Tag: how to sling

Angle And Why It Is Crucial To Distance And Accuracy

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I really got into skipping stones again this summer. No, not with a sling (but I will get to that later), just with my arm. I started the summer with one big skip and then a few more hops before the stone sank into the water. After that, I focused really hard on throwing it as hard as possible and getting enough power behind it to get A LOT of skips! But every time, it would just skip higher and further, and I would still only get a few skips out of the whole thing. So then, I started thinking about the angle.

How sharp am I coming down at the water?

Where does the stone start in my hand vs. where does the stone end coming out of my hand?

Should they hit the water closer to shore or further away?

Do I throw them harder, or do I throw them flatter?

That’s when it all clicked. I started getting lower in my throwing stance. I would throw to hit the water 40ft in front of me instead of 20. I would give myself a few practice throws, really making sure I had the right throwing angle before I even let the rock leave my hand.

This relates to slinging as well.

One thing I love doing with a sling is throwing for distance. I really don’t care most of the time where the rock goes as long as it is forward and really far.

This is when angle comes into play. If I throw too high (vertical plane), I lose horizontal distance because it is taken up by vertical distance. If I throw it off from my most powerful arm angle (horizontal plane), then I lose out on distance because I couldn’t get all my power behind the throw. If I’m off by just a hair, it is 20 to 40 feet less distance.

So why is this important to you too? If you don’t start thinking about your release angle, you will always have trouble getting what you are aiming at, and you will have difficulty getting the max distance every time. Or being accurate with your sling. Also, you won’t be able to skip stones with your sling!

So first, let’s think about slinging for accuracy. There are a few things that come up when we first start with that. First, do we have the correct height of the rock? Second, how far left or right do we need to aim? And Third, how far away is our target. All these things happen in the last section of our throw, in under one second. So how are we supposed to really focus on this?

Think about it like the freeze-frame of a pitcher. Right before the ball is about to leave their hand, what do they look like?. One leg stretched way back, The other way forward, the throwing elbow bent like it might break at any moment. Yeah, that one. If everything is in line, the ball goes where they want.

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We have the same thing, just our arm also has a sting at the end of it. And that release point is what we can spend some time focusing on.

Whenever you are trying something new with the sling, always start off slow and with minimal power. You just need to make the sling move. If you are going for a distance, you want the sling to release at a 45-degree angle to the ground. That gets a nice arch on the stone, and I have found that the best result. However, if you are going for accuracy, you want it to be as close to perpendicular or zero degrees of angle to the target as possible. But in reality, it’s more like a 20-degree cause most things will be on the ground. But if it is something on a tree or a target 50 feet away, you pretty much have the rock travel parallel to the ground and hit the mark.

Now for what throw works best for what. For distance, the best throw I have found is the figure 8 throw. This throw is so valuable because it cuts out a lot of the horizontal plane, and you can focus on the vertical release point. If you mess up, you are throwing too high or right into the ground. You don’t have to worry about not getting your arm behind the sling and not getting the distance.

For accuracy, the best throw is the shepherd’s throw. I like the shepherd’s throw because it allows you to lower your arm and give a sidearm throw when trying to hit a target on the ground or in the water. You can skip a stone across the water to shoot a duck, for example. With the lateral movement of the shepherd’s throw, you have to worry less about up and down and focus more on the left and right,

The Balearic throw is somewhat of a controversial throwing style for me. It has a 2 beat windup and an overhand throw. It was historically used by the best singers in the world, but it is also a hard throw to get right. And has a lot of areas that can be messed up. SO I don’t really recommend it for someone just learning to sling. But it does give the biggest window of throws you can do. Because once you get comfortable with it, you can go high with a distance shot or low with a skip shot. All of it really works.

Hopefully, this helps you improve just a little bit in your slinging journey. And you either throw further or get that hitbox smaller on your throws.

Sling on!

5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Slinging

I love throwing at ponds

If I knew these 5 tips when I started throwing back in 2001, I would be a way better slinger today. I want to make sure that you get to start your slinging journey off on the right foot. Or if you were like me and learned all the wrong things first. You get to learn why you may have some issues and what to do about them.

Starting off throwing for distance!

I started with this because it’s the worst thing you can do. Throwing for distance destroys your accuracy and makes it way harder to learn it later. Each form has a body mechanic for throwing accurately and for throwing far. If you start with the distance version of the throw you will find that you are off by feet or yards when you actually try to hit something. Now I know that throwing far looks really cool and impresses a lot of people. But if you take the first 6 months of practice and devote that to just working on your accuracy it will pay off later. Like when you want to hit something or try to actually hunt with it.

Using a bad sling

This is where we all start. We find some leather and some old boot laces. Or in my case some felt and some cotton string and make a sling. If your sling is too small, it will drop most of the rocks. If your cords are slightly off, then the pocket will not want to hold rocks. This is even if they are the right size. So really zero in on your first sling. You could buy one on Etsy (Mine are my favorite… I might be a little bias) you can also find a good tutorial online to make a simple sling. Just make sure you are using something of high quality. If not then the learning curve of this already steep skill will feel even steeper.

Not all rocks are created equal

If you go out to your local beach, or park, or pond and pick up a handful of stones you will most likely notice a big difference between them. This will change how they fly through the air and how accurate they can be. Flat stones sound the coolest but also curve in flight, round stones fly the straightest, and dense stones go the farthest. So, it is really important to notice what you are throwing and fit that to what you want to do.

Switching your form every time you go out

Don’t get me wrong, it is important to try out some different throwing styles to see what fits you best. But once you find one that works, stick with it for a while. I would suggest at least a year if you are throwing with regularity. This will help you learn the sling and the rocks. The less variables you have the better it is to fix the kinks. The style I would suggest is the Balearic throw. The 3 turn windup to the overhead almost side arm release is a very versatile throw. But if you are just starting out, I would even say the Shepard throw is even better because there are even fewer areas to make mistakes. For that throw you just hold the rock in the sling out in front of you, give it a one rotation around your head and release. This is my most accurate throw at this point. You will lose some distance in the future but for now that isn’t an issue.

You think your new sling is supposed to work perfectly

Slings are like any other flexible tool or piece of equipment. It needs time to break in and get used to being used. What is the first thing someone is told to do with a baseball glove? Go throw a ball into it for a while, “Break It In”. Slings need the same kind of attention. I use primarily woven hemp slings. And they are very rigid after they are made. And it will take a few weeks of throwing until it will start to relax. I used to run my new sling through the wash once to break them in faster. However, this ends up making the cords have a few awkward waves in making it a little unruly to use right away. So now I just put it in a pocket or backpack for a while as I just live my life and let it slowly soften. But one more important thing to note. If you break the sling in with only throwing, it will mold to fit your hand and your throwing style the best. This can take some time but the difference between a new and broken in sling is amazing, totally worth the time put in.

To recap what I wish I knew when I started. Start with accuracy! Get a good sling first. Not all rocks will fly the same. Stick with one throwing style when you start. And let your sling break in!

I hope this helped and I’ll see you in the next one.

Sling on.