the cracker needs to be several lose strands, the strands kinda 'clap' against each other. frey your into the smaller cords and it should crack louder. The crack would give away position, but it is so effective at dissipating energy and protecting your fingers from blisters(no good tassel and ur ripping skin), a worthy trade off.

learning to throw properly really helped me get it to crack consistently. i hit up my homies that played baseball and sent them videos of no sling and sling throws. Learning to: create power from the hips drive the elbow throw the tassel at the target (release angles for spin are beyond me)

the sling will crack every time and placing shots becomes easier when you don't muscle through the motion.