After exhaustive research, American scientists have finally answered the question of how to pull off a flawless rubber band shot, and it’s all to do with the equipment you use.

Often, the band catches the shooter’s thumb, causing a misfire and an exclamation of pain.

So in an effort to examine what happens to a rubber band when it’s launched from a thumb, two Boston University researchers released some improved guidelines after testing different shooting strategies.

Mechanical engineers Alexandros Oratis and James Bird detailed their findings in a new paper published in Physical Review Letters.

The No.1 rule? To fire a perfect shot, do not pull the band too tightly, they say.

Tension releases as you launch a rubber band from your thumb, causing ripples to reverberate through the elastic.

The extra tension build-up will increase the speed of your shot, making it more likely to hit your thumb than extend over.

Secondly, the wider the elastic band, the better. Their reasoning: “The thumb must exert more force against the wider band, so that when the band is released, the digit falls away more quickly, making the elastic’s getaway easier.”

Wider bands also allow the shooter enough time to remove their thumb from the firing line after releasing the shot, lessening the chance of any rubber band-related injuries.

The researchers found the thicker bands sailed past, buckling into a wrinkly shape as it shot by.

In their investigation, the researchers wrapped a rubber band around a cylinder in place of a thumb, and created a video that explains how to master a clean shot.

Watch the definitive scientific technique:

The researchers only examined the technique of using a thumb to fire a rubber band, specifically focusing on “stretching, inertia and bending” in a combination of experiments and modelling to uncover how a “rubber band can pass by a thumb when discharged without hitting it”.

“Stretching and shooting rubber bands is a familiar experience for both children and adults, yet the initial dynamics are so quick that they are generally missed,” the paper said.