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The following is opinion, I'm no expert, but it would be tedious to state that after every sentence so I'll get it over with here. All the following is opinion. It is practice. That is putting it mildly being obsessive might give a better idea. But there are definitely some things one can do to make the process quicker.and also things one should not do or they will slow you down. I've noticed this because I have taught a few including myself. I think the body learns some things on a different level to the mind, think of martial arts in your first couple of months or touch typing. Someone goes to tickle you, you know it's only playful but whoosh the block happens. Or if when leaning to touch-type, which can be perfected in a few days ( slowly anyway ), you let yourself look at the keys the habit of looking will be slowing you down for months or even years. Ask a touch typist where a particular key is and watch the fingers, they will have to consult body memory because that is where the knowlege lives. Same with slinging I think. As you've noticed the first big thrill of slinging is the range and power of it. Standing by a lake or the sea and sending stones way way further than you could throw them, the buzz of rough rocks, that glorious double sound when the sling cracks and the sound of a hard impact follows it. All that glamorous stuff. It's great but if when starting one focuses on it too much, and who doesn't, it can make things difficult later. If one has been doing the big stuff a lot for a while then one goes for targets at say your own height there will be a tendency to shoot high because the body has got into the roughly 45 habit. I think you're probably past that bit but if it happened than you remember an example of body memory. The same thing can happen with a favoured target range, if for example it is on the side of a hill with nice target but a tree to the left you have to be careful of not rebounding from that is what your body will learn, including being shy of the tree to the left even when it isn't there because you're slinging somewhere else. It can be hard to overwrite bad habits. This happened to me with a different sport, I learned table tennis in an attic, it took a long time to get a proper forehand loop as my arm was still avoiding that attic wall. So I'd recommend mixing up where you sling, it's best to learn on level but also do a little on slopes too. If you can go for walks where you can just pick targets as you go, a rock, a stump, whatever.. I think that this is better in the long run than some perfect place that one always goes. I'm not sure that there is a "right style" for everything so mix that too, but only a little, favour one of them until you get the hang of it before favouring another. When you've got a few under your belt, if you do the walking thing let the place and target suggest the technique, Apache when you're knee deep in under growth or side arm for a cross bar for example. That will help to keep the previous favourites fresh even though most of the time you focus on the current one. You can get better advice on particular techniques elsewhere in this site than any I can give ( have you seen Tints video?) I discovered something rather strange by mistake which may help. A few months ago I pulled a muscle in my shoulder and so couldn't sling. I went up into the hills anyway just for the sake of being out. I was sitting behind a tree totally failing to make a down draft gasifier stove I'd made out of a tin can work and listening to my mate sling. I just couldn't take it, I even had a new prototype sling in my bag, so I had a go left handed which I'm not. Instantly my other shoulder felt a bit better ( not enough to sling with but very noticeable ) and I even got a couple of hits. So for the couple of weeks my right was out of action I slung left handed. When my right shoulder recovered I was better at slinging with the right than I had been before the injury.. I've no idea why it worked but now I sling a few with my left just to warm up. It seems to help with the right. Maybe it's a balance thing like yoga. There are also a couple of exercises which help. This one can only be done with an underhand delivery but is the best I know to improve accuracy. Stand quite close to a tree, three yards is enough. Gently sling a rock at it, very gently, no wind up, about as hard as you'd throw a ball for a toddler to catch, just enough. Do two more. Take a step backwards and repeat with just enough power to compensate for the step. Keep doing this, you will be amazed how far you can go and still hit ( touch would be a better word ). At the longest range where you are confident of three out of three stop retreating and begin to slowly increase the power of the hit. As this is what I'd call a body memory exercise should misses start to creep in stop instantly. Go back a few stages in the process and restart from there. Don't imprint mistakes. You can adapt this exercise to other slinging styles but obviously one needs to start with the minimum power posable with each so have to miss out the early stages. There are various targeting games which help inside this exercise, like one hit at a low part, one at a middle part, and one at a high part. The three out of three range will increase with practice. Hope this helps.
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