Hi Gordy and all,
if new tasks will be added to the test I personally would wish that they are set down/planned to be able to run on grass, too. Water is great if available. But lots of our teaching happens on grass. In a lot of meetings, shows and so on where we want to run exams no water may be available.
I would like the PULD be included also and I am pretty sure it can well be taught on grass, too.
Adding two levels (line lengths) to pick up - one for the CI and one for the MCI - would work well on water. On grass there might come some trouble with the second level (this would be for the pure demo of it). Maybe the first level could be without a haul and the second one including the haul + different ways for a pick up. This could perfectly be shown/taught on grass always.
Finally it's our way of teaching which will have biggest impact on our student's results. Not our line lengths which we show off.
Regarding my own MCI test I'd say teaching took the truly biggest part of it and I agree with Paul this should always be focus number one.
Best regards
Bernd
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[GH] Roll casts and Spey casts simply cannot be done perfectly on any surface other than water. Having the candidates perform them on grass or a gymnasium floor is a compromise we accept due to venue constraints.
The problem is compounded, when we ask the candidate to make the roll cast set-up as though he were casting on water. Then we "make allowances". Any expert caster can form a "set-up" which will work much better when designed for the surface provided. Accomplished candidates learn how to do that as they practice on grass, etc. .... thus leading to some confusion when they actually take their exams. This leads mentors to "coach to the exam". It led us to discussions on what to accept as "roll cast tools" and a range of "allowances".
Even the PULD if performed at a Master level could not be done perfectly except on water.
I use the PULD to help MCI candidates smooth out their casts as I coach. Performing the pickup from water for both back cast and forward cast is a teaching ploy which helps accomplish this. Of course, the whole idea is to have the student repeatedly make lifts from the water with increasingly diminished surface disturbance. The avoidance of surface disturbance is one objective. The other is the achievement of smooth acceleration. I use it to emphasize the latter.
Lefty Kreh's video, "Lessons with Lefty" contains a segment where he uses Sarah Gardener (a experienced Master ) to take the roll of a student as he teaches this technique. *
* Lessons with Lefty, a Teaching Guide for Fly Casting, by Lefty Kreh, 1997, A Reel Resources Production (703-683-5666).
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[GH] From Jim Dowd,
Dear Gordy,
I COMPLETELY agree with Gary Davidson. Your description is wonderful. I've read it over and over again to savor/absorb/internalize/validate. To paraphrase Mel Krieger, this is "the essence of fly casting"!
Thank you, sir, for this and so much more in the Master Study group.
Cordially,
Jim Dowd
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