"magically get better"

yeah just like anything a person practices a lot...the more one practices the better they get.  i found at times it came in leaps though.  but there is no short cut.  no finger hold that is the secret to being spot on....no magic.  just hard work and dedicated practice.  the width of the cords before release makes no difference, that is in ur head, man.  no one can teach u the release because no one can...ur body, ur brain, ur fingers and no one knows it better then u or how it works better than u.  no one can teach u that, only u can through practice.

i did not have or need anyone to teach me to sling, because no one can teach anyoneu to sling.  no one knows ur body or can tell u when to release so that u get it right...only u can do that, only u can find it.  no lil red pills to make it happen, no mystical muse who is the sling sage of the ages to enlighten you...sorry pal, but u gotta work for it, period.   but to answer ur question, other than entertainment, no real point.  no one can teach u release time...please point to any where or to any on line video who does...i've only been slinging since i was 4 and am almost fifty so please teach me release or how and when to..but since u r an expert, please show us who taught u release timing and how they did so.

Well I was about to say I really doubt that the thread will devolve to the point of the last one... Hopefully it will work out ok 

Personally, I only mean to understand what can be done with a sling in a physical/mathematical framework, this is purely an academic interest and not based in any practical desire to improve.

I don't want anyone thinking I'm gonna be super argumentative as (at least in my view) I'm always very charitable and reasonable. It's only that Apex's contributions from the last thread were very obviously incorrect to me (likely as I have some scientific background), and he would not accept any criticism at all- pushing them as fact to the community, when they were demonstrably incorrect. This I find is a very counter-productive attitude when trying to figure out how things work. Still, I like to think I remained mostly civil 

I don't think I would ever argue with Morphy or anyone else making reasonable/uncontroversial accuracy claims etc. I would even go as far as to give benefit of the doubt to quite outlandish claims of power and accuracy. Common sense should prevail here, there's little reason to suspect people to wildly lie or over-exaggerate.

After all the job is to fit the theory to the facts- not the other way round. If empirical observation disagrees with what the math predicts that is entirely on the math/theory to adapt and 0% on the provider of the observation. In a sense, the observations shape the theory by cutting out the incorrect approaches until you get one that mimics reality well. From what Nooneofconsequence says he is also on board with this principle. So please don't be afraid to offer datapoints!

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Apr 11^th, 2018 at 8:20am:


I'm glad you brought this up because for years now I've been thinking we need a roboslinger to test all of these little issues, such as minor changes in cord placement affecting impact point.

When I read you are a robotics engineer I was thrilled that finally someone might actually have the means and desire to do this. If you ever do decide to make something like a trebuchet or some type of extremely simple slinging robot arm it could very well be one of the biggest threads this forum as ever seen in the advancement of target slinging.

Coupled with some slow motion cameras we could actually replace theories with hard data. (Blasphemy I know, but it has to happen eventually.) That would be extraordinary.

By the way...no pressure.   

Quote:


Makes a lot of difference. It effects how the pouch opens and when the missile is actually released. 
Plus it's easy to change a grip but maintain the rest of the throw style.
The alternative is to try and change your whole throwing style. Much harder.
With any sport or martial art - there are always tips and suggestions that can improve your art.
To assume you already know everything is to admit to ignorance.

As far as teaching people to sling.
I do that a lot.
There are very few slingers I can't improve through observation and suggestion.

Yes i taught myself to sling, but that doesn't mean I haven't learnt from others.

Any time you believe there's nothing more to learn - you might as well stop doing it, because only through seeing how other people do things can you add to your own knowlege base.

Particularly in something as esoteric and rare as slinging. 

I only managed to learn to use my Tibetan sling correctly by watching someone else, same for fig8, Greek style and I wouldn't have made any other slings than paracord and leather ones. Maybe I would have worked out these things on my own but I'm a busy busy man these days and using YouTube and this forum is far more efficient than me just mucking about in a field forever

My plan for "someday" is to use two electronic force metres incorporated into the sling cords that would record and save each cord's tension force during a throw.

It should also be possible to collect data about the physics of slinging if you video record a throw in slow motion to map the trajectory of various sling portions. With a function of coordinates over time and mass distribution, you're golden. That alone is enough to calculate what forces are applied by the human hand.

One simple experiment would be to sling an accelerometre, but I don't have the expertise to tell what frequency and precision of measurements one can expect from such devices.

I can’t help but draw parallels between slinging and a golf swing. Timing, technique, impact/release point, mind state, the lot.