[NaturalFork]

For those that say if you get handslap you have too much energy in the bands compared to the mass of ammo you are using..... i think you are mistaken.

Well maybe not mistaken. However, if you want maximum speed out of your ammo then you would want the bands to lose as little energy as possible while retracting. If you have bands that do not snap back after the shot is released than that means maximum speed was not achieved. Period. Think about it.

 

[Bill Hays]

What I do know is, for me personally, if I use ammo that's heavy enough to eliminate handslap... I can't hit very well at ranges greater than about 60 feet.
That is one of the main reasons I switched over to through the forks shooting using my Universal Forks... I can put heavier bands on them that will keep the lighter ammo's trajectory a lot flatter at greater distances... which in my case allows for greater accuracy without the flip thing to avoid some of the annoying handslap. If I used (and I have) the same bands and ammo in an OTT setup, I'm almost guaranteed some pretty bad handslap.

Of course you don't have to use my particular fork type to shoot through the forks... there's a myriad of ways to do it... I just happen to prefer mine is all.

 

[NaturalFork]

Exactly Bill. Very good explanation!

I personally use Tex's rod attach method on my current favorite shooter. However your fork design is the best out there.

 

[JoergS]

While it is true that really powerful bands will always snap back, with the right ammo this can be reduced enough to be bearable. If you shoot a really powerful set of bands and use really light ammo, then the slap will always occur, even when you do TTF.

My "The Box" really is the slingshot that I shoot the most, currently. No headaches and worries about pain! I am shooting a lot more relaxed. Keep in mind I shoot heavy bands even for target practice.

 

[ZDP-189]

So I guess Ray's message is embrace it, positively savour the slap. Be the slap. Man-up. What does not kill us makes our balls fly further.

I partly buy into this because I enjoy rapidly thrusting my balls as much as the next man and sometimes a sharp sting just adds the the fun.

On the other hand...

What contributes to a slingshot projectile's velocity or energy is not only the amount of elastic potential energy built up and released but the amount of energy actually imparted to the projctile, not what is left over after it has left the pouch. Nor is the slap necessarily correlated to a higher velocity or energy. Lighter, thinner bands and a lighter pouch can shoot a light ball faster than heavy bands with a heavy pouch. They will slap less too. Another thing to consider is what combinations of length, thickness, dimension, number ofbands and ammo have the greatest tendency to inflict pain upon the shooter. There may be some combinations that would slap but somehow the bands miss the hand or hit when not travelling so fast. Being adynamic elastic system, there may be resonance effects at play too. We cannot over simplify this phenomenon, yet to try to fully understand, predict and mitigate it could by overcomplex and unresolvable folly. In this situation, I recommend trial and error based on others' annecdotal evidence

... unless of course, you have a masochistic streak.

 

[Qucifer]

Recurvemaster, i think you are correct. My issue is the correlation between hand slaps and early band failure. Seems the bands that kill my hand the most tend to break earlier.

Q

 

[Devoman]

What I do know is, for me personally, if I use ammo that's heavy enough to eliminate handslap... I can't hit very well at ranges greater than about 60 feet.
That is one of the main reasons I switched over to through the forks shooting using my Universal Forks... I can put heavier bands on them that will keep the lighter ammo's trajectory a lot flatter at greater distances... which in my case allows for greater accuracy without the flip thing to avoid some of the annoying handslap. If I used (and I have) the same bands and ammo in an OTT setup, I'm almost guaranteed some pretty bad handslap.

Of course you don't have to use my particular fork type to shoot through the forks... there's a myriad of ways to do it... I just happen to prefer mine is all.

Yep...tis true! But TTF also presents some new problems.
I try to find a happy medium.....but they always want to charge me for their predictions, I can't win...lol.

 

[M.J]

I partly buy into this because I enjoy rapidly thrusting my balls as much as the next man and sometimes a sharp sting just adds the the fun.

Whoa...

Quote of the day!

 

[dgui]

I have encountered the slap when I have used the krappy shooters sold in stores. Very nasty slaps with the plastic connectors. No matter what the ammo or the size and weight and type of bands or tubes or pouch that I use now never produces a slap unless I have my bands or tubes tooo shortwhich is the eception for me then the slap happens. But, since I do not hold my shooter in the traditional way I would contribute this factor to be the primary reason for no more hand slaps, at least for me. I shoot over the top and not through the yoke. I tend to think there are those who just like the slap at the end but only after the ball has been flaied away first, First the pleasure, then the pain. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! So the Monkey never learns.

 

[Nest Buster]

I dont really have any hand slap, but i use too. I think that your follow through plays a lot in hand slap. Torstin has made a great video of his. Dont rember what it was called but great quality. hope this helps. Jerett

 

[dragonmaster]

I have one frame that gives me very little slap. Now it might just be me but I think its the angle of the fork. I've made a few frames like this with bout a 5 deg. angle on the fork and they all produce little to no hand slap. I don't no how it would work for others but it seems to help me.

 

[harpersgrace]

I shoot through the fork, not a issue

 

[Bill Hays]

While it is true that really powerful bands will always snap back, with the right ammo this can be reduced enough to be bearable. If you shoot a really powerful set of bands and use really light ammo, then the slap will always occur, even when you do TTF.

My "The Box" really is the slingshot that I shoot the most, currently. No headaches and worries about pain! I am shooting a lot more relaxed. Keep in mind I shoot heavy bands even for target practice.

Jeorg,
So I went online to look for slow motion video of TTF and OTT slingshots... Looks like you have more than a few showing OTT and every one of them shows the bands snapping back towards the holding hand... the OTT natural path, linear with a looping return.
But I was was only able to find one that would qualify as TTF, and that was your "World's Strongest Slingshot" video... The bands travel through the forks and straight back, not downward towards what would be the holding hand... such is the TTF natural path, linear retraction.