From what I've seen of matches thus far this season, a high-pivot catapult with springs resistant to wear seems the most consistent.
We have a low-pivot catapult, and from our testing, we've discovered a few different things affect the variability of our shot (some controllable, some not).
- Where the ball seats itself in the catapult
- How far we pull the catapult back
- The thickness of our catcher panels (we generally shoot with our side-panels for catching retracted. This helps to:
a)center the ball, and
b)avoid breaking our catchers when they are under defense. They are filled with a padding to help deaden the ball when we catch, but the padding slides down our catchers over time, changing the effect of the catchers) - Ball Inflation and Ball Condition-
This is a very small effect, but it can change our accuracy if we're shooting from either end of our sweetspot. If the zipper of the ball sits right on one of the two prongs of the catapult, it can also change our shot.
Our springs were custom made to be extremely resistant to wear. So even after hours and hours of drive practice, we still shoot very well.