# Good book on slingshot target shooting



## RedRubber (Nov 8, 2011)

Whats a good book on shooting technique?
I tried shooting a 1/2 in rod on vertical and a 1/2 rod on horizontal. I was at 33 feet. I hit the vertical rod several times, but the horizontal rod was very elusive,I kept shooting slightly over and slightly under the rod, I never hit it.

I was holding the same anchor point on my body and using the same aim spot on the forks for each shot. I do believe I should have hit that horizontal bar at least once in 50 shots.

RR


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## AJW (Apr 24, 2011)

Sheez .... I feel for you, I don't know how many times I've said the same thing. or, even started aiming a few inches away from it hoping a stray would hit it.


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## philly (Jun 13, 2010)

Check Tex Shooters blog and read Jack Kholers book on SS Shooting, Bill Hays also has some great Utube vids.
Philly


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

One suggestion is to start a lot closer than 33 feet ... perhaps half that distance or less, maybe 15 feet. Keep shooting until you can consistently hit your target ... perhaps not every time, but say better than 50% of the time. Do it for a week. Then move back 5 feet and keep shooting until you are consistent again; etc. You do NOT want to set the initial conditions so high that you are missing most of the time; that will just lead to frustration, as you well know. You want to train your muscles and your brain with success. As you become more successful, your confidence will build ... and your confidence will improve your shooting, as you will become more relaxed and all the important little things will become second nature. It is sort of like learning to drive a car ... start slow and easy, and after a while you will not have to think so hard about what you are doing.

If you have never done much running, you will not learn to run a marathon by starting out trying to run a half marathon, nor even a 10K race. And while reading books about running can help, they are no substitute for putting feet to pavement. You need to start with things you can do and build up slowly, and just keep running.

Reading books can help your shooting ... but the best thing to do is to keep shooting ... start with things you can do, and gradually increase the difficulty of the task. There is no magic formula, alas ...

Cheers ...... Charles


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I have the same problem. Much easier for me to hit on a vertical plane than a horizontal one.


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

http://www.amazon.com/Slingshot-Shooting-Jack-H-Koehler/dp/0976531100


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

Jack's book is the one you're looking for. It's specifically about shooting technique.


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## RedRubber (Nov 8, 2011)

Hrawk said:


> http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/0976531100


Thanks, the book is on its way


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## RedRubber (Nov 8, 2011)

Charles said:


> One suggestion is to start a lot closer than 33 feet ... perhaps half that distance or less, maybe 15 feet. Keep shooting until you can consistently hit your target ... perhaps not every time, but say better than 50% of the time. Do it for a week. Then move back 5 feet and keep shooting until you are consistent again; etc. You do NOT want to set the initial conditions so high that you are missing most of the time; that will just lead to frustration, as you well know. You want to train your muscles and your brain with success. As you become more successful, your confidence will build ... and your confidence will improve your shooting, as you will become more relaxed and all the important little things will become second nature. It is sort of like learning to drive a car ... start slow and easy, and after a while you will not have to think so hard about what you are doing.
> 
> If you have never done much running, you will not learn to run a marathon by starting out trying to run a half marathon, nor even a 10K race. And while reading books about running can help, they are no substitute for putting feet to pavement. You need to start with things you can do and build up slowly, and just keep running.
> 
> ...


Thats what I did, except for the vertical and horizontal practice. at 33 feet I can hit a 2 inch target 90 % of the time. I had been shooting at 33 feet for a few days when I decided to try Bills approach to hitting a vertical and a horizontal target. I had a horizontal rod on my metal spinner target and I put up a 1/2 inch rebar for the vertical.
Your words have a ring of encouragement and wisdom, thank you so much.
RR


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

RedRubber said:


> Your words have a ring of encouragement and wisdom, thank you so much.
> RR


I am good with advice ... Just don't ask me to perform!!!!























Hang in there ... you will improve.

Cheers .... Charles


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## tradspirit (Jul 23, 2012)

By no means a SS shooter (being very new to this sport), but a fairly accomplished longbow shooter, I think that some of my experience may be of some use. Redband's frustration is not uncommon for archers as well. The most difficult difficult part of hitting something with an arrow is understanding the elevation required to hit your target, i.e., learning the trajectory of the projectile and the resulting positon of your bow/frame hand and anchor relative to the distance being shot.. Assuming that you are not playing with different weight bands/tubes, the trajectory is purely a function of the consistancy of the anchor position and draw length, both of which impart the force to the projectile. Once mastered/ingrained (by repetition), left and right control (windage) becomes the issue to contend with. Redband seems to have mastered his left and right control by being consistant with his draw length, anchor, frame position and release as is evidenced by being able to hit a vertical target. He did not state that he was hitting the vertical target in the same place, suggesting to me that his problem is one of elevation mastery and becomes evident in his frustration at being less succesful with a horizontal target. Striking a purely horizontal target implies a thorough understanding of your projectile's drop at various ranges. Trying to do this at long range forces the elevation issue to the forefront as there is only one elevation that will allow the projectile to hit the horizontal target. Practising at closer ranges on a trap that has a verical piece of tape as a target and then progressing to a superimposed horizontal tape (a vertical cross) may assist with his ingraining proper elevation. Once the shooting form is mastered at close range, incremental progression to further distance allows the shooter to learn the proper elevation required. In archery, the technique of blind bale shooting (starting at five yards with eyes closed) enforces mastery of the shot sequence without any concern for aiming, or where the arrows are hitting the bale. Once there is consistency (same draw, hand postion and anchor) the archer moves to the bridge phase where he shoots with both eyes open at increasing distances from the target, looking for vertical accuracy at further and further distances and thereby learning/ingraining the proper elevation at various distances. Sorry for the long post, but the similarity of the problems suggest parallel solutions.


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