Good Old George.  Every slinger needs a George in his life.  Well that last picture is how I imagine the surface of the moon looks like!  You guys got a cool place there.  Come to think of it, the Moon is a giant sling stone isn't it?

I guess we are just doing on a small scale what happens on a big scale in space. 

My first good sling was 55" long.  I then made a 50" I came to really like better.  They are a lot of fun to use for long range bombardment.  I would sling horizontally at just a slight angle and on the final throw I'd swing my arm out at full extension at about chest height, as fast as I could.  Talk about acceleration!  Man those stones go fast!!!  I used to cut branches out of the walnut trees in the field where I was slinging.  It was fun!  Timber....  Then I'd go investigate.  I had cut some pretty big limbs off.  Wasn't too accurate though.  That made it more fun!  Tell George I'm sorry about what happened to his jaw. 

                                  Ben

David,

I'll reply in a new topic.  I tried to write you a short reply and it got so long I think I'll put it up just by itself to spark discussion without distracting from good old George the Roman.
                                           Ben      

Wow! Thanks David for the pictures. Nice to see you and your son I hope I will spend today evening with the dictionary again A lot new interesting stuff has come!

Jurek

David,

The position of your legs intrigues me. I guess that you start body rotation by the swing of the left leg and then you rotate on the right one. Am I right?
My way is a bit different. I place my legs on direction of the shoot, it gives me a good support on the ground. It is stable and makes possible the sudden start of the hips rotation which I initiate by the push of the right leg and the detorton of right knee to inside. Just it begins my shot in the proper moment. I'm not sure you read my last post in the topic with the pictures, or mybe I was unclear.

The second thing I noticed on your photo is the position of the wrist when the sling is just over your head. I can't imagine how you are able to make the comfortable stoke from this position. My palm is turned rather upward in this moment (look at my 2 first pictures, please).

My arm and wrist rotate more far from the head, when the sling is in lowest point my arm is even more straight. It gives the more spacious whip, that is important for the long sling. It's just the key.

I don't think I'm expert and I'm not teaching or criticizing you. Just my observations. Maybe I'm wrong. I would be happy if someone gives me some advices.

Jurek, who need a lot advices too

Yes You are right. I throw my left leg forward and push off my right leg. I used to pitch in baseball so it feels comfortable.

I was sad a few days I lost my dog but I'm coming back.

David,

Quote:


My initial rotations are diagonal. The highest point is more or less over and above the direction of my right arm. The angle of the rotation plane is similar to the shot angle. The initial rotations are rather spacious, I use the forearm and wrist during range shots.



The picture shows the trail of my palm during the range shot. The palm runs approx. on the shoulder level. You also can see the the right elbow and the trail of left palm near my stomach. My arm is working like during common throw by hand, but more laterally, as I mentioned. The shot on the picture was powerful, one of my farer shots. I pity the shutter of my camera was unwell in this moment, the shutter was set to 1/500s, but the exposure was much longer and the photographer's hand shuddered I hoped to take the trail of poch and estimate its velocity. I will check my camera and will repeat the experiments.

Jurek

Yurek,

I generrally shudder like that when I sling.  I find that it adds quite a bit of energy to the throw.

I understand this problem.  I had my daughter (8) snap a pic of me shooting my new bow to see if the limbs were flexing properly.  She moved just a bit and got two of me in the pic.  And this with a digital camera.

Great form on your part, nonetheless.  I am sure that your gene pool contains the remnants of some of the finest and most feared slingmen of the ancient world.

jeff <><