Curious Aardvark wrote on Mar 30^th, 2021 at 6:46am:



Of course a wide grip introduces oscillations into the pouch and stone when rotoring. It's the inevitable byproduct of the space between the cords and the swinging of the wrist.  The larger this space between the cords,the greater the oscillations. It's easy to test, put the loop on your pinkie and you will see. As a result some make a very stiff pouch or in your case, you use very secure cupped leather pouch (capt. paul?) to prevent preponed releases.

One more comment on precision slings. You are free to disagree. For me, a precision sling has certain characteristics when loaded with a stone of a certain shape and size. The sling cords must not twist / move back and forth - which I have called oscillations - when moving the wrist - when I utilize the Spanish ''Tecnica de precision'' Grip, but must stay taut, responding very directly to my wrist. The weight and shape of the stone should be selected by placing a stone in the cradle of the sling, starting from a low weight of stone, and then working upwards, until oscillations begin. I use the weight of stone just before the oscillations begin. Then I have discovered the right weight of stone for the sling. Now I have optimal pouch orientation control using the tightest no-gap grip possible, which means that I will sacrifice no pouch orientation control if I were to opt for a wider grip, and I will also have ideal weight of stone to push open the release cord without too much delay. Lately I have been using such a setup and building my slings according to my theory and I have notificed significant increases in my accuracy and consistency thereof. My ideal precision sling currently is one that is very symmetric, with the pouch being fully symmetric, and both
the weight, shape, size and stiffness of the release cord being virtually identical to the weight, shape, size and stiffness of the retention cord, like the hemp sling I posted recently in pictures thread. You may notice ht has no tapered release cord, or an overly stiff retention cord,  or a center of mass located in a ''belly''. These technical attributes messes with my theory.  The sling is already quite complex. Currently for optimal balance I find it hard to imagine anything else other than both cords being equal/symmetric. Other wise one will twist more than the other (thus the retention cord has to made stiffer to balance it out?)

Please don't take this too seriously, its my theoretical ramblings based on personal experiences and a lot fo testing, and you may just be totally fine with a completely different approach.

Personally I like my slings to be stiff enough that when hanging in my grip the pouch responds and moves with my hand twist with minimal lag. I also do seem to prefer having my loop on my middle finger and hold the retention end with my thumb and index finger. It is a semi wide grip, but with the slings I make it is perfect to hold the ammo secure, but not so secure it throws off the trajectory upon release. I can feel that when I'm winding up the sling responds to the slightest tweaks in angle/rotation. So far I like stiffer cords, particularly on a split pouch, because they feel more consistent, and get twisted less, plus the pouch doesn't open to prematurely launch as easily. I also like more flexible cords too, with a formed pouch. So it really has too mainy variables for me to pick my sure thing favorite yet. I do lean towards stiffer more though.

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Apr 1^st, 2021 at 5:15pm:


Thank you for your interest. I make my slings stiff enough now so that they don't wist back and forth when I do, what you do in that video, including when unloaded. Because its hard to achieve what I want, when the sling already oscillates without any ammo. There are some design elements I adhere to that are very good for achieving this, and some elements I have to avoid.
It is definitely possible to achieve it also with round cords if one desires. Even thin round cords, as long as they are stiff enough. But then I make a retention tab under the fingerloop, to press the release cord against. I can show it if anyone wants. But I prefer flat cords for this technique. I hope to make some more of my slings and send them abroad for others to test.

I've been using the no-gap tight grip the last week or 2 and I definitely like it. Starting to think it's the most optimal way to sling, granted the slings and ammo fulfills my requirements according my theory. I no longer need a wide grip, or any cord seperation, for spiral throws and pouch orientation control. It's very fulfilling feeling to spiral clean with such a tight grip. I always loved the idea of a tight grip and it was one of the thing that drew me to Y-slings, because I thought it was only logical for the y-sling. And after I left that Y-sling I felt I simply had to come to terms with using a wide grip with friction-slings. Now I have discovered I don't really need a wide grip as long as I tune my sling and ammo right.

Engineering my slings so that I can spiral clean even with a tight no-gap grip definitely sets an interesting design precedent/standard requirement  for me. But I can fully sympathize why setting this precedent may sound unappealing to others. I tend to sacrifice raw efficency, and ease of construction, and being able to chuck anything I want as effectively, with such a standard. It's the price to be paid.