Great stuff IG!  Nice consistency while concentrating on speed. 

David Morningstar wrote on Mar 13^th, 2021 at 1:52am:


Huh, that's really interesting. I guess that makes sense about the name. However, I really wish the guy who wrote that left a doodle or something of how it's done, because what he describes is a nightmare.

I've tried the style a number of times before, but I was always pretty dismissive of it because it was terrible anytime. I either got something that was way too slow going way too high, or something super fast but going directly into the ground. I could never get a happy medium.

Today I tried the style again, but this time I decided to give it a good college try. Low and behold, the results were exactly the same. Pathetic range and power or spiking it into the ground. However, I discovered a brand new disdain for this style. It's actually quite painful to do. Now, I've read about people in this forum being sore from certain styles before. I'm a young guy, so I probably have less of a problem with this than others. My arm with get tired and a little sore after a lot of slinging, but give it a while and I hardly notice. There is one exception to this, and that is when I "dry fire" a heavy stone. I screw around sometimes and use rocks that are way too big for the pouch, which causes the rock to fall out prematurely and the arm to jerk forward. It causes more serious soreness, and I've had to get much better about not being so goofy with what I sling. But with Apache style? Even with smaller rocks, I get some of that same feeling. Seriously trying Apache style was a bad idea. I was trying to follow the description as best as I could, but it is probably the most unnatural and ineffective slinging style there is. It makes me believe that there is something wrong with the description given.

I would have loved to actually see it or have a video of it (remember, documentation is important), because the textual evidence and existing examples I've seen describe something I can't imagine. You might point out that I don't have extensive experience with this and you're right, but the impression I've gotten from everyone else besides the initial source is that it's incredibly awkward.

IronGoober wrote on Mar 13^th, 2021 at 5:58pm:


That would be cool to see how you make it work.

I use to have a dismissive attitude towards figure 8 thinking that no one would have ever used it, until I saw this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r-2xkXdelI) from Papua New Guinea. It seems like separated people on different sides of the world had converged on the same style, even the starting position. After that I practiced a bit more I was able to get the hang of it, and I could now see why people would use that style.

And while while I'm on this topic, I'll go a little off topic. If not for this video, I wouldn't have ever taken figure 8 seriously. However, it's also a bit depressing. If you read the description, it's one of the few places where the sling is still made. I would also guess that it might be in decline even in that local area, as one of the steps of the sling's decline is being relegated as a child's toy, though an older man at the end poses with a sling. It might get to that point soon. It's kind of sad to think that some of the last remaining slinging cultures are in decline. Again I'm just guessing, but I think that the old man of that article might have been one of the last people to use the "Apache" style as his native style.

Figure 8 produces a very flat trajectory, I like that style with a short (50 cm) sling when I am in narrow areas like a forest trail. Short because I don't like halve the sling smacking the ground. It's a good style also for slinging head on.

I'm betting everyone secretly wanted to vote for vanilla.  Probably just concerned that everyone else would think they're boring. 

The two replies above me are why I love this forum. 

Underarm is the easiest style on the muscles and joints, health wise.

The very steep overhand the figure 8 produces is probably the least easy on the joints when you throw hard.

This style of cast is similar to an overhand cast I perform with a hand thrown stone, and similar to an overhand cast I do with a spear or atlatl. So this style of throwing shares ground with other weapons. I think an atlatlist would like figure 8 very much.

If underarm is the easiest on the body, and near-vertical overhand the toughest, than sidearm is probably in the middle when it comes to joint and muscle pressure.

I am firm believer in the Greek overhand. Has been since I discovered it and have used it ever since. Just yesterday I slung for the first time in months using the overhand and was amazed by how much accuracy I retained.
I have never had problems with range though I mostly sling at 20-15 meters.

Hirtius wrote on Mar 12^th, 2021 at 7:57pm:

Can't see why they couldn't depict a Greek style. They might look a little awkward but it is perfectly possible to do a Greek from that position. Or maybe it is a question of artistic merit.