I'm new with a couple questions regarding the positives and negatives of short or long slings.  The first sling I made has a pouch that stays about an inch and a half off the ground when my slinging arm is fully extended.  From the edge of the 6 inch long pouch to the top of the finger loop is about 22 inches.  I heard a rumor that if I make a shorter sling I can achieve better accuracy and a higher velocity at short range shots.  So I made a sling that measures about 17 inches from the tip of the 5 inch long pouch to the top of the finger loop.  I just tried it out and I did have better accuracy but most of the time i couldn't really achieve higher speeds than my longer sling.  I've been using the shorter one over my head and the longer one at my side (overhand).  Any suggestions.  What has been discouraging me is that if I'm aiming at an object that is between 20-35 yards off, I can throw a stone almost as far as I can sling and with MUCH better accuracy.  I know accuracy will come in time with practice, but how do I achieve higher speeds.  Practice as well?  Am i missing some super-secret elite slinger's technique?

The good news is, when i was using the longer sling to throw golf ball sized stones into a lake, i "slung" some that appeared to go at least 100+ yards.  I can consistently get them to go that far.  Hooray!

i'm trying to post a photo of my sling but the "attachment" function is acting up, i'll try again soon.  but meanwhile, the two slings i'm discussing will be my profile pic.

thanks siguy!

in this same vein, could the material i'm using be affecting the speed of my throws?  my pouch is "medium" thickness and very flexible leather but my strings i made by braiding thick leather laces (i think intended for sewing leather pouches or moccasins).  the string that receives all the tension (the one without the finger loop) has been stretching some, and i've had to slide the pouch to make it even a couple of times.  could this semi-stretchy material be taking away or adding to my throw?

thanks again!

Hi Greenlance,

Greetings from Australia!

Questions about style and effectiveness are always difficult to comment on because without actually seeing it's hard to evaluate even yourself much less others. Get someone to video you, even mobile phone quality shoud be good enough. Then compare yourself against the videos on the site. Dave Taylor's, "Greek Style" and Mark Weaver's "Tennis Overhead (Fig.8)"  are easily located being in the articles section. SV posted a great clip of his Greek style. Search under "Accuracy Standard"

As far as sling length is concerned, my personal (stress personal) preference is 26" for simple overhead and about 30" for Fig.8. And as for braided and/or leather cords, I am yet to be convinced there is anything to be gained in terms of performance though they certainly look nice. Cords should not be excessively stretchy. I suggest you make another sling using paracord or similar braided synthetic cord. I can send you one of my Aussiepouches if you like.

With a bit of practice, good equipment and ammunition, a simple style should give you accuracy at least as good as that when throwing and heaps more power.

Good Luck,

Aussieslinger

a sling can be too short. For 90% of everyday slinging fingertip to shoulder (same arm) is good for all throw styles.

For pure distance you want it longer, but you hit the law of dimishing returns pretty quickly.
40 inches seems to be about the limit (that's the length both larry bray and david engvall used for their 500 yards throws, yurek looks like he uses a similiar length sling). My everyday slings are about 30 inches.
Pouch size on the longer slings should be smaller than for the shorter slings - resistance matters more with the longer slings.

The trick is probably just persevere, eventually you'll find a style you like. I'm currently honing accuracy with my fig 8 for golf in september (need that back spin for the green shots).
But basically I use sidearm variations for 'who cares what it hits how far can I sling it' shots. non revolution overhand for short distance accuracy (pretty useless for much over about 70 yards) and as I said working on the fig 8 for both distance and accuracy :-)

I'm not going to tell you if your sling is too short or long. that is pretty much up to the individual slinger. I will recomend the length ya might wanna ty out is to stretch you hand out in front of you. measure from your fingertip to your chest. This gives ya enough length to try any of the various casting styles out there. It's a good general purpose sling.
One problem I had early one was using too light of ammunition. You might try messing around witht he weight of your rocks and see if that helps any.

Marc Adkins



greenlance wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2007 at 5:00pm:

hi greenlace

my sling's about 24" folded. yours seems a good size to me, but it's up to the individual.
if you make a few simple bow-line slings from lawn-mower starter cord and shorten them occasionally, and go from short to long you will soon find what works best for you. try other variations like the the retention loop on the little finger etc
the sling will evolve to suit you over time, like natural selection. everyone's different.
NB i have found starter cord to be the best material, both for ease of construction and wear. (compared with leather thongs, braided man-made fibres, and braided natural fibres)  i have 3 with bow-line pouches and one with a thick leather pouch (off a foundry boot) but the bowline works just as well

SV

Yep and no sense in having to reinvent the wheel.

Marc Adkins

[quote author=curious_aardvark link=1186088409/0#9 date=1186230354]good point - you want a rock that's heavy enough to stretch your sling fairly taut. Gives you a much more positive throw and makes it easier to try out different styles. [/quote]