A virtual sliging competition might be a cool idea.  Though my phone`s video camera might have a hard time recording me and my (if any) hits 20 meters away

Many good ideas above here.  I`m one of those who put in a little accuracy practice (as good as) every day, and I recognize most of it.  My basic way is to look at where I want to hit and just throw it there.   
That is not all that easy, though.  Thinking of how to get it there is always bad.  Style has to be automatic, trajectory comes through lots of practice, not calculation of each throw.

There is this small admonition above; Throw at Target.  Sounds silly, but for me it`s the most important one, and I frequently find myself failing in this.  After some misses I realize I`m thinking of some arm movement, foot or body placement, somewhere close to the target where I should not hit, or something other stupid, instead of just of just throwing the ammo at the target.
timann

And that reminds me of; patience.  My accuracy now is, while not at all perfect, still way beyond what I after couple of years with general slinging, imagined was possible for someone like me.
But, this result comes from patiently practicing often and methodically, over a loooong time, with many ups and downs along the way.
It is hard going, but trust me, the feeling when it finally begin to work makes it worth it.

Ulrica wrote on Nov 24^th, 2011 at 2:23pm:

Okay, I admit there is room for improvement    But do not worry, this was how I began too.  Excactly like that

Hints:  Try different styles, play with them, find out over time what you like.  For a long time I used a simple basic overhand style - like an Apache throw with a step, as a basic fall-back style. 
If recovering the ammo takes away to much focus, consider trying some bandy balls, could/should be easier to find on that kind of ground.  If possible, some kind of backstop is a good thing.
In the beginning I spendt way to much time worrying about where the ammo would dissapear to focus on actually hitting.

I should make a target like that, too.  I`ll put it on my to do-list.
timann

timann wrote on Nov 24^th, 2011 at 3:15pm:


thank you [again] for your nice words, Timann.
It did, indeed, took very much time to go search for my presous stones and you have right, I was too afraid for loosing the stone that I couldn´t relly concentrait on the target. Bandyballs is a good idea.

If you want closeups on my target, I can show you that. Maybe in another thread, though.

Ulrica, if you have made a practical target it is no reason not to make a new thread about it, and show us all pictures of it`s construction.
For slinging in less than great sites there is also the option of tennis balls.  I use it often for target practice, it`s way better than not slinging at all.
timann

Yurek,

Of course I saw the videos you mention. Very interesting the one of Hubert, he seems well trained and with excellent accuracy. But I think they all are videos of exhibition or demonstration and don´t have to do with competition videos, since the targets, the distances and the projectiles are different and peculiar, and they don´t allow an objective estimation of the accuracy neither to establish comparisons. Nevertheless they are very interesting and stimulating, and constitute a first step towards the regular virtual competitions. There are well known the advantages of regular competitions, that stimulate the training and are the only way to have a group of good slingers, a few of them excellent. Indeed, as you say, in these competitions participate mainly those slingers who have the possibility and the time to train with regularity, but that happens in all sports. On the other hand, the important thing is not who wins or seems to be the best one, but the accuracy and the records that can be achieved  with the sling. In addition, if there are only a few competitions to the year, one has enough months to train and to record a good series of shots.
But indeed, it seems that at present it is still premature here to organize regular competitions, although perhaps we may advance a step more on the basis of your proposal: to follow with the exhibition videos but standardizing the target and the distance, so that the series of the slingers can be valued objectively. It would be almost as a competition without a fixed date, open all the year, informal and funny, in which each participant would record his video when it was comfortable to him or feel well trained. It would be a mix of exhibition and competition  .

Very good, Yurek, we are progressing, there are at least two guys thinking on the matter  . I think that to make easy the virtual competition and that anybody can record his video without added difficulties to the mere aiming practice, it is necessary to simplify to the maximum the topic of the standards that is being discussed of interesting and exhaustive way in the World Standard of Slinging thread. This will not be a regulated competition, but a previous step in the way towards it that we could call “accuracy test” or something so. I think that we would have only to regulate the target and the distance, as simplest as possible and oriented to detect in the video the impacts. The ideal target for this objective would be a sort of hung gong, been easily detectable the impacts by sound and movement in the video. I like in addition this type of target that conform to the warlike reality of the weapons, when it was important to hit an enemy and not that the shots passes close to him (to hit or not to hit, that is the question). A metal disc would be the best, but it´ll not be easy for everybody to get one, and perhaps is better to be of wood, and also to replace the disc by a square, much more easy to make. I think that the wood will also sound well in the video.

As far as the dimensions, the 50 cm of the Balearic diana seems suitable. The distance would have to be unique to simplify its verification in the video and the comparison between slingers. I would propose 20 m for men and 15 for women (I hope, Ulrica, that you´ll participate in spite of not to use your excellent target, that in the video would not allow perhaps to detect the shots that passes through the hole  . The number of shots can be ten in a single series. That will be better than two separated series of five shots, that could correspond to different dates. The ten shots at least are necessary to score because being the target only the diana, some (or many)  shots will go out. Besides it will better allow appreciating the consistency of the slinger.

Finally, although there would not be regulation of the size and shape of the projectiles, by historical respect to the sling we have to avoid the use of balls of other sports like tennis, paddle, golf, etc., using exclusively stone or clay projectiles (the cement could be considered like substitute of the clay). I believe that these materials are available for everybody. Lead projectiles or of other metals would not be considered here as they suit better to long range competition.