Curious Aardvark wrote on Aug 26
th, 2019 at 11:48am:
you are awae that a 'balloon filled with sand' is a slug blackjack. Blackjacks are illegal in many countries.
It might not bounce but if you get hit with one of mr jaegoors rusty balls. It will break bones and easily kill.
Tennis balls are plenty heavy enough and a good size. If you sling at a target on grass - they also don't roll that far.
Bear in mind you are target slinging - so actually trying to hit something rather than kill it.
They are also designed to not travel far in the air, so you can use a smaller area for the competition.
And they are a universal size and weight, the world over.
Realistically the tennis ball is THE ONLY universal ammunition that anyone anywhere in the world can easily acquire.
Now, if you want to know how slinging can be promoted as both as pastime and a sport.
Then there is only one place you look to: Guam.
They go into schools, they play sling golf (with the blessing of the golf courses) they hold regular meetings.
He's a modest guy, but Roman De La Cruz, has driven the slinging program on guam to the point that, Guam and the marianas islands are the current world centre for slinging. Both for growth in slinger numbers and variety of slinging - and it's variety that attracts people.
It's just a damn shame it's so frigging far away from the rest of the world.
But basically if it can be done, Roman will find a away to get it done.
I make mine much smaller than Jeagoors. These are 65 gram.
Granted, that's only about 10 grams heavier than a tennisball, but they're a lot smaller and fly much faster + don't bounce.
Jeagoor uses 10(?) balloons for one of his balls. These only use 3.
The more balloons you use, the more force it takes to deform / the harder it hits. This one is very soft. It will not break bones, nor considered to be a black jack, anywhere.
I've thrown these ones over a 100 times against a wooden backstop. Not a single one has broken. Because the balloon is barely stretched, it is very durable. Fill them with the finest sand, and they become even softer. On impact, they flatten out completely.
No more tennisballs for me. After they hit the backstop they usually end up in the neighbours yard 2 houses further