# forkhits



## tyrone8511 (May 2, 2014)

I made 1 of Bill Hays' slingshots the Harpy I think is the name and the baby dragon from Hrawk. When ever I shoot with the forks side on I seem to get a forkhit on the top fork. My bands are cut to exactly the same length. I have other commercial slingshots which have wider forks that I also shoot side on but without problems. It seems like the problem is how I hold the slingshot, if I grip the slingshot, If I do a pistol grip there is less(hardly ever) a fork hit.

Any advice would be appreciated, the only idea I had was to lengthen the top band but I don't want to start bad habits if there is a simple solution.

Tyrone


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

If you go on youtube and watch

How to shoot any slingshot

by pfshooter you should get your answer there, but don't forget to "tweak" the pouch


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Your problem is not uncommon. This should solve it for you.

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/23909-how-to-avoid-fork-and-hand-hits/

Cheers ..... Charles


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## tyrone8511 (May 2, 2014)

thanks you Nicholson I love watching pf shooter he is awesome but will tweaking the pouch help with a TTF shooter.

Thank you very much Charles I am going to watch your movie as soon as I get more data on my phone, thank you very much.


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## donald1127 (Dec 23, 2014)

try to flip the slingshot down


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

donald1127 said:


> try to flip the slingshot down


A flip is detrimental to pin point accuracy. It is also puts the shooter in greater danger of "return to sender" shots. If you are not twisting the frame and are mindful of your release, you will not have a problem with fork or hand hits.

Cheers ... Charles


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

Back when I used to shoot through the forks and when I shot big ammo it seemed the twist and tweak still worked with ttf. I guess the main thing to avoid fork hits is to have a smooth release and to keep the slingshot squared and parallel to your body when shooting. bad form resulted in fork hits for me when I was trying to learn the fundamentals of slingshot shooting. Actually I think flippinout has a youtube video that explains this well. If you look up on youtube

flippinout slingshot shooting fundamentals

it might help. sorry I would put up links but I'm a noob with computers, I'm just a commercial fisherman and far from a decent computer tech


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

donald1127 said:


> try to flip the slingshot down


Flipping it down, leads to the top fork getting in the way of the bands, if you flip you want to push the forks evenly towards the target and away, erratic movements can cause havoc with your accuracy and can be dangerous to you and bystanders .. I did a small video showing what I did, and how I stopped my sometimes unexplainable high shots and some that were interfered with because of the fork. Of course I can't find it now ;- )

wll


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## tyrone8511 (May 2, 2014)

Hi to all, I went and watched your first video on avoiding fork hits(Charles) and I can not thank you enough. I just changed from the choking grip, to the wrap and thumb brace and it seems to have solved the problem. As soon as I am finished typing this reply I am going to be watching part 2, I am probably doing a few more things wrong. Thanks to everyone who offered advice I really appreciate it


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

tyrone8511 said:


> Hi to all, I went and watched your first video on avoiding fork hits(Charles) and I can not thank you enough. I just changed from the choking grip, to the wrap and thumb brace and it seems to have solved the problem. As soon as I am finished typing this reply I am going to be watching part 2, I am probably doing a few more things wrong. Thanks to everyone who offered advice I really appreciate it


Yup, Charles has a way of clearing things up and simplifying problems that seem complex. He has answered many questions for me in the past, thank you Charles


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## cawsand (May 4, 2012)

Charles, thank you for your two excellent video's re avoiding fork hits - two of the most helpful and important I have seen. Should also serve to improve accuracy as well - essential viewing IMHO


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Thanks for the kind words, guys! I am delighted that I was able to help.

Cheers ... Charles


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## dadof3gboys (Dec 2, 2014)

Charles,

I liked the explanation of holding the different slingshots for the most effective grips and shooting. It won't only help me but allow me to watch the kids on how they are holding the slingshot.



Nicholson said:


> If you go on youtube and watch
> 
> How to shoot any slingshot
> 
> by pfshooter you should get your answer there, but don't forget to "tweak" the pouch


I watched this video and there were some good tips. 2 questions;


Do you turn the pouch sideways even when shooting with the sideways grip?
Does the tweak contradict Charles advice from his videos about avoiding the speed bump? Not trying to ask who has the better advice, just how those two ideas work in junction with each other


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

dadof3gboys said:


> Charles,
> I liked the explanation of holding the different slingshots for the most effective grips and shooting. It won't only help me but allow me to watch the kids on how they are holding the slingshot.
> 
> 
> ...


1. I do not twist the pouch when I shoot, unless I am shooting a flat top, a pfs, or shooting bareback. Then I also use the speed bump effect to bump the ammo in the necessary direction.

2. The so-called tweak is just consciously emphasizing the speed bump effect. But be careful which way you "bend" the pouch. If you do it the wrong way, you will direct the ammo into your hand or fork, rather than over the fork tips. You need to understand what you are doing.

I suppose some folks have such a poor release, or such bad habits, that they unconsciously cause the speed bump effect almost every time they shoot. In those cases, twisting the pouch and emphasizing the speed bump effect may be easier than trying to correct the bad habits. But again, you need to understand what you are doing so that you direct the ammo bump in the right direction.

Cheers .... Charles


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## Incomudro (Jan 12, 2012)

Tweaking the pouch had no positive effect for me.

I have noticed however that different Slingshots of mine are more likely to get fork hits than others.

My A+ has never gotten a fork hit.

It's not my most beautiful Slingshot, but it's my most consistent.


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## Tag (Jun 11, 2014)

The one thing that helped me the most in my release is on Charles videos here on the Forum. He shows where you keep your 3 fingers separated from your thumb and index finger. That allows a cleaner, smoother release. In my case I was not a natural, so I've had an interesting learning experience. For anyone having trouble with their release, I suggest putting up a wide backstop and focus on nothing but shooting form. Once my grouping became more consistent I proceeded to move on to targets. Without good form I felt it would just compound my frustrations. Also I had a bad canting problem with certain slingshots. That was not cured until Bill Hays made a small prototype slingshot for me. I'm now shooting an aluminum Boy Shot from Bill.


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## pfshunter (Feb 27, 2015)

tyrone8511 said:


> thanks you Nicholson I love watching pf shooter he is awesome but will tweaking the pouch help with a TTF shooter.
> 
> Thank you very much Charles I am going to watch your movie as soon as I get more data on my phone, thank you very much.


my recomendation is to vary your pouch holding i had the same problem and no tweaking will give fork hits on ttf slingshots


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