Morphy wrote on Aug 6
th, 2010 at 9:05pm:
I have a pet theory that longer slings could be easier for accuracy then shorter ones within reason. If you think about the split-second timing it requires to release a stone so that it actually hits a small target a twenty yards, and then consider that a longer sling is traveling a longer arc of circle then a shorter one, then if both are swinging at approximately the same speed the longer sling will take more time to travel through that short window of opportunity for a perfect shot then a really short one.
Anyone feel free to shoot holes in this theory as it's just a theory. And I can't prove it one way or the other. I think about it like a small gear and a big gear. The small gear might do many revolutions in the same time that a large gear does one even if the base rpm is the same.
Anyone see where I'm going with this, or is this rubbish?
I think that your theory is sound, but your gear analogy needs work.
It's not about the RPM staying equal, it's about the speeds being equal.
If, at the pouch, your sling is going 100mph, on a short sling, you will have a higher RPM than on a long sling. Although I'm not well-versed on it, I think this could relate somewhat to Keppler's laws of planetary motion: There's a specific relationship between the period of revolution, the length of the orbit, and the speed of the orbiting object. A planet in a distant orbit (a long one) will arc slower than one in a smaller orbit going the same speed. That's part of why a "year" is not constant among all the planets.
So if you are trying to get the same speed out of two slings, one short and one long, I believe you would have a shorter time period during which to accurately release a short sling than you would a long one, in that "window" mentioned.