POWER / Practice

Walter & Group...

From Gary Davison on "word pictures" for teaching ......  POWER :-

Gordy,

 

The word Power:

 

Agree with you and Bruce on the points provided.  Like you say it depends on who, where and when the topic is being discussed and the level of knowledge being exerted by the parties to the topic.

 

My work with beginner's is to keep it simple. Force and Torque would create Deer in the head light's syndrome in my opinion. 

 

The important point that I like to stress to my students when addressing power is this:  The essential:  Correct amount of power application at the correct time in the cast.

The Essentials of Fly Casting provided by FFF shows it as this:   "

 

Power must be applied in the proper amount at the proper place in the stroke". (Pg10) by Bill and Jay Gammel."

 

When most of the student's hear this in their heads they take the phrase in direct context.  Meaning they only think of exerting power or adding power to the cast.  Adding power is the key point taken from the statement, most do not associate taking power away and this is where the good instructor comes into play.

 

The great importants of this statement is that it addresses both!  Meaning adding power to the cast and taking away power in the cast at the correct time.  But this has to be conveyed correctly by the instructor. 

 

I stress to my students that you have to know when to apply the power correctly at the correct time, but this statement encompasses not only adding, but also reducing the power at the correct time during the cast. 

 

Troy uses a great analogy for beginners of (MPH) 0,20,40,60,80,0 then do it again and again and again. This helps the beginner visualize the event.  Expressing how and when to apply power in the correct amount to a good STOP (reduction of power) is a key point.    Re-enforcement to administer the cast smoothly, and let the equipment do the work is very important. 

 

 

Gordy: Here is a word used a lot.

 

Technique: Style or Substance?

 

N. Method of performance, technical skill, manner in which technical details are treated

Technique

A technique is a procedure used to accomplish a specific activity or task:

• Technology, the study of or a collection of techniques
• Skill, the ability to perform a task

 

All the best.

Gary

 

Gary Davison

Gulf Coast Spey

CND Custom Design:  Representative

Willis, TX.

Office: 936-890-9639

Cell: 281-415-5142

http://www.gulfcoastspey.com/onlineflyshop.html

cndspeyusa.com

 

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

 

Gary,

 

Well said.  The idea of "reducing power" is an important one when teaching fly casting.  I remember Ed Jaworoski being quite effective with his students as he advised them, "...Now make the same cast with half the power."

 

" The less effort required to make any given cast, the more efficient the cast.  Yet "power" has become the accepted approach to casting and "more power" the solution to casting problems." *

 

Not only does this yield casts made with less effort, but it often has the additional value of smoothing out the cast and increasing control.

 

The word FORCE is best understood by the scientists among us. They are correct in thinking of FORCE in terms of vectors and resultants.  The word POWER is not strictly scientifically correct, but often serves the purpose better when teaching.

 

To me, the word TECHNIQUE implies the use of finesse.

 

* THE CAST, by Ed Jaworoski, p. 1 .

 

Gordy

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

 

                                                                                    PRACTICE

 

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

 

Words of wisdom on practice, from John Bilotta :

 

Gordy,

If you haven't already read, you might like "Outliers," by Malcolm Gladwell.

It looks at why some people succeed more than others.

There are a lot of nice examples, but I enjoyed a section (pg 38-40) on the

1990s study by K. Anders Ericsson that looks at three groups of violinists

at the Berlin school of music. It found that by the age of 20, "the elite

performers had each totaled 10,000 hours of practice, the merely good

students had totaled 8000 hours, and the future music teachers had totaled

just over 4000 hours."

"Their research suggests that once a musician has enough ability to get into

a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another

is how hard he or she works. That's it. And what's more, the people at the

very top don't just work harder or even much harder than everyone else. They

work much, much harder."

 

"The emerging pictures from such studies is that 10,000 hours of practice is

required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world class

expert - in anything," writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin.

"In study after study of composers, basketball players, fiction writers,

ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what

have you, this number comes up again and again," according to Levitin. "Of

course, that doesn't address why some people get more out of their practice

sessions than other people do. But no one has yet found a case in which true

world class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes

the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true

mastery."

 

 

Chrs

John Bilotta

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

John...    I'm sure that is true.  When teaching surgery, I used to tell my students, "The second thousand operations go a great deal smoother than the first thousand ".

Yet hours spent practicing can yield quicker results when the methods of practice are better..... when practice goes from brute brainless repetition where errors are repeated and entrenched to goal oriented maneuvers fueled by lust for thoughtful improvement and self critique. 

Soon Lee's new article in the LOOP (Winter, 2009) gives us an idea of this.  His odyssey in quest if THCI certification was more than one of dogged perseverance.  He practiced with a goal based agenda punctuated with expert help wherever he could find it.

"PRACTICE SMARTER, NOT HARDER !" *

This is one reason I found such teaching value in Sheila Hassan's new book.  She has devoted exactly 104 pages (out of a total of 243) to PRACTICE advice and methods ! **    (In the Fall issue of the LOOP, I've already called attention to the brilliant methods of practice and self teaching in Al Kyte's book.) ***

Shortly after we launched this Study Group, those of you who have been with us for years will remember that we had many sessions on casting practice tips and methods.  I'm thinking of updating that information in the near future by having our many members of recent years offer their ideas and experiences.

Gordy

 

* Tom White.

** FLY CASTING A Systematic Approach, by Sheila Hassan, Copyright 2009, Pub. Cast90.com, P.O.Box 617, Medway, Ma. 02053, www.Cast90.com , pp. 139-243

*** ORVIS GUIDE TO BETTER FLY CASTING A Problem-Solving Approach, Copyright 2008 by Al Kyte, Lyons Press, ISBN 978-1-59228-870-0, pp. 138-150.