I have been  thinking lately of the different styles of throws and it has become more and more apparent that each style of slinging has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, for me at least, the figure-8 style seems to lend itself to accuracy, and consistency (since the wind-up has the same motion everytime), but it seems to lack in power. (Again this is only from my expirence and I'm sure could be the opposite for others using it) While I find the helicopter , side-arm release to have much more power, but not a consistent wind-up or consistent accuracy. The question is, what cultures used which release style and why. I can think off hand of the styles used by the Balearic people, the Greek people, the Apaches , accorrding to Forsyth, and Spanish sheperds according to Zorrro's expirence with them. Strangely enough they all seem to use a different style. I think it would be interesting to see why they use the style they do and what benefits each have to their use of the sling.  Maybe if this interests you , you could include it in the book. Not sure if anyone else is interested in this sort of thing, or if its been thought of already.  ???

It would be intersting to know why certain people sling in different. I use the underhand technique, but that doesn't mean that I haven't tried the other styles. It is just what works for me. But why would a large group of people use different styles? The truth is we may never know why, but it would be cool to know why.

Actually, I am supposed to be doing the section on "Slinging Styles"

I have dreamt about finding some ancient, historical documents giving detailed discriptions of various styles. No such luck. >:(  I may have to settle with contacting different people like Vicente and Hondero and others from around the world. I have yet to read any historical writing that gives any such descriptions. >:(

David,  I too would love to find some kind of confirmation as to sling styles of the ancients.  I do know one thing.....when you think you have learned every style that is worth using....there's always another one to come along that has been overlooked.  

Dollars to donuts......the original David used the overhand style on Goliath.

There are still a few multi-axial styles that are very effective for distance throws that have yet to be demonstrated.


Peace,


TS
8)

He used the overhand style? :o

Was that recorded in the bible?

As soon As I can, I will post a reference that might help. The Romans trained their slingers to use an underhand pitch, with only one revolution of the sling. Since the slingers were generally in formation, this made sense. One can imagine the chaos of a "rogue slinger" on the sling formations

Please do post that reference you mentioned about the Romans training.

I have gone to the "Roman Army" web site and found drawings of formations of slingers but no real documentation as to where they got the information. I emailed them and was not convinvinced that it was more than speculation on the part of the one writing the article. Someone PLEASE prove me wrong!!

Wouldn't it be awesome to discover a Roman or Greek training manual giving instructions on how to sling and tactical info?

by the way, what is the figure 8 pitch? ??? ???
never heard of it

This style has been discussed several times by many, many people.  Some time back I collected links to everything I knew about it.  Some time later, FunSlinger put together another collection of links.  His post contains a link to mine.  So here is a link to FunSlinger's guide to how to do the figure-8.

Have fun!

 A really great article if you get it comes from a magazine called Arms collecting. Its published by Museum Restoration service, Alexandria Bay, NY. 13607-0070
  In  Vol. 33, No. 3 is a great article by Robert E Dohrenweld. In it, he gives a history of the sling from a military point of view. he goes into where they were placed,and why.  He also has a great section on the Theoretical lethality Index, where he compares the damage a sling can do as compared to period and a couple of modern weapons. (Mauser) It's a great article for people interested in the sling history.

i find the greek style to be acurate over short distances with a flat trajectory and it is also good for hitting ground targets which would be benififcial in wabbit hunting