Pretty neat!  Never seen a video throwing so casually and easy.

I guess lot of folks do easy throws when warming up, just nobody puts warming up on video??

Great to have more clips floating around!! Super smooth form i love it

Aha! I just noticed the title on one of the videos. I was going to ask if you were trying out the Malagan style!

How do you like it? I find it cracks much better for some reason, maybe because of the quick wrist rotation just before release instead of the slower rotation over the whole powerstroke with balearic or byzantine? That would make the traveling loop on the release cord smaller and thus louder(lower mass) given the same input energy.

Otherwise, I'm not a huge fan. It's a pretty under-hand release, which feels a little weird to me and I find it hard to get a lot of power.

BenniG wrote on Jun 28^th, 2026 at 5:21pm:


my thoughts exactly!

Yo those are great videos!
I would agree the powerstroke is a little short, for me the malagan is like my tactical version of the byzantine. if i want to throw quickly at something and i dont have it ready for greek overhand. Or if im throwing fast paced at a wall etc

i feel like this throw uses really efficient sling-body harmonics and timing more as opposed to relying on traditional body mechanics to achieve velocity. It really feels effortless and is a good endurance throw in that you can do it forever before getting worn out.

The swing back and then pull forward sets the momentum of the pouch in an arc over your head (ish) and right into the throwing position. It almost feels like youre tossing the weight of the pouch on the pull forward/up and then catching it behind you and immediately transferring that energy into the throw. So the windup is just used to get your arm/sling in a specific spot with a specific direction of momentum and rotation and everything else. Thats what i meant by my previous comment. Idk if that makes any sense lol

erricrice wrote on Jun 28^th, 2026 at 6:09pm:


Hi Chris, these videos are brilliant. Thanks for putting them up!


I do have a slightly different take on the mechanics, though. I suspect we might be overcomplicating things a bit. I’ll try to explain how I see it—it’s less about strict physics and more an attempt to translate an intuitive feel into words.


It seems you're treating the 'short powerstroke' as a mandatory rule of the Malagan style, rather than what it actually is: the byproduct of a highly efficient setup. As I mentioned earlier, the whole point of different styles is simply finding the (or your) best pathway to load the sling for the final stroke. It doesn't even have to be the most direct route, especially if the slinger uses that setup to prepare mentally for the throw.


But if we look at what the powerstroke actually requires (in my opinion)... to me, it begins when the ball is about 270 degrees before release. That is the moment the projectile pushes outward put wanting to fly in the exact opposite direction of the target. You want a bit of rotational speed there so the pull of the ball actually loads your muscles. (the more speed, the better actually, but harder to catch that point) Muscles require resistance to generate substantial power. You're going to force the ball to go in the exact opposite way it wants at that moment — the more it resists, the harder you work, which ensures you've recruited the necessary muscle fibres for that forward acceleration.



At that precise moment, you are already well into your kinetic chain: the opposite shoulder and arm are opening up, the throwing shoulder rushes forward, the elbow follows, and the hand lags behind. Ideally, the elbow is still level with or behind your head, and the hand is even further back—as far as your joints allow. This is the crucial part, because the distance your hand travels forward from here dictates the power. The longer that distance, the longer you can accelerate and pull on the sling (much like the draw length of a bow).



Right before release, human anatomy dictates that the hand can no longer lag behind the elbow. The arm fully extends, the hand flips over, and it creates a sudden, tight radius that gives the sling a sharp tug. It gives the ball the last pop, but then forces skyrocket and it literally rips the release out of your hand. That's why I find the knotless release way smoother; it supports that automatisation where you don't actually open your hand or fingers intentionally, but it starts ripping it out, you hold a bit against it, and then give in.


So, for me, that entire sequence is the powerstroke.


If you pause the videos of the shepherds precisely when this sequence begins, you can see their bodies fully opening, with the elbow and hand still lagging. Granted, if you wanted absolute maximum power, you would exaggerate it more than they do. But they are not killers, they guide their herds all day by throwing stones beside the animals. But their style is fully capable of maximum power—it certainly doesn't lack potential.


The real skill, particularly in Pedro's throw, is what happens before. After the ball seems to stop and reverse direction, he has about 180 degrees before entering that long explained sequence. He flicks it up (better watched in real time) without sacrificing lots of the hand's forward path (the 'draw length'), which he needs to maintain the acceleration distance and feed the ball into the powerstroke with initial speed.



That second flick you see is just the hand snapping over as the arm extends. Pedro emphasises this by letting his hand lag for as long as possible until it forcefully flips (but you want this in any good strong throw, watch Modesto or Luis) adding a substantial burst of speed right at the very end. The reason his style looks so erratic or 'flicky' is simply because he condenses all of this into a tight 450-degree orbit.


So, I wouldn't say their powerstroke is inherently short. They have just eliminated almost all wasted movement. And then they shorten the powerstroke for how "soft" they want to throw. With beginner slingers, you often see a lot of hand repositioning right before the powerstroke begins—wasting their 'draw length'—so by the time they actually pull, their hand is already in front of their head, leaving almost no distance left to accelerate.

[ Pedro doesn't have much of a step in his throw… ]

Here is my opinion -I think all power stokes are an identical length and include only one 360 degree spin of the sling.

Of course this all depends on when does the power stroke begin???

I think the power stroke begins a split second AFTER the front step hits the ground OR for non-steppers the power stroke begins a split second AFTER weight is transferred to the front foot.

I think it is generally true once the foot steps or once the weight is transferred for non-steppers, the arm/elbow immediately will move only in the forward direction towards the target.

The hand lags behind the elbow and wrist is free to twirl and this adds a full 360 degree sling rotation to the start of the power stroke.

Eventually the hand must move forward too so the wrist must stop rotating the sling, but pull it towards the target.


With all this in mind,  if you look at the videos listed above I see the moment the foot hits the ground or weight is transferred…..note in all cases generally the tennis ball is in front of the person towards the target.  Immediately the arm/elbow moves forward (hips/shoulder rotation preceding the arm/elbow)….while the wrist spins the sling from the front starting position, 180 degrees all the way to the rear, then another 180 degrees to the front again where the ball is released.


Of course this is for “spinning” styles of throws. I imagine if you move your arm forward slowly during the power stoke, you might could spin the ball two or three times before you released it……but moving your arm slowly forward is really not adding power….so not really a “power” stroke.

What do you think?  Am I missing something?