I started writing this in reply to David in another topic but it got so long and I was having so much fun I decided to put it here to spark discussion. I've been slinging for probably about 8 years and I guess I have a lot of thoughts on the subject, though I admit they are just thoughts and theories; I'm not near as accurate as I want to be, just a fanatic about achieving it.
Ben
Wanna hear my theory? This won't be very organized but I'm itching to write it out just for my own reference
It seems longer slings don't work as well for accuracy. Long range bombardment yes! I've grown very comfortable with a 33" long sling folded. That's 66" straight out. I've found my power and range are almost as good, maybe equal to the longer slings, but that I can't use quite as heavy a stone with the same ease. Long slings can fire much heavier stones with ease because the constant angular change of the stone in it's orbit is at a lot less sharp an angle and less intrusive to the centrifugal force's pull. Jim Burdine uses slings between 25" and 18" for accuracy. So do some South American tribes and a racoon hunter out in the woods that Jim's met. I think scientifically, shorter slings are less powerful because they provide less of a mechanical advantage. That's what slings are about- mechanical advantage. The human arm has great strength but not great speed of travel. Strength can be turned into speed through the sling.
But biomechanics come into play here too, not just physics. A 70" sling may not have any more velocity in it's shots than a 33" sling, or it may. Don't know. It will be able to handle larger stones forsure, but it's range may not be greater with those stones. The acceleration at the final pull is the key to all slinging power, but it will be somewhat less of a factor, the longer your sling, because the rock is going at a faster speed during the wind up and your arm has little control of something orbiting so far from the body. Considering it's going over a longer distance to make it's orbit, it's already moving fast during even an easy swing. With shorter slings, the final acceleration is especially the key. And biomechanics along with physics do mean there are compromises. But there are also laws we can figure out through experimentation.
For all around use I have been using a sling about 30" to 33" myself. The modern Balearic slingers appear to use slings about 25" to 28" but that's just a good guess. I find that a shorter sling tends to accelerate too fast at the end of the throw. Considering the fact that the circumference of it's travel is a smaller arc, it tends to release late, having traveled faster than my hand. This seems like a waste of my strength to me. Because just as my hand's gaining momentum, the sling has already passed it's release point and my strength is wasted unless I throw far to the left. I think biomechanically there is a point at which the human arm can be either taken advantage of by sling length or wasted. Either by a sling too long or too short.... Remember, the reason I'm looking for this compromise is this.
Long slings scientifically suffer in accuracy because of the inherent difficulty of aiming them. It's like trying to shoot a rifle held 4' out to your side. There is not enough precise control. If I can gain the same power with a more accurate sling I will.
Short slings scientifically suffer in power because they offer less of a mechanical advantage due to their short length, and secondly because they tend to arc past the release point just when you're gaining strength for the release. If I can gain the same accuracy with a more powerful sling I will.
I believe longer slings are less efficient biomechanically but that they make up for it physically.
It all comes down to personal value. There are scales set before us. Power/Accuracy. We can give up our personal value for either accuracy or power, but if we value both almost equally and are willing to make a slight compromise with both inorder to reasonably gain both, we can find a happy medium perhaps. I'm sure that in every culture and for every purpose, these values have been shifted around by the slingers. The Balearics carried 3 different length slings! Three different purposes. I guess they never found their happy medium with one sling. Perhaps there isn't one. But even with rifles there are different puposes for every calibur.
Power can be looked at either as the range a sling shoots if we only value range, or the range plus the stone mass. It's up to us. I don't need massive stones to be happy.
Scientifically, the velocity and the mass would be a more accurate measure and when put together we come up with the footpound measure. Theoretically, 1 foot pound is the amount of power is needed to raise a 1 pound weight 1 foot. But we can't measure foot pounds with slings very easily
It would be nice to test the foot pounds of energy different slings and slingers can deliver wouldn't it? I guess we will have to be content with our own semi-scientific tests using range and perceived velocity. For me, I am content to use stones between about 2 to 3 oz. But I like having a long range to my throws. It depends on what the slinger values. I like my power! I also like accuracy.
It seems historically and in modern times, most people have found that the medium compromise between accuracy and power to be found in slings between 24" to 36" long. That's quite a range in length actually. I'm trying to decide what side of that range I prefer. The slings over 30" seem to me to be the most powerful and possibly the slings under 30" tend to be the most accurate. I call these average slings, but historically there have also always been the long slings and the short slings. But think about David and Goliath. David's sling was able to accurately send a stone powerfully enough to sink into Goliath's skull. I'm happy with that!
Like I said, this is all my theory. Go to the Balearic Federation of Sling Shooting and take a look at how long the average sling they use is. About 130cm. I think that's about 25" folded, maybe a little more. You will need to view the site in Spanish to see all the pictures.
I've experimented with several throwing techniques. I've found that a horizontal swing with a vertical throw, like J. Vega uses, is the most powerful technique with an average sling between 24"-36." The reason is biomechanic efficiency.
The longer slings tend to be more powerful with more of a lateral horizontal throw and that arm sweep I talked about in the last post. The longer slings are great for big stones and power hungry walnut tree limb cutters! The technique is altered to use biomechanics to greatest advantage. But with practice, a 33" sling can be very powerful! When I started out I didn't think anything under 45" would satisfy me!
The vertical swinging underhand throw can be more effectively used for higher angle shots to obtain greater range, but they don't seem to have the same efficiency biomechanically to me. Personally I find I get more range with the horizontal throw at even a lower angle of shot due to the added biomechanical efficiency of that throw into that angle. The greatest accuracy with the vertical throw seems to come when you swing vertically and throw horizontally. The clutch effect J. Vega talks about.
I've also tried a straight overhand throw. I feel I lack power with this. There is no wind up. I've dropped the sling from my left hand, behind my back, right into an overhand pitch. the accuracy is good but the power lacks.
All in all I'm trying to decided right now between the horizontal throw and the vertical. I notice the Balearic Islanders use the vertical, and I've seen a few pictures of Peruvian Indians using it. They sort of cock their arm back and swing the sling vertically but at a slight angle so that at the top of the swing the sling is over their head. It's like a 10 to 20 degree angle. I've been very accurate with that throw though I need too keep practicing with it to see if I can have enough accuracy and especially power to feel comfortable with it.
One of the articles Chris refered me to in our articles section, helped me to keep something in mind I tend to forget. I tend to analize the advantages and disadvantages of technique so much that I forget to aim altogether! And of course aiming is the key to hitting the target. It's not only the way you hold your rifle, it's the way you use your sights.
So I extend my arm toward the target as a followthrough for each throw.
I've noticed another thing. It's easy to get good at one technique and be poor at the others, and so in the end you favor the technique you're good at and disfavor the ones you don't to your own limitation. I want to get as good as I can at all of them before finally choose which one or more I prefer. For that I'll need a lot more practice. I must go buy that tarp!
But beyond this I see two or three more factors.
In whipmaking friction is the key to everything. A whip should have as small and dense a thong as possible, while keeping adequate weight. The faster something moves the more friction it encounters. For this reason..., I believe all else being equal, split pouch slings with thin cords are the most powerful slings. Wider strap slings or oversized pockets can really limit the speed you can accelerate your shots too. Perhaps a sling made with cords of thin steel cable would be the most friction efficient sling of all. I know the world record sling distance shot according to Guiness, was made with a 50" sling and a 2.5oz dart. I guess it was probably made of Uranium or silver or something, because the record was over 500 meters if I'm recalling correctly!
Secondly keep in mind that a quick shot may be a real value to some. Sorter slings are accurate without windup and can be whipped out at the target before the target can really be aware of what's happening. You can't hunt with windup. The quickest gunslinger wins. Maybe the quickest sling slinger wins too
Thirdly, I've been toying with the idea that every individual, with his individual technique, may have one length sling that has it's shots set for him. Considering the way that short slings tend to release late and long slings need to be waited for in release, I think it's reasonable to say that there may be a certain sling length that will work perfectly for every individual. In instinctive bow shooting there is a range at which the archer is able to place the tip of the arrow on the middle of the target and release for a perfect shot at that range. I believe that is called point blank range because the archer doesn't need to aim above or below the target for a perfect hit. Every bow and archer is different. I'm wondering if there may be something like this with slings. I believe it should be possibly the combination between a natural throw without a sling, and a sling throw. Perhaps as if you could imagine you were pitching a ball at the target instead of slinging it, and it would hit on target anyway, no need for compensation. But this is just speculation by a slinger who isn't that good, and anyway, I believe such a magic sling length would be very hard to determine. I have trouble using any length shorter than what I'm comfortable with. And yet I know others are able with great results. A slinger can still get good while using compensation. I just wonder about those guys who could choose which part of the face they wanted to hit. That's accuracy us moderns can only dream of. That's what David could do. Maybe we can too if we keep on thinking and experimenting.
Well there is my mass of unorganized thoughts.
Ben
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