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Walter & Group...
[GH] From Gary Eaton :
Gordy,
for your description- " Lately, many examiners have been using plastic field cones as targets instead of rings. For the 30-foot and 40-foot targets, the fly must land within 15 inches of the center of such cone"
a single serving beverage container serves quite well as a cone/target. I use a clip board that is 15" long by 9" wide, for legal size paper. If the long edge covers the fly when rested at the center of the marker, it measures as "good'. The long target gets a wide edge plus a narrow side to arrive at 24". Handy, device given away at a professional meeting I attended years ago. It also serves as a clamp or weight for dry land roll cast anchors, if needed.
I also provide the hint that "daylight" yellow-green (even white) softballs make a marvelous target. They are big enough to stand out when the grass is a bit past needing to be mowed, great visible color, non-glare surface, can be smashed-into the ground to stay put, don't blow around in moderate to light wind, are very durable and reasonably priced. I acquired mine when coaching my daughters' softball teams. I have even placed them at the center-hole of shallow soccer cones to provide a two-color bull's eye and placed a 26" hoola-hoop around that for honing-in at practice.
When testing, I often place the targets along a tape measure for the benefit of CCI's, but may stagger them for MCI's to obscure the line and alter windage a bit. This challenge seems rational as long as one realizes that exact targeting broadens in the examiners "allowance' for conditions. when preparing for my own tests, I flared targets by as much as 45-degrees when scouting reports revealed a regional examiner had a penchant for such sadism. This same examiner would alternately require starting with the line off too the side so that a few false casts were required to get 180-degree alignment, then limit the number of false casts. Pretty nasty expectation of mastery for the nervous candidate, IMO.
On my CCI exam, some examiners limited the number of false casts and some expected a certain minimum number of false casts. This might be an area of clarification for the BOG to establish guidelines.
I look to see that the candidate knows about hover, alignment of loops front -to-back, some comprehension of Joan Wulff's 1997 Fly Casting Accuracy concepts including alignment of eye-hand and eye-target lines. After that, I let them apply the results of their practice without much interference. I ask for at least two back casts to observe loops a little.
I question the value of redundancy in examining this task, assuming the candidate has passed the CCI exam. Perhaps increasing maximum distance for CCI accuracy or just expecting a single longer accuracy task for MCI would suffice. Realistically, making accuracy an "explain and demonstrate" skill to observe the MCI candidate elaborate on teaching essential alignments, hover, judging distance, adapting to side-arm planes, etc. would prove a more fitting indication of mastery on this skill set.
Gary Eaton
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[GH] Gary,
Many agree that the small target yields better accuracy than a big one like a ring. Of course, a small object in the center of the ring would help focus. Sometimes Lefty Kreh uses a bright yellow mouse trap.
Tim Rajeff has talked about, "The Gaze Principle". (Teaching the caster to gaze intently at the center of the target to improve accuracy.)
Even though this is not an "explain and demonstrate" task, the MCI candidate should be ready to teach it if asked. We'll go into those details in another message.
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[GH] Dusty Sprague answers two of my questions. 1. Style, 2. Scoring :
Gordy,
Regarding style......we need a loop plane that allows the loop size/height to be viewed by observers...examiners and students. Loop plane need not be rigidly vertical. For accuracy purposes a more vertical rod plane would be advantageous anyway.
Scoring: As you state below, candidate gets 3 laydowns at each of 3 targets to score all 3 targets in a single sequence. That is 9 lay-downs in the entire sequence with the dominant hand then another 9 laydowns over the opposite shoulder. No limit on false casting. Unless its windy, with 3 laydowns at each target, I would expect candidates who have practiced seriously to pass this task. We give allowances for adverse conditions. Good loop control is very important. Hauling is permitted.
Dusty
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