Excellent video, well done! This vid helped me heaps, just the simple thought of pretending your throwing under a tree branch made all the difference! Thanks for sharing :)
great video! one way to achieve correct spine would be to start with an over length spear and shorten it till it flexes accurately. don't forget about balance... the spears balance point should be 10-15%(of its overall length) forward of its center point for proper flight. by far the best vid explaining throwing technique as demonstrated by your amazing accuracy. perfect flight occurs when the tail follows the tip and your throwing accomplishes that better than anyone else I've seen yet
Ho trovato molto interessanti le istruzioni per usare queste tecniche primitive con propulsore. Grazie I found very interesting the instructions to use these techniques with primitive propeller. Thanks
Excellent technique video. I like that you illustrate what not to do first. I may just have to build one of these and give it a go. Thanks for posting this video.
Thanks for the good hints you've shared any atlatl practitioner. U have very good throwing posture. Your technique shows the true potential of this tool/weapon.
The dart should be made from ½-inch outside diameter bamboo or reed. Gentle, patient heating of the shaft over a fire gives a good dart. The atlatl per se can be made from various materials. It can be made of hickory or other flexible wood (pref. quarter-sawn), or even a flat section of bamboo. The important thing is that the atlatl bends slightly when you thorw the dart. After all, an atlatl only increases the leverage of the thrower's arm.
A 15 year old post yet possibly the best instructional video on throwing I’ve seen. I’ve watched it dozens of times. I’m using the same style cane darts and thrower as you are. I just noticed the small counterweight on your thrower. Details?
Thanks for your kind words ! The counterweight is just to add a little mass to the atlatl. I find that if the atlatl is too light, it tends to veer off course a little as the dart is propelled. A little bit off at the beginning equals a lot off at the target. 🤓
@auzio Yes... I was a lacrosse player....now I coach young kids (u-13). Throwing a ball with a lacrosse stick is a real lot like throwing a dart with an atlatl! I have a theory that the people who invented the game of lacrosse (the first nations folks in the North-Eastern North America) had adopted ancient atlatl technology! A lax stick and an atlatl are merely levers...
I don't generally throw for distance because it hurts my elbow to throw so hard. I did throw for distance a few times the other day and walked it off to calculate the distance. It was about 85 yards. My darts aren't built for distance throwing. They flex too much and if you put too much power into the throw, the darts can and will bend so much that they break. So this 85 yards was done with kind of a medium amount of force.
Your vide helped me practice for two months then because of my accuracy improving I was able to get carp during their spawn, too the tune of an 80% hit rate. Since ten months of practice has passed I hunt small game now. Deer size next season I figure. Thanx for your knowledge.
Hello. Yes Sir. I know that at least Aztecs, Mayans and other cultures in this area used it for warfare. There are several depictions in ruins in these areas that show battles where warriors used it. These were used by Mel Gibson and his team to produce the film "Apocalypto", where you can see the way locals used it both for hunting and warfare.
@@gabrielking9569 very cool. Makes me happy that this old video was helpful to you. I may use an atlatl in a big west-coast 3-D archery shoot this weekend. Haven’t thrown much in recent years. 🤓
It will come back to you my friend! You never lose your instincts!! Good luck! I didn't even check how old your video was lol Knowledge is Knowledge no matter how old it's source! Im planing on making my own darts from scratch so I have some studying to do. You have any videos on the matter?
I know some guys who regularly hunt deer and pigs with the atlatl. I never have myself. I think it would be an excellent weapon for warfare. Don't know about light armour though. I've seen film of tests with attempts to penetrate replicas of Spanish armor (as the Aztecs were reported to have done), but modern atlatlists were unable to penetrate the armor with stone points.
Usually somewhere between 5' and 8' long. Mine are just over 7'. The length is dictated more by the material used and its flexibility. The dart must flex. THe longer a dart shaft the more flexible. If you cut it down it becomes less flexible. Start long and flexible, and cut some off to make it stiffer as you test possible material. Doing this test will help you find the perfect dart for your style of throwing.
I'd think that the spear/dart ought to be about 4 times the length of the throwing lever (Atl-Atl), so that the natural flexing of it will be 'optimized' to closely match the flexing to the length from the nock, to the holding/release finger, at the moment of release. I think that it'd be a real advantage to find a nice wetland area with a large patch of "Sandbar Willow" from which to select some spear shaft 'blanks'.... Thanks for some Excellent tips, and a great demo!!!!
"Sometimes I say stupid things." Haha... don't we all. We can't all be natural oratorists like Canterbury. Thanks for the video. Great tips for this beginner.
By the way, since some people want to know if they are effective for hunting! I'm more of a wommera/Aussie Abbo in this field ( I mean I throw this, I haven't made an atlatl-many woomeras though!) , but it's related, so can I recommend a video on RU-vid; look up?... 'Aboriginies hunt kangaroos with spears' It is very real! Spear heads regularly went right through people as well! Watch it! As for accuracy: one Tasmanian man was held in a prison and the guards wanted to test his accuracy…he could throw direct through the big prison lock! A read? 'Bulmurn' by Richard Wilkes.
I don't know if it's the type of target I'm using, but I notice I get a lot of deflections, where the dart simply will not penetrate. It looks to me like you guys employ very little force in your technique, but even when I put substantial force behind mine, my cast just doesn't seem to have enough power behind it. It may be worth noting that I don't have much in the way of upper body strength and cant move more than 40 or 50 pounds very easily. I use Bob Berg's Wyalusing, and 6' target darts.
this weapon looks like it's well suited for hunting...but I found some references to it as a warfare weapon, what is your opinion about that ? could it be efficiently used to penetrate some light armors or possible even wooden shields ? if yes, up to which distances could it work ?
how much penetration can i get on a deer if i were to use modern broadheads at a distance of 20 yards ? (if arrow broadheads can be used) ...never used an atlatl , so i'm wondering how effective it is for hunting.....
Nope! but the first atlatl I'm using does have an atlatl weight on it (just to add some mass to the atlatl because I like one that matches the weigh of my darts - approximately anyway. Tom
I noticed that you don't step into the throw... your feet remain planted...it seems your throw is all upper-body action...do you know of any clubs in the San Fernando Valley that I could go to to learn more about technique
Hi! Forgive me, I tried to email you sir but it didn't send through! I wanted to complement you on the depth and breadth of work I had seen of yours on some web pages. Then I recognised your photo on RU-vid and thought I'd just message you like this. So forgive this incomplete thanks, but it was the best I could do. I was going to counter recommend a few of my vids but I made them all private, bar some political and songs, as I was fed up with daft comments and lack of appreciation! I have some things related to your subjects you may enjoy trying-right now I'm in up to the eyeballs however…!!! Anyhow, best wishes and many thanks, may you be appreciated for who you are and always enjoy immensely what you do!
mrjohncory: You said "...don't drop your elbow." I'm a newbie with my first Atlatl and am still trying to get my throw right....could you elaborate in a video about not dropping your elbow, please. -Nutmegger1957
You need to get a better microphone or stand closer to the mic. My old pad just don't put out enough for me to hear. The 81 mm mortar in Nam slowed down hearing.
I sure do! Problem solved. I just regained access to my Paleoaleo Channel (having lost access a few years back). I'll have to make newer videos. When I started this channel back in 2007 or so, tech was not the same as today. Most of my videos here are absolutely awful!
Thanks folks. I cringe every time I see these videos! I need some acting classes and some major work on video taping and editing. I'm truly a hack! lol...
