In an introduction thread and elsewhere I mentioned I was planning on a slinging lesson at my senior highschol class.

The gym is divided in half by a huge curtain to allow two classes not disturb one another. A perfect target–tennis balls barely bounce back off it. An opportunity I often exploited during breaks. Took me three weeks to convine my teacher I could make a slinging lesson safely because he saw how I slung tennis balls against the curtain with a terrifying bang (like an oversized carpet beater). But I did.

First I've given everyone a sheepshank sling. Explained where to put the loop and how the release knot is held. Did a short warmup of torso, shoulder, elbow and wrist rotations (with sling "worn" to get used to how it moves).  Asked to be careful, stay behind the painted line, only cross it after a signal and please not throw at one another. Few skeptical people were convinced by a scary-loud fig8 curtain throw that sling is no joke. Next we've repeated shoulder, elbow, wrist rotations, only this time with a ball in the pouch. Again, to get a feel for what it does.

Now onto throwing proper. I imagined the most natural way would be to hang the sling behind one's back and throw overhand/diagonal without a windup. Really just a way to understand how to releaste at the right moment so that the ball at least goes forward. Three throws later (we had about 3-4 balls per person) and most seemed ok with that. A signal and everyone went to kick/toss our ammo back behind the firing line. All worked well. I demonstrated that you can add rotation to improve the throw. Made them swing a couple circles before attempting to throw the "new" way. This one took a couple rounds but most balls finished in front of the target and nobody was hurt except despite some hilarious throws backward/vertically.

Funniest part. Figure-8 took me personally at least four hours of watching videos and practicing "drills" before something clicked in my brain and I didn't mess every attempt up. I knew the class could do better. I explained the move, showed it slowly and from different angles. Gave a signal for everyone to fire at will. I won't poopy you that anyone succeeded on their first try, this was planned to be the longest part of the lesson. But ten minutes and a couple "reloads" later there were already guys (notice plural) who grasped how it's done. Oh and the teacher joined because it looked more interesting than just watching safety.

By the end of the lesson (40 mins total) about 50% could throw fig-8 (somewhat) and 90% were eager to keep the slings for themselves. To teach so many beginners was quite amusing and they all seemed to have enjoyed it as well. Please share your thoughts

If you do try the same, there is one thing I would've done differently—the pouches I'd made were approximate size because I hadn't had an exact tennis-sized ball at home. There were a few too large pouches that I had to quickly re-adjust. Should've had tested them all beforehand.

It's excellent that you are getting some new recruits in! You must be a good teacher if you can get over figure 8 so fast. For me the Brian Grubbs video and practicing the move without a stone made it click and it instantly become my favourite style.

Congratulations
Next tine make some sockballs and have a dodge ball type competion