#hobbies #exercise #slinging #cohost-repost
2023-06-16

So, recently I've picked up slinging. Like, the string and a rock kind. I'm no gamer-chair "slingshot" scrub.

I'm still not good enough to trust myself with things harder than tennis balls around people, but it's a great thing for the bike, I'll see a good spot, pull over, and just start launching stones into the river or sea and honing technique.

or tennis balls in the park.

but it's a target and distance sport, and progress at the start is so clear every day. it gives me the firearms or nerf blaster sensation of being able to have a tight FAFO (Fuck-Around Find-Out) loop that you can adjust and instantly see the results of that adjustment, but unlike guns or nerf guns, you can tweak every variable.

Basic knowledge of physics and centripetal force especially will help you go far here. Watch some YouTube videos if you don't yet intuit that an object moving in a circle wants to move straight when the righting force is removed, not continue in a circle.

The speed of your spin doesn't mean much, it's just there to keep the stone "ready", the range and force are all from the massive lever arm of the sling plus your arm. So you ideally release as it's coming forward, but it doesn't matter much, the pull and release matters most.

It's easy to get into, too, practicalparacord on YouTube has some excellent videos on technique, and makes some of the highest quality slings I've yet tried over the years, the first sling to actually get me to care instead of it just being a novelty.

just uh, when looking at resources other than him, understand that you'll need to hold your nose through all the bible cosplay and roleplay. that's the dark side.

anyway nothing is cooler than something you can slip into a pocket that can pick up something off the floor and just obliterate whatever's at the aim point. excellent thing to pull out and teach some rando who's hanging out with you at some outdoor event and get everyone interested.

but also it's lethal done right so like, appropriate responsibility yeah?
(do not sling heavy ammo while intoxicated)

when using tennis balls, dogs cannot resist you.

This is not, necessarily, a positive.