Last weekend I attended an SCA event, actualy the first I've been to since about '89. In the midst of this sillyness a friend of mine volenteered me for two things... One as a pledge to a house and the other for starting sling compitions. As things progressed(regressed) the more that folks heard of the idea the more good natured pestering became. Even to the point of being asked for the regs e-mailed so they could be reviewed before the next event...
Being one that has a hard time leaving an idea alone, and who loves to sling, I started fooling with idea of standard regulations. Also this group being pretty much a sling guild, I thought you good folks would like to take a few Parthan shots (couldn't help it) and toss some ideas in.
So far there are only a few ideas that struck me. Three skill levels for compition: newbie, not bad, and nice shot man (names subject to change). Since the SCA is safty concious there would have to be slinger training for those who want to play. Much like their fighters and archers they would have to prove they know enough not to get themselves or anyone else hurt. ie. So many hours with tennis balls and such so that they can keep the ammo in the pouch and send it down range...Also either overhand and underhand atleast  to start with.
As far as targets, ranges, and point system go I'm still scratching my head on this one. Then there is the question of ammo and sling standards... Since most of these things are held at state parks and summer camps lead glandes are out of the question(I'd think). Sling lengths could fall into their own class but seems like a big pain to keep track of... I'm guessing anything that will safly hold ammo and get it down range. Targets just have to fit in a car or in the back of a truck.
Then there is the idea of the book/training manual. History, slings and construction, styles. (hint hint Johnny), and regs. for the tournies.

Anyway some food for thought. If nothing else it's a way to keep the sling alive.

       jason

ps. credit will be given to slinging.org as well as anyone wanting to get in on this sillyness.

Johnny,  If plans hold.....(and by that I mean - if my wife does not go into labor with our 5th child by this weekend)....I will be doing a video showcasing various styles.  I would be delighted to send you a CD.  I will try and get one out to Chris as well, should there be anything of interest for him to host here on the site.  (PM me with a mailing address should you be interested).

I love the idea of a slinger's guild!  I've been toying with the idea of joining the SCA for a while but -- and, please, nobody take offense -- the events I've been to seemed to have 1 or two insanely cool people and about 50 who took their made-up personas just a little too seriously.  That, and I'm allergic to affected English accents.  A slinger's guild just might make it worth it, though...

You may need to adjust the ranges if you're using tennis balls instead of rocks.  I'll bet the 'Gong' sound of hitting your target will go over well with novice slingers.

this might seem kinda dumb but its an idea for the targets.  first off the dimensions: For this scenario lets pretend that you have your distances set out for each category, newbie and the other two.  lets say for the best people at 20 yrds the target is a circle eh say 20in wide.  for the newbs (newbies for short) say 50 inches wide.  and for each distance increase the target size by a set number ie an exponential growth whereas in this scenario we will pretend that you will increase target size by 25% every 20 yards.  so at 40 yards your target for newbs will be appr. 75 in. for the newbs and 30 in. for the best people.  if you are confused pm me and ill explain in further detail.  also you could see the greatest distances by putting some sort of tracking chip in like 30 tennis balls and launching them into a very big field actually the distance thing wouldnt work but oh well. 
Sean

I'd like to stay away from tennis balls except as a training aid to let the would be slingers get the feel of how it all works. If some of them want to take their tennis balls to the battle field, well that's all fine but not my intention. Also comming up with better ammo and getting it combat approved seems almost impossable or atleast a huge headache. Although I did see some practice golf balls that had a dense foam jacket and some sort of solid core. Might be worth looking into, but again getting them field approved is a whole diffrent can of worms.
I picked up some practice golf balls that are hollow plastic, much like a heavy table tennis ball. The idea of filling them with colored chalk or some such for marking targets on impact came to mind. Yet another thing on my "wonder what would happen if" list.
As far as targets go, "heavy": simply a 3/4"-1" plywood target cut like mil. spec. rifel pop up targets, "medium": the pop up targets themselves and "light": paper or cardboard silioute targets. Paper targets come in all kinds of beast types, so for giggles every thing from life sized squrrels to deer targets could be used as well as two legged critters... Groups could go as far as holladay prizes such as a smoked turkey to the first to pop the paper one in the head... And of course there will some sick minded folks that could take that to ritualistic cannabialism...     (Then again there are always turkey types out there...)     
Keeping the targets the same size as the real thing seems to make more since for reality's sake, after all people stay the same they just look smaller further away.
Then there is entrance into the slinger elite. ie."In the 18th century, the slingers of the island of Menorca (Balearic Islands) were famous for their extraordinary accuracy. Slingers joined a society or union, and acquired the title of "foner" (slinger) if they passed the following test: fire nine shots hitting each of the crossbars of a traditional gate." ( http://www.slinging.org/19.html )
The sling as a competitive ranged weapon was my intent all along due mainly to the tennis ball sillyness in general. That and the historical aspect as well as the simple fact that it is and always has been a serious weapon.

I agree with you (Lord) Hobb (of Calven...couldn't help it  ), a good deal of them do get annoying. The thing that get's to me most though is the ones that come off as having played too many roll playing games and (are starting to?  ) belive it's real... "Oh a staff sling, that's a halfling weapon"....Geez... Well, what ever makes them happy I guess...as long as they keep away, preferably out of sling range, from me.
I still am not an SCA member, but if this takes off it's possable there maybe enough intrest stired up that no matter where we are there may be someone serious to go sling with on a simi-regular basis.

Thanks again Chris and everyone. I'm glad this site is here.

j.

What is SCA, exactly? Some sort of medieval combat reenactment thing?

I'd thought about bean bag type ammo for "combat" and target use but there is still the life expectancy (not to mention the safty issue for "combat") problems... I'm probably going to meet with some folks this weekend and bounce some ideas off of them (pun intended) as well. If nothing else there will probably be a chance to show off a bit.