Hey folks!  This topic is for the Practical Paracord Online Slinging Competition.  It's been going for well over a year with no signs of stopping.  I think we need a pinned topic for it.  There was a topic created when it first started.  You can see that here if you'd like to check it out: https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1636952325.  But that was created at the beginning of the comp, so rules hadn't been fully established yet.  I think we need new a topic with all the current info, so here we go.

If anyone isn't familiar with the Online Slinging Competition that's hosted on YouTube by Practical Paracord, it's a weekly competition that happens every Saturday at 12:00 PM Central Time US.  All slinger are welcome to join.  There are all levels of expertise in the competition.  There are folks who have been slinging for a while and can hit targets reliably, and there are also beginners who are just starting out.  Everyone is welcome!  It's also a great way to practice regularly and get feedback if you're new to slinging.

So here's the rundown of the competition.  And if you don't want to read this post, you can get instructions on how to enter from Channing right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMSZFo9qNFw.


Target: Standard Balearic Target
[list bull-blackball]

4 ft (120 cm) X 4 ft (120 cm)

Diana (center circle) 20 in (50 cm)

Height: Target center is at 5 ft (160 cm)  *It’s fine if it’s a little bit off.  No one is measuring.

Sling and Style: Any sling and any style can be used!

Distances and Projectiles:
[list bull-blackball]

13m (42.6 ft) OR 15m (49.2 ft) if you want (see note below) ;) - Tennis balls are required at this distance

20m (65.6 ft) - You can use any projectiles you want at this distance
     *Note: This year (2025) the Slinging World Cup will change to FBTF (https://tirdefona.es/en/) distances for competition.  In short, the 13 meter distance will increase to 15 meters (49.2 ft).  Tennis balls will still be used.  This distance change won't be official for the OSC until the World Cup is over, but if you want to back up to 15 meters now to start practicing, go for it!

Scoring: Standard Balearic Scoring
[list bull-blackball]

Diana hit = 2 points

Other target hit = 1 point

Tie breakers are decided by the highest number of dianas

How To Enter: Record your competition entry and upload it to YouTube as an Unlisted video.  Email the link to Channing (Channing@practicalparacord.com).  He'll grab a copy and add you to the competition.

Your round needs to start at the beginning of an hour.  So at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, etc.  At the beginning of your recording, hold a watch or smartphone up to the camera to show the time.  This is to help ensure that rounds aren't being cherry-picked.  All entries are pre-recorded, but the intent is to get things as close to a live competition as possible.

The competition is streamed on Saturday, and entries must be submitted by Friday.  Any entries sent in through the week will be part of the competition.

Extras:
"Hard mode" - Send the day and time you will record your round to Channing ahead of time.

Challenges - Sometimes different challenges will be announced for the competition.  Some examples are the egg challenge (which involves hitting an egg with a sling) that happens around Easter and the pumpkin (which involves hitting a pumpkin with a sling) that happens around Halloween.  When challenges happen, they are discussed in the live stream, but they'll be posted here too.

Not in the Competition Yet: And last, if you're not in the competition yet (or don't plan to be) but still want to watch live on Saturday, come and join us!  We'd love you to jump in the chat and say hello.  Or if you're thinking about joining the comp, the live chat is a great place to ask any questions you have.

Cheers everyone!

The most recent competition (as well as all the other ones) will be on Channing's channel.  On Saturdays he'll usually have the next one queued up for the premier.

https://www.youtube.com/@PracticalParacord/videos

Great information Joe!
Well presented

Today's competition live in about an hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmXcxpS4Bac

Sorry I didn't have this updated before the competition kicked off.  I was out of the house.  The second post in this topic with the competition links has been updated.

Today's competition in about 1.5 hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWastocc-Aw!

Channing has announced a trick shot for next weekend's competition.  You can see his video announcement here: https://youtu.be/Nv7Qex99-L4.

But here's the rundown of it.  You can do any trick shot you want.  Just record it and send him the link along with your competition entries.  If you're not entering the competition, no problem.  You can still submit a trick shot if you want.  Just send him a link to the video and he'll run it with the others during the competition next weekend on March 25.

Just to mention, this is not the Egg Challenge we're doing for Easter.  You can submit a trick shot using an egg if you want.  But the Egg Challenge entries will be shown next month on the PP Competition.

Just a head up, it was announced that the competition this coming weekend will be streamed live on Sunday instead of Saturday.  It will be at the same time.  So if you want to see it, tune in 24 hours later than normal.  :)

I don't know if Sunday will become the new regular day, but will update things here if it does.

The official time for the live stream of the weekly competition has been moved to Sunday at 5:00 PM Central Time US.  Channing had to do this because of other demands on his schedule.  I know this will make it more difficult for some of our fellow slingers around the world to tune in.  Hopefully this will only be a temporary change.

Here's this week's link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBM-4c06FF0.

No link yet, but I heard from Channing that the next live stream competition will be tomorrow (Saturday) at 3:00 PM Central time.

Go figure after I said it was moving to Sunday.  The day and time might be moving around for a little bit.  We'll see what happens.

________________________________________________

***Update: This week's link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbtDPCJieTA

There was no competition last weekend.  Channing didn't have time to cut the video together because of work.

All entries (for week 73) are going to run next weekend.  As well as the entries for week 74.  And also for week 74, Channing said that distances should be done in reverse order.  So instead of 13m being the first distance of your rounds, it should be the last.  This could be interesting.  I wonder if we'll see higher scores at 13m because everyone will be warming up at farther distances.

Here's the link for today.  Competition kicks off in just under and hour!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZvmwlMKQ2w

joe_meadmaker wrote on Apr 16^th, 2023 at 5:46pm:

The official time for the live stream of the weekly competition has been moved to Sunday at 5:00 PM Central Time US.  Channing had to do this because of other demands on his schedule.  I know this will make it more difficult for some of our fellow slingers around the world to tune in.  Hopefully this will only be a temporary change. Here's this week's link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBM-4c06FF0.

Follow up on this.  The competition is happening on Saturday at 12:00 PM Central Time again.  Basically what happened is the live stream was skipped one week (May 6th).  So now all the entries are submitted a week ahead of time and Channing has the whole week to cut the video together for the live stream.

Is it back to normal or reverse (30,20,13) for week 76?

An update on the reversed distances (starting at 30m and ending at 13m) that has been going on. Week 77 entries (which should already be submitted at this point) are the last ones for this (at least for a little while).  Recorded entries for Week 78 (which should be submitted this week) should start at 13m again.

No competition today.  Channing is out of town.  Week 84 will run next weekend.

The competition (week 87) didn't run yesterday.  It was delayed until today.  Kicking off in just over an hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebo0tMfrLlM.

No competition this week.  The competition will resume next week and run on the 28th of October.

The plan was to record Week 95 in Ibiza during the Slinging World Cup.  This didn't happen because we didn't have time.  A bunch of the guys were still there and recorded a little competition on Monday, but I don't know if Channing is considering that Week 95 or not.  So next week will be Week 95 or 96 of the OSC.

There hasn't been an update here for a while.  Channing has started a new thing with the OSC.  He's giving out a (digital) badge to the overall winner (combine scores of 13m and 20m) every week.  He's not sure what he's going to do with them yet, but the tallying has started.  The last slinger to win the badge will have it displayed in their round video the following week.

I won the badge the first week this started.  Big Ray got it the second week.  And our boy Channing won it the third week.  Today's comp will be the 4th week and we'll see who takes it!

Here's a couple pics.  This was my entry after winning, and Ray after the second week.

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joe_meadmaker wrote on Feb 17^th, 2023 at 3:48pm:

Distances and Projectiles: [list bull-blackball] 13 m (42.6 ft) - Tennis balls are required at this distance 20 m (65.6 ft) - You can use any projectiles you want at this distance

Hey Joe,

For the 13m projectiles, are these true tennis balls or can they be modded?

And are we allowed to take breaks between rounds or do subsequent rounds need to commence immediately after the last?

No modifications to the tennis balls.  The intent is that everyone is using the exact same projectile.  I recommend sticking with a good brand, such as Penn.  If you look around ebay you can usually find a good deal.  Cheaper brands are lower cost, but they just start falling apart.

How long of a break do you mean?  Ultimately it's up to you.  I think most guys just go right through without stopping (other than to tell the camera what round they're on).  I do break up my own rounds when I record them.  I (obviously) start my 13m round on the hour and throw the first 5.  I then wait until 2 minutes after the hour (usually about a minute wait) to start the second 5.  My 20m round is started at 10 minutes after the hour, and using the same two minute span, the second 5 balls at 12 minutes after the hour.  I like having a short separation like this because it adds an aspect of live competition.  At the World Cup in Ibiza, competitors with throw 5 balls, and then wait for everyone else to go before throwing the second 5.  It can be a very long time between sets.  I like including the separation even if it's only a minute break.

If you're thinking about short breaks like that, no problem at all.  If you're thinking of longer breaks, just reach out to Channing and let him know what your plan is.  If he has any concerns he can let you know.

Hope to see you in the OSC!  :D

Thanks Joe.

I'll be joining once I make my new regulation target.

I updated the first post with this information but want to make a post about it too.  As mentioned in other posts, this year the Slinging World Cup will change to FBTF (https://tirdefona.es/en/) distances for competition.  In short, the 13 meter distance will increase to 15 meters (49.2 ft).  Tennis balls will still be used.  That distance change won't be official for the OSC until the World Cup is over, but if you want to back up to 15 meters now to start practicing, it's all good.  I'm not sure who all is.  I know Channing and his crew are slinging at 15.  I've backed up and so has IronGoober.  Again, this isn't required right now.  13 meters is still totally fine.

Was great to finally join after all this time. Hopefully I can make it this week, but our volcanoes are having a lava party right now and the vog (volcanic fog) drift over our island is making training miserable. I blame the vog for all the missed shotsI had today  ::)

I'll also be using 'Ōlelo Hawai'i (Hawaiian language) terminology in my videos going forward; helps me practice my conversational skills (as I'm more literarily proficient/based in our language), but I'm also hoping it helps with more exposure and familiarization for terminology amongst my target audiences I'm currently working with or trying to reach.