Here are a couple of tips I suggest to maintain some good endurance when hunting without the sling on the ATX:
1) Extend only the lower shaft and middle shaft to get the proper length. If needed, use the third one. The lower two are much lighter in weight and will dramatically reduce the muscle strain on your shoulder.
2) Extend the rods only enough to keep them a few inches in front of your shoes. And that means no steel toe boots/shoes and no shoelace eyelets, otherwise, your coil will pick them up and you won't get very annoyed after a while.
3) Float the ATX hand-grip on your fingers, keep your elbow slightly bent and stand straight. (no slouching)
4) For a small arc swing of the coil, rotate your upper body at your hips. For a large arc, take tiny steps with your feet and rotate your body in either direction.
What you are doing is using good body mechanics, and sharing the load with arm, shoulder, feet and upper body. If you extend the coil too much, then you are dramatically increasing the weight, similar to a lever. Of course, if you are getting sore muscles, sore back, tennis elbow or any other arthritic issues from over-use of your body, use the Garrett Sling. Using the above suggestions while using the sling, it feels like using an ACE 250.
1) Extend only the lower shaft and middle shaft to get the proper length. If needed, use the third one. The lower two are much lighter in weight and will dramatically reduce the muscle strain on your shoulder.
2) Extend the rods only enough to keep them a few inches in front of your shoes. And that means no steel toe boots/shoes and no shoelace eyelets, otherwise, your coil will pick them up and you won't get very annoyed after a while.
3) Float the ATX hand-grip on your fingers, keep your elbow slightly bent and stand straight. (no slouching)
4) For a small arc swing of the coil, rotate your upper body at your hips. For a large arc, take tiny steps with your feet and rotate your body in either direction.
What you are doing is using good body mechanics, and sharing the load with arm, shoulder, feet and upper body. If you extend the coil too much, then you are dramatically increasing the weight, similar to a lever. Of course, if you are getting sore muscles, sore back, tennis elbow or any other arthritic issues from over-use of your body, use the Garrett Sling. Using the above suggestions while using the sling, it feels like using an ACE 250.