Interesting conjecture on the part of the illustrator.  Certainly however, David's experience would have taught him to make his slings more suited for their primary purpose....which was short to mid range accuracy.  

As he hadn't the experience of long range combat....his slings may have been made of a single consistent length and would certainly not have been implemented in strap form.....such form being wholly inadequate for consistent accuracy during the arcuate path of his ammo before release.

The artist's misconceptions mirror that of his Assyrian counterparts.

Although, I can personally vouch for the efficacy of a sliding pouch on 'run through' cordage.  I have employed a similar pocket setup with my shot pouches, which are made to cinch up before and during the cast and open freely to create a serviceable shot pattern after release.


For reasons I hope to make quite clear in the near future,  I believe it likely that David was a master of the overhand cast, using it to dispatch Goliath.


TS

David was late teens early twenties though, right?

What an awful rock to have to sling! It would whir and hum, and curve around like a boomerang. Scary... but not exactly one shot one kill.

CanDo,
I believe that David was in his late teens.  He was old enough and strong enough to have been trusted with watching over his father's sheep, and to have killed both lions and bears that wanted lamb for dinner.  Yet he was still  regarded as a youth, too young to serve in the army (in Israel a man had to be twenty years old to join the army; see the Book of Numbers, chapter 1).

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I am, at this moment, picturing toddler David fast removing his diaper, gripping it tightly.....and in one deft, smooth movement he hurls a dooky at the Philistine behemoth....the extra diaper material producing a loud 'Craaack!'....then....'Splaaaat!'

Certainly not the 'stuff' of legend.





TS

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Thanks, TS, I really needed a description that graphic