Hi all, this I think is my first post. I did a search and no results were found.

So I've been looking at making a sling and chosen the Rockman Sling - Bruno Tosso for my first one.
Yes i know slings can be of different lengths, but is there a good rule of thumb? Finger to centre of chest perhaps? Would this be too long or to short particularly for a first sling?

What would slingers recommend for a first and best on average? And potentially longest and shortest?

Thanks in advance 

I' m six feet tall and like slings 27 to 28 inches measured from pouch ctr to release knot. For me, a 30 inch sling is too long for accuracy.

Thank you Jareth and Walter. I'll start with that formula, which also worked out for Walter whether he knew it or not. Lol. Your length fits right in those measurements. I'm 5'6 , so basically 21" - 26.5", so somewhere about 24" i think.

Not sure why I couldn't quote, just wasn't working for me on ipad

My general "rule" is fingertip to mid-bicep for accuracy, fingertip to shoulder for general slinging, and fingertip to mid-chest for distance/power.

I used my first sling today. I did the method of - arm at side, forearm level to ground, pouch hovering off the ground. This means that I have a 43" sling pouch to loop, and I'm 6' tall.

I didn't feel my accuracy was terrible considering I had never done it before. They all went in the direction I was pointing and I got a few good hits. I definitely felt like I NEEDED heavier rocks to be close to my targets though.

I guess I'm off to make some more slings!

uhh... well I thew probably close to 150 rocks... so a few out of that many is not what I would call accurate. But also only a few wild ones. Most were in the general area I was aiming for. I definitely thew some as far as I could off a cliff. I had a big heavy rock that I hit a fence post with at about 30 yards, that was a satisfying sound.

Last night I made some shorter slings, a 23", a 29" and a 36". My bicep is a bit sore so I just thew a tennis ball for my dog a bit and I noticed the 23 and 29" definitely seemed easier than my first 43". The speed difference is also very noticeable however. With the 43" it was so long that I felt I could see it's trajectory better as it spun around my head.. I was hoping to practice a lot this weekend but didn't realize how sore my muscles would be.

I used my newly created sling (pics to come). Didn't take long to get the hang of it. Just throwing tennis balls. I do need to make a small adjustment, so it holds balls a little more level.
I'm getting the direction i like most times, I'll try to get more accuracy later on down track once I'm consistent

My Rockman sling is slowly disintegrating from the release cord. It started out at about 26" and is now down to about 22", maybe less. The release cord now measures 18.5".

I don't know if it's a culmination of practice, the sling getting shorter, or both, but am getting a lot more accurate than I expected a few weeks ago, so I suspect the shorter sling is a help.

Not that I'm good, but that I'm becoming consistently less bad with less effort. My casual shots keep landing in a smaller area, my 'aimed small' shots are likewise doing better, but what's improving the fastest is the lack of serious wingers. And this using both figure 8 and abbreviated Balearic (1 windup and release).

Was just about to braid a new sling and am wondering if I should start it out smaller. Had intended to make a beefier, longer 4 strand similar to the LaMancha sling. Maybe I make a shorter one...