# Hurty hand...



## Skinvandal (Mar 14, 2021)

Hiya guys, kinda new at the slingshot game, so bear with me if I'm making a newbie mistake, I'm out to become proficient but practice is becoming painful!

I'm experiencing what I can only describe as friction wounds on the area between the base of my thumb and the first knuckle of my index finger. I've kinda adopted the "gangster" style of aiming, with a fork pinch grip, my comfortable anchor point is at the side of my mouth. I'm shooting a frame I made out of plywood, using theraband gold bands which i measured and cut to 1/5 of my full drawer length (plus 20mm for attachment) 20mm to 15mm across their length. I'm using 8mm steel balls. At 6 metres my groupings are reasonably tight (2.5-3 inch circle) but consistently low and to the right. I've experimented with moving my reference point, but the target is obscured by the fork leg, so it's just best guess...
The pouch seems to brush over the side of my hand en route to target. I've tried both 10 and 12mm balls but still the same.

Are these problems related? 
I seek your wise council buds.


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

I'm sure someone here is going to be able to help, I'm no expert since I shoot mostly tubes but it seems like that is a pretty strong taper for such a light piece of ammo. I think what is usually suggested is a 20-10 taper but I'm not sure if that works with Thera-Band gold. To see if you have a very heavy bands on that 8 mm Steel? From my experience at least when your shots go to the side of the target it has something to do with your elbow. For me when my elbow is low I will always put my shot off to the side. That's all I got to help with I would say lots of practice and light bands and your light ammo are the key with practice and consistency.

Cheers


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## fingerbob (Sep 22, 2018)

Skinvandal. Are you shooting your pinch grip frame OTT?


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## fingerbob (Sep 22, 2018)

If it is OTT style you need to get a good band sight line to your target which unfortunately will probably mean having to adjust your anchor point and lowering your frame holding arm a little. I had this problem when I started. Shooting blind with no aiming line and your fork tips obscuring your target is and will get very frustrating.


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## Grandpa Grumpy (Apr 21, 2013)

If your groups are good but not on target you need to make adjustments to your bands.
You have either to much power or not enough power. Or since your pouch is scraping your hand you might not be holding the frame perfectly square with the bands.


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## KawKan (May 11, 2013)

There are many schools of thought on how to hold your slingshot.

My school is to hold it still and square to the target.

I have had no luck with attempts to point the forks at the target, or flip the forks during the shot. My attempts usually result in the hand hits you described above.

Hope you get it sorted out soon!


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## cromag (Jan 17, 2021)

I would guess you're dropping your elbow and creating a speed bump with the way you are holding the pouch or having your thumb too far to the inside and twisting the pouch. However , I am new to this as well and really don't know chit.


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## StringSlap (Mar 2, 2019)

Good advice given above. Another thing to consider is the pouch. Check my recent thread "It's the dang pouch!"


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

Look at your hand when you're shooting, you may have to tilt your hand up or back towards you a bit. It could very well be a pouch problem or a release problem, where you're bending your wrist as you release. It's easier to scrape your hand with different styles of frames. Take a picture or even make a video and post it on YouTube, then put a link on here. The best thing about this web sight is that there's so many knowledgeable people that love to help


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## Skinvandal (Mar 14, 2021)

Sage advice my friends, and i thank you. I forgot to mention that I shoot ttf, after having done some research I decided to adopt that style, although the reasoning why now escapes me... 
Tonight I tried several experiments, I made a much thinner band set (16mm tapered to 10mm) made a much lighter pouch, tried different ammo and filmed myself shooting 10 shots to study my "form". I'm pretty sure I'm using too light ammo in too heavy bands, I noted that my lower band was not quite central on the fork, and since that was corrected my groupings are now central, but still around 3" low over a 6m range. Having viewed a video of myself (do i really look that old?) I noted that my firing position is very slightly tilted foreward, so I presume this is the elevation problem. I'm really quite proud of my anchor and release, which was consistent and level over all ten shots. (Thumbnail up, smooth, and at the exact same spot throughout). When I loaded the 12.5mm steel balls the hand slap issue dissapeared, I think I've made progress, but still seek improvement so more practice and a few tweaks to my grip should help. Can't say I'm a big fan of the larger balls tho, three direct hits and the can is cut into two, mind you... The noise is bloody satisfying!

Cheers fellas, thanks for your help so far.


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## cromag (Jan 17, 2021)

I like the 6m range myself , over the 10 , but TTF and a wide fork make that double tough. I have gotten more attached to OTT as time goes along for the improved sight picture at those longer distances. I have had the same issue with overpowering the ammo and found reducing the amount of taper helps as well as heavier loads.

Move up to steel cans , you have to work a lot harder.


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## Skinvandal (Mar 14, 2021)

Leaps and bounds guys, 
Leaps...and...bounds...
I've taken on much good advice from both this thread, and from others I've been lurking in and I'm overjoyed at my progress.

Firstly I switched to OTT, I whip up my frames with a bandsaw / scroll saw and router, so I can size up a print and whip up a frame in no time at all, so a quick search, print, saw, router table and I'm away. (I've probably tried 20 or so designs so far), but the "thumper" seems to fit my hand nicely.

Secondly, (it's the damn pouch guy-many thanks) you were right... My pouch was way too heavy, although I had the dimensions right, the material I was using was waaaay overkill. I've tried to keep this as a cheap hobby, and I have a gift for upcycling, so I took a pair of old welding gauntlets from the skip at work, which were too prone to tearing, (suede or something similar) very light and flexible but just too soft) my second and subsequent pouches were made from a pair of old rigger boots (found in the same skip) hard as nails, great to work with/cut/ punch but quite hard and heavy. They looked the part, but my third attempt has been a happy medium. I skinned an old leather sofa before I took it to the tip and I have just the right amount of flex, strength and ease of working to bash out pouches in no time, and they're comfortable in the hand, and show plenty of strength so far.

Finally, I reduced my band set size and taper. I'm still using theraband gold but I'm now cutting them at 15 down to 10mm across the 170mm length, and with the 8mm steel balls they work great! They travel a hell of a lot slower down range, and pack much less punch, but at the end of the day im not hunting, just plinking.

My final improvement was a decent target box and some spinners. I can consistently hit a 25mm spinner from 6 metres. I read on a thread recently "aim small, miss small" and it's upped my game no end.

So... Thanks everyone for your advice, and indeed your involvement in this forum which i have found invaluable.

My next step is to move my target further down the workshop, and invest some more time in building some more swanky frames.

Bless y'all.


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

That is awesome to hear! It's amazing when you get your setup right how things just fall into place. Cool to hear you're making your own slingshots, I'm sure we'd all love to see what you came up with even if it's not the most beautiful thing if you're hitting a 25mm spinner then that's a good slingshot!

8mm is an awesome size for target shooting. You'll see as you move further away from your catch box that what you've learned so far will translate directly and to better accuracy at a distance. It all comes down to focus and concentration as you get further away, the concepts are all exactly the same.

Cheers


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