mgreenfield,                                                                               
   This is an interesting topic, as the sling is a fascinating instrument but a difficult one. I will admit that my experience is very limited, but over the past several months I have come to some conclusions, which while not definitive, at least give me a general direction:                  
                                                                                                   
   I use the "Apache" technique, as I have had little luck with other more complex techniques. Obviously, much more experienced slingers like the Bealearic islanders can do amazing things, but for a beginner SIMPLE is probably better.                                                               
    Don't worry about extreme accuracy at first, go for form. It took me about 200 throws to get a good feel for the technique and to consistently get a good trajectory.                                                
    Don't get discouraged: EXPECT a long learning curve. Give yourself the time. I find that I can really concentrate for only about the first 20 throws ( although I've done up to forty in one session.) Great fun though slinging is, if you do too much in one session your accuracy will suffer because you cannot maintain your concentration.      
    I am now at the point where I am trying for an overhead arc that is consistent from shot to shot. This has improved my accuracy in windage (side to side) and I can now hit a tree trunk about 60% of the time from about 20 yards. (Tree trunks are good for practice because they are tall, narrow targets.) This is after about 300 to 350 throws. Pay particular attention to the angle of your body to the tree trunk. Try to repeat this angle cosistently.                                                                                          
    As you throw, try to analyze your form. Especially important, are you consistent from shot to shot?                                                   
    I suspect that accuracy in elevation will be the hardest to acheive as this will depend on millisecond timing of the release.                  
                                                                                                   
    So far so good, but still a ways to go. This is one of those situations where the journey itself is half the fun.                        .......Dan

I totally agree with you guys.
when im slinging i often sling for accurasy and power, the funny thing is that these two things dont mix easly, my hint is throw hard and try to hit target  because soner or later you will manage to hit the target.
as they say "practise makes perfect".
as Slinger_Man_Dan says you have to expect a long learning curve....

right then i'll go back to try hitting windows then i seem to have a natural talent in that

Mgreenfield,
You are right on!  One at a time, I have discovered the same things.

When I started slinging, I had already been reading this forum, and so I knew there would be a long period of learning, and I would need things to keep my interest going.  So I switch among several different styles, and I vary my targets and distance.  I find it much more satisfying to walk around, slinging at stumps and trees and bushes, than to stand and sling at a single target.

I'm trying to figure out how the Apache method starts. Do you start with your arm by your side? If so, is the longest possible sling for this method the distance from your arm (at your side) to the ground? That's only about 1/2 - 1/3 as long as I've been using with tennis/figure-8...

Altay,
The Apache style starts with you facing at an angle to your target.  If you looked the direction you are facing, you would be looking about 45 degrees away from your target.  Hope that makes sense.  You start with your arm hanging at your side and a little behind you, so that if the target was looking at you, it would not see the sling or your arm.

Forsyth suggested keeping your other arm tucked across your body, so it is not obviously an arm.  Animals know what people look like, but the apparent lack of arms confuses them, and they don't realize they are about to become dinner.  That's the hope, anyway.

The longest sling you should use with the Apache style will not quite reach the ground.  You do not want the sling to brush the ground and empty itself; swinging an empty sling at a rabbit does not get you fed.

Of course, all I am doing is repeating what Forsyth wrote in his

article

.  His description is what I learned the Apache style from.

LATER: Sv's remark about throwing the javelin, in the post previous to this one, is also very good.  I've gone through the motions, and there are distinct similarities.  I have seen a picture of someone slinging where he started with his arm raised not quite to shoulder height, other arm raised in front of him; put a javelin in his hand instead of a sling and he would be doing it exactly right.  My version of the Apache style (which is as close as I know how, to Forsyth's method) starts with my arm hanging at my side.  Once I've raised my arm, I'm doing just what the guy with the javelin swing was doing.

Altay,                                                                                             
                                                                                                     
     Although both paintings and sculpture are by their very nature static, it may be possible to infer something from the "body language" of the slingers depicted in the artwork. If you go to the historical gallery, look closely at the images with the captions: "Danish soldier with sling and pouch, circa 885 A.D." and "German slinger opposing the column of Aurelius Antonina, bas relief, circa 4th century." and the close up for the latter picture.                                                
     There is, of course, no way to be sure, but the posture of  the individuals depicted suggest the use of a simple technique like the "Apache" technique. Especially in battle, standing shoulder to shoulder with perhaps hundreds of other slingers, whirling the sling horizontally over your head ( "helicopter" ) could be just as dangerous to your comrades as to the enemy!                                                            
    The sling I'm using now is rather short, only about 14 inches from finger loop to pouch, so dragging on the ground is not a problem. Also, I had gotten the impression from my reading here on slinging.org that there is a feeling that although a short sling develops less power, it is easier to get good accuracy from a short sling.                                    
     Hope this helps.                                               .......Dan