Loop theory / excessive counterflex / teaching

From Walter Simberski on loop theory My brief comments in his text in blue italics..... G.

Gordy,

Have to jump in on the mass vs velocity discussion with a few
points.

We know that the snapping sound we get sometimes as the line
unrolls is caused by the loop front breaking the sound barrier.
Note that I said loop front - this means that the fly leg is actually
traveling at mach 2 (assuming not shooting line). Obviously the
loop isn't starting out that fast so it must be increasing in
velocity as it unrolls.

NOW: What would happen if we tried the same thing with an untapered fly line (level line) ? G.

Two things we can do to prevent this from happening - shoot line
since this means the rod leg is moving (so it has energy) and is
increasing in length (so it requires more energy to keep moving
as it gets longer (ignore the fact that it slows down at the same time)).
The second is to tie a bit of yarn onto the end of the line to increase
air resistance and help bleed off energy.

This explains why its much easier to "crack the whip" as you cast once you have lost your fly ! G.

On the loop in space concept - once a loop is formed it continues to
unroll until all energy is bled out of the system. A loop unrolls because
one leg is moving faster than the other. If we remove all resistance
(internal and external) from the system the line would fully unroll,
the end would kick over, and a new unrolling loop would be formed.
If energy is conserved this would repeat forever. If we restore internal
resistance to the system the cycle eventually ends - with minute
imperfections in the line we end up with the line tumbling through
space.

I'd sure like to have one of our space station "space walkers" take a fly rod up there and test that theory. I'll bet he'd find you are correct. G.

Stepping away from thought experiment mode - Paul Arden and I did a
number of experiments casting a length of line and found that once a
loop is formed it continues to unroll until the line fully unrolls.

One exception might well be the loop which is formed with insufficient energy in the system to have it do so fully ... the underpowered collapsing cast. G.

Cheers

Walter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the classical reasons for seeing excessive counter flex in the line is the direction taken by the rod tip vs the following line path. Eg it is very common for inexpert Spey casters to take the rod forward “over the top” to make the final delivery downwards and the likely result is that the rod tip travels almost at 90 degrees to the following line after the stop. The rod tip should if possible travel in the same direction as the approaching line, tangential to the D loop rather than downwards. The downward motion is usually caused by too much upper hand pushing and too much effort which produces a lousy stop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ally.. That is one of my own frequent faults when Spey casting ! With the long Spey rod, defects are magnified. This one can result in literally widening the forward loop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't often comment on this forum, but am always lurking. In this case I agree with Dennis when he describes the teaching process. Simple is often better and the basics of how we teach are inculcated in three simple methods; key words and phrases, kinaesthetic and visual.

Leaving out the scientific stuff makes it easier for students to understand. But, for ourselves, it is fun to know all the technical jargon and theories. Like Troy and Dennis and others, I teach a lot. My success?- Well... that all depends!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comment: Some of our best entries come from our behind the scenes "lurkers". One of the reasons Lefty has been so successful teaching students is that he uses plain language and concepts which though not always scientifically correct, yield quick and useful understanding. His font of teaching tricks seems endless. His word pictures get fast results.

Mel Krieger used to talk about the "engineers" and the "poets" of fly casting. We can go to even greater extremes by having the ivory tower physicists at one end of the spectrum and the "zen" folks (if it feels good it must be right) at the other. Most of us are somewhere in between.

I sometimes find myself giving the student too much information at one time or at a level which yields some confusion. When I do that, I know I deserve a good slap on the wrist !

Really effective instructors are very good at reading students as to their level of understanding as well as the ways they learn best. They even become adept at gaining a sense of the student's psyche and adapt their teaching methods accordingly.

Just a few days ago, Lefty and I discussed a fly casting instructor whom we all know. One of the best casters I've ever fished with. Problem is that sometimes he goes so fast with rapid fire instruction that the student gets lost in the dust and leaves with his brain spinning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~