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Walter & Group...
From Phil Gay:
Gordy,
A little different take on a "feel" experience that I had.
I once had the opportunity to teach a blind friend who wanted to experience the things that my wife and I were always talking about. I thought it would be difficult but it turned out just the opposite. I knew she had enhanced senses other than her eyes as do most blind people. She could feel the road loading and bending. I intentionally over lined the rod by two line weights to help her feel the cast. It was absolutely magical. As a result of this I often have people close their eyes and feel the cast.
As an aside I put this women in the river and she caught two small brown trout because she could accurately hear the takes. She could cast to the right location on sound alone. I helped hook the first fish, but the second she caught on her own.
It was truly a magical event for her but I think even more so of me.
Phil
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[GH] Phil,
Great experience !
Having the sighted student close the eyes while false casting helps teach the "feel" of the cast. Temporarily taking sight out of the equation seems to heighten the other senses. For a blind person, those other senses are heightened and "honed" far beyond this.
Sometimes I take guests out to fly fish at night. Some of them have trouble sensing the length of line as a result of which timing suffers and poor casts and frequent tangles result.
I've serendipitously found that when we start casting in the evening before it gets dark, that as darkness closes in the caster gains a sense of timing by feel gradually. By the time he can no longer see the line, he's acclimated to using the sense of feel as his primary sense and the casting goes well.
Gordy
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>From Bob Hansell :
Gordy,
During last year’s Southeast FFF Council festival, I offered to help Becky Strain teach a class for women. One lady (beginner) was having a difficult time with many aspects of her cast. I went through the usual “bag of tricks” and nothing was working. Like Gary Davison mentioned already, I had to tap into her psyche. I asked her if she like to dance. She said yes with a surprised look and told me she love to waltz. Then she started to hum the Viennese Waltz, relaxed and started to feel the rhythm of a false cast. We made progress from that point on. I don’t know how to dance or anything about a waltz. What I do know is we began to connect on her feelings, not on what a cast should feel like. Once we entered her feelings we could “discover” how a cast could feel. My real learning was on how to enter her comfort zone before we move into instruction.
Just a thought.
Bob
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[GH] Bob,
You tapped into her psyche and came up with the dance idea to use her sense of waltz cadence for her casting.
Now THAT is using your bag of tricks to solve a teaching problem.
Neat !!
Gordy
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