[Lost Marble]

Hi guys, I'm new here and I've got a question for you. A couple weeks ago I ran across an old wrist-braced slingshot from when I was a kid. I replaced the bands and have been having a lot of fun with it. I started looking into other styles of slingshots and holding techniques and came across two things that are new to me:

1. Bracing the arms of a slingshot with your thumb and forefinger. (Yeah, I'm new - you guys have all been doing this for years.) The wrist brace doesn't seem all that necessary to me and I can just kind of "feel" that bracing the arms with my fingers will improve my aim.

2. Fork hits. I never really experienced this as a kid, or in the last couple weeks that I've been shooting again, but it seems like a fork hit is not entirely uncommon.

So my question is this: If you combine #2 with #1, doesn't that mean you're going to hit your own finger? And if you're shooting a steel ball, that must hurt like heck. Broken fingers even?

Am I missing something here? Is this just a risk we take, or is there someway to prevent this from happening?

Or maybe I'm not quite understanding "fork hits" - would a fork hit not also hit your finger?

(I want to try a flat band slingshot, and this seems like the right way to hold it, but I want to think about what my fingers could potentially go through too.)

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Bill Hays]

If you're holding the slingshot and the pouch to your anchor point properly you should never hit your fingers. Plus the fingers are on the other side of the slingshot... Now, I personally have made slight contact with my thumb before though... the empty pouch catching the tip of the thumbnail when I was first practicing wing shooting. I started off with to advanced of targets and messed up my form.
But when shooting at stationary targets I've never had any problem whatsoever.

 

[ZDP-189]

Yes, it's a risk. Yes, it hurts. Yes, you could do yourself a serious injury. Yes, I still shoot like this.

As Bill says, if the slingshot and bands are right and you're holding the slingshot and pouch right and flip as you shoot, the chances of a finger hit are low.

 

[919h]

Yes, it's dangerous!
but that's all !
If you know how to shoot a slingshot, there is little danger!
If you know drive a motorcycle, there is little danger!
If you start in the slingshot, shoot with light bands, light ammo.

 

[dragonmaster]

Yes you can get hit I hit my hand between finger and thumb but its my fault. When things are going good I will shoot at a good pace for hours. To the point of heavy fatigue till I start getting bad release. I just get caught up in the fun been lucky haven't hit a bone yet but don't think that will stop me ether.

 

[Lost Marble]

OK, thanks for the info. I still plan to try this style of shooting - it's just good to know what *could* happen, and what to watch out for. It would have been nice if everybody told me that fork hits were only on the inside of the fork and nobody ever hit their own fingers, but I'm not too worried about it and will just be careful.

Mike

 

[Sam]

Once, with a 3/8" ball bearing, it was a very painful experience but nothing permanent thankfully. I've never had another to date!

 

[philly]

Never hit a finger but broke a fork clean off.
Philly

 

[JoergS]

I want to try a flat band slingshot, and this seems like the right way to hold it

Not true. It's just one way to hold it. I can pretty much guarantee that the hammer grip style will allow you to use heavier bands.

A low fork with a good handle, hammer grip style, is the way to go if you want raw power.

It does not matter if you use tubes or flat bands.

A lot of people (if not most) have no need for maximizing the power, and shoot in the thumb+index finger style. I do that as well from time to time. But never if I want full power.

The strongest hand held conventional slingshot I have is shot hammer grip style, has lots of very thin rubber and is set up for full butterfly.

 

[GreyOwl]

A fork hit is not entirely uncommon, you're right. You can shoot tousand and thousand balls and, suddenly you've got a fork hit or a very bad finger hit. I've got a bad one 3 weeks ago ... very painfull indeed. It was my fault.

 

[philly]

I think a high finger grip may have helped me avoid a broken fork in the face. I can't be sure but I think the index finger forced the fork up and away when It broke. I was shooting with a bandaid on my pouch hand thumb and the pouch slipped just as I was coming to full draw. I have had four fork hits in a few thousand shots and all but the last came while I was shooting 5/8" marbles. I am convinced that they occur due to a bad release. Wear safety glasses and make sure you practice a clean release and don't worry about it. Don't let it stop you from having fun.
Philly

 

[e~shot]

only 2 fork hits so far. After practicing flip when shooting and balancing the pouch, I couldn't get any fork hits or hand slaps.

 

[bikermikearchery]

The only time I have had a fork hit or a thumb hit was when I tried to use something strainge for ammo. Once a flat rock, another time I tried to use 1/2" wood screws.

 

[Tex-Shooter]

The only time that I have had fork hits wae wing shooting when the slingshot is on the move with the target. I have learned to use a little larger fork when wing shooting. -- Tex-Shooter