We should have 2 recognizable categories of slinging, in that case. Sporting and Historical.

For sport, split pouch slings should be 4 to 5 oz. vegetable tanned leather with straps that cross each other, and I suggest using the same dimensions as Aussie's conveyor belt sling pouches. He's already done the work for us. I do suggest reinforcing the pouch with metal grommets where the cords attach to the pouch, to prevent the sling from ripping during competition. Length of the sling should be limited to 1.2 meters folded in half. I don't really see any point in limiting how the sling cords are attached to the pouch or the material they should be made of, but paracord is pretty convenient and should be in the running if others want to regulate cord material. Use the FBTF target dimension (1.2 meters square with 0.5 meter bullseye) and have set distances of 10, 20, and 30 meters.

For Historical, just use the FBTF rules and limit the slings to being made of natural materials, also with a 1.2 meter maximum length.

This is basically the same set-up as sport vs. renaissance fencing.

  I've often said that slinging reminds me of bowling in many ways.
   It's all about shooting at a target utilizing perfect form, with the least little variance causing your accuracy to fall into the hopper.  Bowling is an internationally sanctioned, very popular sport.  Yet it allows for much variation in styles and equipment.  Only the target and the distance are standard.
   Let's start with the ball.  I can weigh anywhere from sixteen down to, I believe, six pounds.  The only reason the range isn't wider is the ball return equipment couldn't handle it.  I can be made of a number of different materials and combinations of materials, from rock hard plastic balls that slip slide down the lane and don't hook much at all to highly reactive surface balls that dig in right away.  The core varies greatly.  Popular now is the block core which keeps the ball from deflecting much when it hits the pins.  You can get balls with solid cores if you prefer.  You can have your ball drilled any number of ways.  Most prefer full fingertip, but there's also semi-fingertip and conventional (ugh) grip.  There's even a five fingered ball.  I am allowed to throw the ball using any number of styles.  I can throw a hook, back up, or straight ball.  I can throw it without putting my thumb in the hole or I can even hurl it using two hands if I wish. 
   So a popular internationally sanctioned sport doesn't have to have a lot of restrictive, stifling rules.  I'm 6'4" with very long arms. It makes no more sense for me to use the same length sling in competition against someone 4'9" than it does for me to use a ten pound ball when bowling against a 5'2" woman or for her to use a sixteen pound ball. 
    By limiting what materials can be used for slings and ammo you're completely stifling any advancement in the technology of the sport.  What wins tournaments should be what becomes the standard, as it is in bowling.   
    Do we really want to emulate the Balearic slingers?  Look at how wildly popular that is... not.   By omitting certain styles, sling lengths, types of ammo, sling materials, etc.. we will be omitting prospective slingers.  I would personally have no interest what so ever in a format with a lot of tight rules doing away with anything that is innovative about the sport.
   I say set up a poll and put it to a vote!

I think the only hope of getting this off the ground is to make it fun and simple.
Who will be participating?
An extremely wide variety of people, with wide variety of resources, (slings and ammo).
Golf balls, tennis balls, cast lead glands, river rock, sand filled leather bags, etc., if restricted to any one item, it will alienate many.
Sling length and contruction will also vary widely and cannot be standardized at this level.
The only controllable variable is target and distance, to get maximum participation.
This is how systems evolve and improve is thru competition, whatever works will be copied and improved upon.
Too much control will be the reason for lack of particpation.
Good luck,
Oscar

first off, thanks Masiaka for the nod.

i have to agree with Whipartist and Ratman, among others. putting restrictions on sling types and styles and ammo is just silly. for my other favorite primitive weapon, the atlatl, we've had a world wide competition in place for decades called the ISAC which stands for International Standard Accuracy Competition. it involves a standardized target at two set distances and a set of rules governing conduct and scoring and that's it. any and all variations of equipment are allowed. the great thing about ISAC's is that it can be performed by anyone anywhere simply by purchasing or crafting an ISAC target.

i felt it was such a good model that i came up with a version for slinging. it utilized plastic containers as targets (and not the paper atlatl targets as Curious_Aardvark stated above. in fact, the atlatl ISAC target and the Baeleric sling target are very similar to each other in size and form where my ISAC for sling are not)  because i felt these were 1. easy to obtain by anyone. 2. were highly mobile and durable. and 3. because they represented better than the Baeleric target what slinging was meant for i.e hitting small ground based targets such as animals.

i'm not opposed to another format, even the Baeleric model, but i would be highly opposed to anything that limited the sling type, style, or ammo. a standard target, set distances, format and rules, and scoring are all that is needed i believe.

Chris

p.s. i tried to do a search for that old ISAC for slinging thread and couldn't find it. anyone got it?

lots of good points - and all from the point of view of practicing slingers.

And this is not necessarily a good thing because we know what kind of slings and ammo we all like and prefer.

From the point of view of a complete new comer, attending an unlimited sling & ammo competition would be completely bewildering.
Every competitor would tell them to make buy or use completely different ammo and slings.
They'd be told that longer is better and that shorter is better, that natural cords are better than manmade and that manmade is better than natural.
They'd be told that heavy ammo is better than light, and that lighter ammo is better than heavy. That sperical rocks are best and that ovoid rocks are best.
That fig 8 is dangerous and useless (jaegoor )and that helicopter is inaccurate and rubbish (me   )
They'd be told that you should only use lethal ammo and that non-lethal ammo is best.
That split pouches rock and that solid pouches suck, and that spilt spouches suck and that solid pouches rule.
In short: a completely bewildering and contradictory mass of information that is going to do nothing but confuse and dissuade someone from having a go.

Yes it might be easier for existing slingers - and I feel I'm just banging my head against a brick wall here - but the main purpose of a standardised slinging competition  is TO ATTRACT NEW PEOPLE TO THE SPORT (when we have an actual sport, that is) and to creat an actual sport that can be practiced worldwide with the same set of easy to make kit.

If they can troll, up watch a bunch of people slinging the same ammo with similiar looking slings, which they will be able to purchase or be given. it is massively more likely that they will have a go or even join a club or league.
Sure everyone they meet will tell them that different techniques are best. But that's all they'll have to consider.
Everything else will make sense.

Once they can sling, THEN is the time to start exploring the variety, history and usages of slings.

And paleo, slings were not exclusively or even mainly, meant for killing small animals.
They have been used for war against people, hunting large animals, herding animals, hunting birds etc

I'll repeat a sling is A TOOL. How it is used is up the individual using it.

As far as pouches go.
Look, aussie created a versatile, durable, easy to replicate, weather proof,  multi usage sling pouch that has been used and tested all over the world for over 3 years.
It is the ONLY such pouch in existence.
Used conveyor belt material can be had - I suspect for free - simply by contacting local companies and asking.

I just do not see any point in reinventing the wheel.

Standardised ammunition makes it easier to practice, gives your slinging consistent results and is going to make more sense and be more attractive to the newcomer.

How hard can it be to accept that we standardise three things: pouch, ammo, target ? (unbelievably hard from where I'm sitting lol)
That is essentially all we need to do to create a sport that is accessible to non-slingers and existing slingers in equal measure.

With the same three pieces of equipment - you can create lots of different competition types and scoring systems. But as long as everyone used the same pouches, targets and ammo - any scoring system can be used worldwide.

K.I.S
Keep It Simple

not a bad compromise, Ratman. i'd go along with that if it was the consensus, but i would like to address one of C_A's points. he states that newcomers would be cofused about what to use and would be told many different things by every individual. possibly. but i think they would recieve the same answers that most newbies get here which is "experiment for yourself and find what works for you". i believe that if they're interested enough in slinging then they'll embark on the same journey the rest of us have taken and figure it out for themselves, with some suggestions along the way from those in the know of course.

i can almost garauntee you one thing. that if given the choice between an open class (where you can use what you want, how you want) and a standardized class (where you're required to use gear or ammo you might not like) then the line for latter will be much shorter. i'm just saying.



oh, and C_A, i din't say 'hunting', i said 'hitting' small animals by which i meant human sized and down. anyways that wasn't even my point. the three targets i used encompassed one about the size of a mans torso down to one about the size of a modest bird. i just  felt that was a pretty good representation of the type of skill we should try and acheive as slingers, much more so than the barn door like target that the Baelerics use.

As for the target why not use something made of micarta. It is known worldwide(at least in the Americas and Europe). What do you think of target with cross section like that one?(ok maybe not with that many layers...)

Genuinely No insult intended. Just saying how it is for the vast majority of americans. They never travel abroad - because they don't need to.
And again I'm not talking about the tiny number of people who already sling - I'd like to try and reach the humoungous number who have never even heard of a sling.

Right, sling lengths - no problem with different ones. but a min and max length just makes sense. cord type - again not important.

pouches - can  be made and supplied by the organisation - whatever it turns out to be. Or made from a supplied spec and cutting template
And with them standardised if you travel to a different area or country, you'll still be using the same kit. Which makes life much easier if you haven't got a sling already.

targets likewise. and the size and shape - again needs to be standardised.

I'll be working out a design kit in the near future.
think I've got it down to 6 bits of wood, four bolts and either a metal disc or a plastic disc and a few rubber washers, glue and a few wood screws. A saw, a drill and screwdriver and pliers will be the only tools needed.

The 'organisation' can supply everything except the wood and disc as a kit with full instructions.

Haven't tested the sand filled squash balls yet. but again, they can easily be made onsite by anyone. squash is played worldwide. and squash balls wear out regularly. So talking to the local squash league or club  and paying a few pence for worn out balls should be doable.
I've ruled out golf balls for 3 reasons.
1) they richochet like bastards. very dangerous.
2) they are slightly larger and lighter as well as being less dense than the sand filled squash balls.
3) sand filled squash balls do not bounce back. feel ideal in the hand, are very durable and extremely easy to make.

I've also worked out a way to make the original aussie pouches with the central stitches. But using very small cable ties instead of stitching. Makes it a lot faster and easier and produces a much more durable pouch. Than the ones without central reinforcement.

And again we can supply templates so these can be made from any conveyor belt material - which is - again - universally available and standardised.

It's all about being able to reproduce the exact same kit whever you are in the world for the standard competition. For very little outlay.

If you look at the sports that have spread around the world they are universally capable of being undertaken with minimal equipment. So that's fairly important.
Keeo it cheap, simple and easy to accurately replicate.

As far as the open comp goes - target is the same - everything else can be down to the individual.