# Embarrassed- - - Fork and Hand hitting!



## NoobShooter (Sep 15, 2012)

Ok.. I know this has been talked about over and over again, but recently I have found that I only have two slingshot that I can shoot without either taking the fork clean off or hitting my hand.. (The Scout and my new Wombat frame). I have been shooting for a year or so and never had fork hit issues in the past, but now for whatever reason i am hitting the fork or worse off, hitting my hand. And to be honest hitting your hand over and over with a 7/16 ball bearing hurts.... A LOT.. Its made me very weary of even holding a slingshot.. Almost like I have lost everything that I have ever learned, and my confidence is at an all time low. I had started cutting my bands a bit longer and shooting butterfly or at least a modified butterfly and shoot fairly well doing so. But as soon as I pull to my shorter anchor point I nail the sh!t out of me or the slingshot.. I cant explain it.. if anyone else has had this happen PLEASE chime in with some help.. I was thinking about recording myself shooting so I can examine what the hell is going on. Maybe sharing with this community to see it too.. But its a bit embarrassing to even talk about this.. It seems the shorter more narrow forks are the ones I am having issues with.. Which sucks because I find the smaller ones more comfortable to shoot.. Anyway, ranting and raving here......


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## mr. green (Nov 3, 2012)

I'm going to follow this thread. It sounds interesting.

I tweak the pouch a little so it shoots away from the fork/hand. I got a fork hit about two weeks ago on my PFS...... was careless.


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## f00by (May 18, 2010)

Sounds like you are just in a little bit of a rut. You'll pop out the other side a better marksman than ever. Here's my recommendation (for what its worth)

Pick up your favorite fork, regardless if its causing you to fork hit right now or not. Shove some light, crappy bands on it. Dry shoot it for a while. Then start shooting paper balls at first. Take away the fear before you go back to regular ammo.

Good luck!


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## leon13 (Oct 4, 2012)

hope u get your moyo back

cheers


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## Malleus (Jul 25, 2013)

It's probably just as simple as you've been shooting butterfly for a while and the fork hand reacts a little when you shoot.

Maybe on a shorter draw the hand doesen't react in the same way and you get a hit. For example if you shoot a pfs your

fork hand will drop or flick forward a bit, but if you shoot a wrist rocket your hand doesn't move. Changing from one to another

can cause the odd problem if you're not paying attention.

I've recently been using a Chinese style slingshot, but last week I was going out at dawn to get a few sunrise photos and took

a bareback rig with me. First shot I busted my hand with a marble, I just wasn't paying attention and was hoilding the pouch

the wrong way, and i didn't move my fork hand as I usually would.

Here are a couple of videos by Charles all about avoiding fork and hand hits

Links in next post by Charles


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Here is the best advice I can offer without seeing you shoot ... watch them both:

http://slingshotforum.com/videos/view-32-how-to-avoid-fork-and-hand-hits-part-1/

http://slingshotforum.com/videos/view-31-how-to-avoid-fork-and-hand-hits-part-2/

Cheers ..... Charles

Sorry Malleus ... we were posting at the same time!


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## Malleus (Jul 25, 2013)

Charles said:


> Here is the best advice I can offer without seeing you shoot ... watch them both:
> 
> http://slingshotforum.com/videos/view-32-how-to-avoid-fork-and-hand-hits-part-1/
> 
> ...


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## NoobShooter (Sep 15, 2012)

Thanks guys for the help.. I had already watched those videos but I just watched them just for shits and giggles.. I am going to go out and shoot tomorrow and give it a go. I hate the fact that when I am shooting I am thinking so hard about how I am holding everything. I feel like if I could just relax and have fun like I use to it would go back to normal.. But I will put what you guys said to heart and mind, and get back out and get my sh!t back in line. Thanks for the videos Charles.. Very informative. Lets just hope my hands and brain can get together and make it happen..


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

It is like driving a car ... at first it seems there is a lot to remember. But after a little bit, it becomes automatic. Hope the vids help.

Cheers .... Charles


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## ash (Apr 23, 2013)

Come up with a mantra to recite in your head at each shot. If your aiming thought process is:

~ Focus on the target

~ Line up the bands

~ Set your elevation

~ Neutralise your pouch grip

~ Re-focus

~ Release

In mantra form it could become:

Focus - Bands - Forks - Pouch - Focus - Fire!

That ways the whole though process is distilled down to instinctive actions represented/triggered by just a few words.


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## Arturito (Jan 10, 2013)

There is something I believe is not yet covered, I am talking about FORK HIT PANIC. A fork or worse a hand hit (besides pain and trauma) is scary enough to intimidate the shooter, a psychological feeling of lack of confidence, the shooter start "thinking" all again and again, maybe that's why fork hits usually comes in sequence ...

Cheers

Arturo


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

Arturito said:


> There is something I believe is not yet covered, I am talking about FORK HIT PANIC. A fork or worse a hand hit (besides pain and trauma) is scary enough to intimidate the shooter, a psychological feeling of lack of confidence, the shooter start "thinking" all again and again, maybe that's why fork hits usually comes in sequence ...
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Arturo


That exact thing happens to me with PFSs! I'll be groovin' along fine and shooting well with one and then I get that first fork hit. After that, all I can do is hit the forks or my hand.


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

In the past when I shot only 3/8 ammo and went from the 3/8 ammo to 7/16 or with worse consequences a 5/8 marbles that was when I got a fork hit. Only occasionally, but that was when it did happen.

*I discovered* that I wouldn't hold and release the larger ammo the same as the 3/8. I would bend the pouch prior to release or as I released.

*My remedy check. *Even now if I have been shooting for days, the largest ammo being 3/8, I have a method to check my hold, and it is this. With the pouch loaded and at full draw I will slightly bend the pouch back and forth to feel where/when the ball and the pouch feel even tension under each finger that is holding the pouch. Kind of like the way gravity wants to pull a pendulum to the center. Then I make sure I don't bend or flick the pouch upon release.

I haven't had a fork hit since doing this in my usual shooting style.

I use this instruction with newbies so they get the feel of even tension and not bend the pouch.

Hope this helps someone.


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## ruthiexxxx (Sep 15, 2012)

I used to get no end of fork hits and one or two nasty hand hits

Touch wood I don't seem to get them now. I think that is because I've moved over to Bunny Ears as my preferred attachment method.

With my remaining conventional slingshots flipping seemed to solve the problem.


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## ruthiexxxx (Sep 15, 2012)

alternatively one can build in some serious hand protection


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## ZorroSlinger (Dec 12, 2012)

So this is shooting OTT & Butterfly and you getting fork hits? A workaround can be attaching tabs to forks, which may give a little extra clearance over forks. I am a noob too. I have a few Scouts with different band set-ups OTT, tabs OTT, TTF switching also from flats to tubes.

It is with PFS shooting where, it is very sensitive to 'technique' and you must be aware of consistently twisting & tweaking pouch until it is automatic. I use to get lots of fork hits with PFS, mostly when I draw with thumbs down to my cheek. PFS thumbs up soft draw is easier with less fork hits. As I said, very rare I get fork hits now with PFS. When I switch between Scout & PFS, the Scouts seem large in my hand and no fork hits at all. Maybe learning PFS helped me refine my shooting technique.


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## NoobShooter (Sep 15, 2012)

ZorroSlinger said:


> So this is shooting OTT & Butterfly and you getting fork hits? A workaround can be attaching tabs to forks, which may give a little extra clearance over forks. I am a noob too. I have a few Scouts with different band set-ups OTT, tabs OTT, TTF switching also from flats to tubes. It is with PFS shooting where, it is very sensitive to 'technique' and you must be aware of consistently twisting & tweaking pouch until it is automatic. I use to get lots of fork hits with PFS, mostly when I draw with thumbs down to my cheek. PFS thumbs up soft draw is easier with less fork hits. As I said, very rare I get fork hits now with PFS. When I switch between Scout & PFS, the Scouts seem large in my hand and no fork hits at all. Maybe learning PFS helped me refine my shooting technique.


Thankfully I have never hit my hand or the forks shooting butterfly. It's only when I change back to a normal anchr point.


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## mr. green (Nov 3, 2012)

ZorroSlinger said:


> So this is shooting OTT & Butterfly and you getting fork hits? A workaround can be attaching tabs to forks, which may give a little extra clearance over forks. I am a noob too. I have a few Scouts with different band set-ups OTT, tabs OTT, TTF switching also from flats to tubes.
> 
> It is with PFS shooting where, it is very sensitive to 'technique' and you must be aware of consistently twisting & tweaking pouch until it is automatic. I use to get lots of fork hits with PFS, mostly when I draw with thumbs down to my cheek. PFS thumbs up soft draw is easier with less fork hits. As I said, very rare I get fork hits now with PFS. When I switch between Scout & PFS, the Scouts seem large in my hand and no fork hits at all. Maybe learning PFS helped me refine my shooting technique.


Last night right after shooting PFS, I decided to shoot some butterfly & semi-butterfly. I was very surprised at how fast & easy it was to aim. Usually takes me a few seconds to aim when shooting butterfly. I might now use shooting PFS as a warm-up.


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## Btoon84 (Nov 22, 2011)

Good luck Bobby boy, I hate to hear you hurting yourself.... or worse... hurting those beautiful slingshots


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## Dr J (Apr 22, 2013)

I empathize with you! The most fork hits I got was when trying to shoot the Vulcan, I do not think I ever swore more, something I rarely do. Believing it the old saying that when you fall off a bike you get right up and ride again, I iced my finger and began again only to hit the same joint the same place, talk about hurt, that was major league hurt, however, I persisted and things are a lot better now although the joint is still larger than the other hand. Watch your technique, that is the key!


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## muddog15 (Aug 15, 2012)

I have had the same problem, twist your pouch and find a line to anchor too, I use my jaw line, I find it helps to get the tri angle between the pouch and forks right. I haven't had a fork hit or hand hit in a long time. Look in a mirror and draw might also help. I was going to quit with SS but I got a lot of help from people on this forum. Keep at it and keep asking question here. You'll get it, I did, buy a glove just to shoot with.


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## Can-Opener (May 11, 2013)

I feel your pain Bobby. I have a scare on my thumb to help me remember. I got the info I needed to remedy the problem from this forum. I came up with the same solution as Rayshot. If you twist the pouch and then tweak it right and left when drawn the bands will show when it is centered. Solved my fork hits and increased my accuracy. I think a bent pouch could be causing your problem. Good luck.


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## muddog15 (Aug 15, 2012)

ZorroSlinger said:


> So this is shooting OTT & Butterfly and you getting fork hits? A workaround can be attaching tabs to forks, which may give a little extra clearance over forks. I am a noob too. I have a few Scouts with different band set-ups OTT, tabs OTT, TTF switching also from flats to tubes.
> 
> It is with PFS shooting where, it is very sensitive to 'technique' and you must be aware of consistently twisting & tweaking pouch until it is automatic. I use to get lots of fork hits with PFS, mostly when I draw with thumbs down to my cheek. PFS thumbs up soft draw is easier with less fork hits. As I said, very rare I get fork hits now with PFS. When I switch between Scout & PFS, the Scouts seem large in my hand and no fork hits at all. Maybe learning PFS helped me refine my shooting technique.


Tubes is waht I got ALL of my fork hits and hand hits from, I get very few fork hits and no hand hits with flats.


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

let me take a stab at this- i have a theory, :nerd: , with your long bands and narrow forks- when you go to a shorter draw theres not enough pull/stretch on the butterfly cut bands to gain enough momentum to fly through the narrow forks, so the ammo gets caught up in the slack and gets pushed into a fork. if you were using a wider fork gap, you may be 50/50. if you go back to shorter bands, im sure the fork hits would be gone. if you shoot hammer grip style with butterfly cut bands and a narrow fork, youd see all that slack drop straight down after you release the shot, youll see how its lacking sufficient speed to carry the ammo through the forks. that is my unscientific theory, hope it gives some sort of insight to your problem. :nerd:


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## muddog15 (Aug 15, 2012)

Imperial said:


> let me take a stab at this- i have a theory, :nerd: , with your long bands and narrow forks- when you go to a shorter draw theres not enough pull/stretch on the butterfly cut bands to gain enough momentum to fly through the narrow forks, so the ammo gets caught up in the slack and gets pushed into a fork. if you were using a wider fork gap, you may be 50/50. if you go back to shorter bands, im sure the fork hits would be gone. if you shoot hammer grip style with butterfly cut bands and a narrow fork, youd see all that slack drop straight down after you release the shot, youll see how its lacking sufficient speed to carry the ammo through the forks. that is my unscientific theory, hope it gives some sort of insight to your problem. :nerd:


I don't know if your right, but now that you mention it, I've got to thinking, why havent I had any fork hits or hand hits from my PP Hathcock. All of them have been with my Ranger. The forks are narrower on the Ranger than they are on the Hathcock. You could have a point.


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## Dr J (Apr 22, 2013)

However, Charles likes narrow forks and does not get fork or hand hits, so it has to be technique. My 2 pennies!


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## muddog15 (Aug 15, 2012)

Dr J said:


> However, Charles likes narrow forks and does not get fork or hand hits, so it has to be technique. My 2 pennies!


I'm sure that's part of it, because I haven't had a fork or hand hit with the Rangers in a long time. I also think there is a learning curve, I went straight from a cheap Marksman SS to the Hathcock and had to practice with the Hathcock to get good with it. The Ranger was another change I had to practice with.


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

muddog15 said:


> Dr J said:
> 
> 
> > However, Charles likes narrow forks and does not get fork or hand hits, so it has to be technique. My 2 pennies!
> ...


its not necessarily the forks, its the band set up. if a band set up thats made for 44" draw is only pulled 28" then you have a lot of slack and band that aint being stretched(proper propulsion force (?)), resulting in weak bands, shots and not sufficient force for the ammo to ride through the firing line. try it, get a slingshot set it up with two different band sets, one for short draw and one for butterfly draw. use the butterfly draw bands for short draw and tell me what happens. this is my theory, i hope im explaining it well enough. only reason i say what im saying, is that im under the impression from his original post that he's using the same band set up for butterfly to shoot at a normal shorter draw length and getting hand/fork hits.


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## All Buns Glazing (Apr 22, 2012)

Hey guys, I was watching one of Joerg's videos again, and I noticed something relating to this thread, which isn't the actual focus of his video's topic. In his video, he's talking about tapered bands' acceleration with the mighty Tobse. Note that this post is in no way criticising Tobse, I just noticed something in these two shots in particular.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=igENqEJw43M#at=51

Note in the first and 2nd shots. 
1st shot: 1m 52s
2nd shot: 2m 34s

We've discussed the effect canting the forks forward or backwards while using a horizontal grip before, as well as an uneven pouch release. In these two shots, you can see that both these problems exist.

In the 1st shot, the uneven pouch release is quite evident, with a mild canting of the forks. Note how the pouch evens up during the shot, and note how close the ammo is to the fork. It's not centered, but it's not going to hit the fork.

In the 2nd shot, you can see the pouch release is much prettier, but the fork canting is much more pronounced. Look how close that ammo comes to the fork!

From this very, very small amount of data, someone could be forgiven for thinking that excessive canting of the forks certainly increases the risk of forkhit, but perhaps more than uneven pouch release?

Problems I have with this is that my logic tells me that his bottom band has more tension than the top band, which I would think would pull the ammo towards the fork with the most tension, and that doesn't seem to be happening here. Something obvious, but is worth mentioning too, is that when a fork is canted, it effectively makes the forkgap narrower, leaving more room for error.

Perhaps this could be a contributing factor in Tobse's terrifying RTS shots when he was doing the epic Power Rangers video? Ammo fowling with the contracting bands because the ammo wasn't actually travelling between the forks, but right next to the forks where the bands are wrinkling and bunching up?

Edit: That IS Tobse in the video, isn't it?


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## Arturito (Jan 10, 2013)

Imperial said:


> muddog15 said:
> 
> 
> > Dr J said:
> ...


That's correct, always pull near maximum stretch, that gives a good initial kick to ammo for a straight takeoff and always take care not to bend "inside" the fork throat, no bending or slightly outside avoids this issue ...


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## stej (Jan 16, 2013)

All Buns Glazing said:


> ..
> 
> We've discussed the effect canting the forks forward or backwards while using a horizontal grip before, as well as an uneven pouch release. In these two shots, you can see that both these problems exist.
> 
> ...


I think canting of the forks is similar to situation when one band (one side) is shorter than the other. And Charles showed us that in this case there is no forkhit.. So, you might be right, but then there is some other unknown variable..


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## ceedub (Apr 22, 2013)

When I started shooting "real" slingshots, after being inspired by this forum to set aside my ole wrist rocket, I was having simular problems. Fork hits, random stray shots, and other unpredictabilities, I stoped trying to hit a target and just started shooting. In fact I stoped even looking at a target and all my focus turned to my grip, my band alignment in relation to the forks, grip on the pouch. I concentrated on everything that was happening in my hands till I started being more consistent and then I worried about aiming at something.


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

stej said:


> , but then there is some other unknown variable..


humans


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## stej (Jan 16, 2013)

Imperial said:


> stej said:
> 
> 
> > , but then there is some other unknown variable..
> ...


Maybe humans triggering the :"fire" button - Charles uses his machine and Tobse is at least from half a shooting machine as well


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## Arturito (Jan 10, 2013)

stej said:


> All Buns Glazing said:
> 
> 
> > ..
> ...


I am sure. ... no ! completely sure that your "unknown variable" is a "wrong side tweak" or a BAD RELEASE, in other words RELEASE is responsible of 100% of fork/hand hits ... shooting sideways turning 90° and anchoring over the cheek with your thumb facing inside (or touching your cheek) can produce a jump over the index finger propelling the ammo inside the fork throat ...

Cheers

Arturo


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