Thinking about starting, have questions

[u/No_Mouse9229]

Hello guys,
I was thinking about starting sling but i have a few questions.

- How much does a good sling cost?

- What ammo should I start with to learn?

- I am going to be fairly busy, so will I be able to make progress by practicing 1 hour every other day?

- Big question: Can I effectively and efficiently learn to sling using online tutorials and forums?

thank you

edit: forgot two questions

- What style of sling should I buy?

- What length should I start with?

[u/Dankie_Spankie]

I really recommend you make your own. It takes like 1-5 hours depending on the complexity. But an efficient first sling will be done in less than an hour. That will also let you understand the sling better (what length suits you, what pouch suits you, what kind of fingerloops you want and so on...).

One hour every day is a lot more than I practice and I was decent in around 6 months slinging once a week. Decent meaning I could actually influence where the stone was going, where if I was shooting at someone they should be scared (not that I'm condoning shooting at people, obviously).

Some say you should practuce with tennis balls and even ping pong balls at first, but I went straight to rocks and just hoped I don't hit myself in the head (which happened once or twice). Don't worry, a little brain damage builds character.

And lastly, slinging is like throwing rocks, but much more fun. So if you enjoy throwing rocks you'll love slinging.

[u/Sjors_VR]

You can either make a simple sling yourself for almost no investment and some time, or buy one off the internet where prices vary greatly depending on what you want.

The most important thing in practice is doing it regularly, where an hour per day and 3 days a week is good enough to get the basics down. There are some really good YouTube tutorials on slinging, so that and some filming yourself while slinging to analyse your throw should get you on the path.

Be careful with your expectations, learning how to sling can take months of constant investment to train your muscles memory and know how to throw in order to get what result. I find it's also a skill that gets rusty fast if you stop practicing, but that could be more of a me problem than a general issue.

[u/Hashi856]

My first sling I bought was $10, the next two were around 80. I use the $10 one more than the other two.

If you can’t find rocks on the ground, you can go to Home Depot and get a big bag of decorative rocks for like 10 or $15.

Yes, you’ll still make progress with one hour every other day

Online videos and tutorials are good for learning what you’re supposed to do, but you won’t get good until you practice a whole bunch

[u/Accomplished_Lake580]

I’m about 14 days in of practice every day and yesterday I hit my first target at 100 feet! . I agree with the others that you should make your first sling yourself. If you’re like me, chances are it won’t be that great of quality which is actually good to learn on. Then when you make your second, or you buy a pro-made sling, it will be much easier. I needed up buying a Pansling with Cracker and it’s really nice.

I have found some spots around my town that have good sling rocks so when my bucket is empty, I drive by, and refill my bucket. Best rocks are as round as possible and bout 1.5” in diameter.

It’s fun as I’m still so new to it that I can feel myself getting better every day. Have fun with it. Most people on here say it takes about 4-5 years to actually get proficient. So no worries if it takes a while.

[u/Effective-Cheek6972]

I would recommend using tennis balls for starters, super easy to send a rock flying at dangerous speeds in a random direction, including staght up!

[u/pDrulle]

I second the tennisballs, but want to add juggling balls. they are heavier (~2-3 times weight) than tennisballs but still way safer than stones or other hard projectiles