slinging.org forum I guess :)


;D lol!

and, C_A, you got that right. advice we should all follow more  ;)

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by curious_aardvark on Oct 19th, 2011 at 7:25am

JamHam wrote on Oct 18th, 2011 at 1:13pm:
Well, that's the end of the slinging.org forum I guess :)


lmao - if only (kidding)
All of those questions are asked - several times a month, at least.
Nothing we do can stop people asking the same questions without first looking at the forum and finding the answers.

It's one of the reasons we have such a high active member turnover.
People sign up, ask the same questions and don't come back lol

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by Aussie on Oct 20th, 2011 at 2:28am
Of course I appreciate the humour in the above but really they're quite valid questions for a newbie. Everyone starting out on some hobby or skill usually likes to be told, "do it this way, at least for starters and develop your own style later".  However, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons we have a high turnover rate is that people are put off by how hard it is to get to even a reasonable standard. Slaying Goliath turns out to be a good deal more difficult than just whipping the laces out of your shoes and grabbing a nearby stone to sling.

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by curious_aardvark on Oct 20th, 2011 at 9:47am
true. Also todays society emphasises the 'instant'.

If you can't have something yesterday people tend to lose interest and go do something else.
Slinging is very much old school long term  :-)

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by fattybones on Oct 22nd, 2011 at 6:39am
In all seriousness, Accuracy: focus on a small part of the target, not your arms! And remain calm and perhaps slightly aggressive (like archers and riflemen).  Distance is poor?  Lean into the throw (like throwing other things), and see if you can make a better sling.  

But also practice.  Sling takes all kinds of practice.  There is no missile weapon IME you need to work harder at just to hit 50% at twenty feet on a meter target >:(.  Unless you're lucky to be talented, in which case it'll only take a couple months.  (in comparison, do that with a bow in a few days, or a slingshot in an hour :))  It took me at least a week to be less than dangerously bad -- but it's worth it when you smash your first bottle, or shatter a rock! 8-)

It took me a week of research before I could throw my first stone.  But I didn't find the forum right away.  Semi-pro-tip: start with Apache so you don't wreck yourself.  And it's totally worth it once you start getting skills!

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by xxkid123 on Oct 23rd, 2011 at 2:45pm
as soon as i have time to sling again, i'm going to test an accuracy theory. i focus on a target, make sure i'm oriented, then close my eyes and picture where my target is, and sling at it with my eyes still closed. that way i don't know where the sling is going so i can't adjust and make a mistake, and my natural slinging instinct takes over. idk, sounds something weird but certainly is worth a try.

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by Rat Man on Oct 23rd, 2011 at 6:29pm
A good bowling tip I recently learned also applies well to slinging.  Use your laser eye.  Imagine you have laser vision.  Instead of just looking at your taraget you pick a small part of it.  In bowling your target is usually an arrow painted on the lane.  Using this tip, you focus on the back right corner of the arrow instead of the entire arrow.  You're not just looking though, you're burning the target with your laser eye, like focusing the sun with a magnifying glass.  You can't look away from your target or you'll stop burning it and have to start all over.  
I tried using this silly trick while bowling last week and it actually worked.  It helps you to concentrate on the target and keeps you from looking away from it, which is a big problem most bowlers have.  

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by Whipartist on Oct 24th, 2011 at 2:13am
The irony to the answer to the above questions is that although they are valid for newbies to ask, the only thing you can really say is, "whatever works for you."  I think we often describe what we think is giving us success but the sheer complexity of what we are doing makes really defining that extremely obscure and difficult to understand, communicate, or get right.  Hence this forum remains popular year after year.

Q: what is the best type of sling?  

One which:

1. Doesn't twist up in use.
2. Opens quickly when the release cord is let go of.
3. Doesn't let your ammo slip out before you release it.
4. Doesn't hurt your hand to use as in excessive blisters.

Q: what is the best length of sling?

It depends on your goal.  An overall good length of sling is one which can be held in the hand and reaches to the shoulder, or to the heart if you prefer long.  Heavy rocks for long slings.  Light rocks for short slings, generally.  But there are many other factors which may make one lean one way or another.

Q: what is the best material for slings?

Whatever meets the above criteria and is also durable and low maintenance.

Q: what is the best style of slinging?

Generally...

Whatever is easiest for you to perform in a repeatable and accurate way.
Whatever allows you to throw directly at your target at moderate range and hit it.
Whatever gives you good enough power to accomplish your goals for said target.

Q: what is the best type of ammo?

If you don't care about cancer, then get depleted uranium.  The best projectiles are almost always the densest.  

Q: what is the best ammo weight?

Whatever floats your boat, is light enough to manage, heavy enough to feel, light enough to throw a long ways, and heavy enough to do damage when it gets there.

q: how do I get accurate with a sling ?  

Practice, journal your results and your techniques.  Learn where you need to concentrate in order to be accurate.  Experiment and discover.  Practice of a technique which only works ok for you, isn't as good as sampling all techniques until you start to have better success.  Then keep and open mind and keep trying new things until you can narrow down and make decisions about what what your favorite techniques are based on having practiced hard at all of them.    

q: how do i increase my distance ?

Practice.  Maybe some weight training.

q: how do I stop hitting myself with the sling ?

Seriously, just stop slinging.  Just as long as you don't hit yourself with the stone, you'll be ok.


Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by fattybones on Nov 2nd, 2011 at 6:51am

Whipartist wrote on Oct 24th, 2011 at 2:13am:

If you don't care about cancer, then get depleted uranium.  The best projectiles are almost always the densest.  


Small chance of mutant powers that would remove the need for weapons at all. :D

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by paracordslinger on Nov 3rd, 2011 at 10:01pm
have the sliing grow into your hand: I AM THE MIGHTY SLIGING.ORG MAN!

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by fletch_man on Nov 4th, 2011 at 12:41pm
I'm sure someone has already mentioned this but, watch all the you-tubes on slinging.  Sometimes just seeing it helps you to understand the principals.  I watched this skinny little kid that had an absolutely vicious apache style stroke.  Sometimes a you-tube is worth a thousand words.

Title: Re: some quick 'answers' to begginer's questions
Post by fletch_man on Nov 4th, 2011 at 12:45pm
Sorry, I meant principles.  Or the Teachers for that matter..............................

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