RE: Latest observations from practice

Walter....

Good observations.  My comments in BOLD CAPS in your text:

                                                                  Gordy

 

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From: Walter Simbirski <simbirsw@xxxxxxx>
To: Gordon Hill <hillshead@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Latest observations from practice
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 16:03:45 -0700

Hey Gordy - I'm at home this week recovering from arthroscopic surgery to my knee. It's a good chance to try Gary

Borger's statement about doing 50 practice casts without a rod each day for a week.  :)

 

Just wanted to capture a couple of observations from my practice sessions prior to the surgery.

 

The first is on grip - In my opinion it is the area that is the cause of many problems but is overlooked by

many instructors. Relaxing the grip during the casting stroke can actually reduce the impact of side

to side tracking problems. Minor movements of the hand can result in significant changes to the path of

the rod tip that, in turn, can cause major effects in the line path but if the grip is relaxed the momentum

of the rod and the line will actually resist the deviations that would result if the grip was too tight.

 

CHOICE OF GRIP IS STYLE.  AS SUCH IT DEPENDS UPON MANY THINGS INCLUDING THE STRENGTH OF THE CASTER AND THE WEIGHT OF THE TACKLE. FOR A CASTER WHO IS NOT STRONG AND WHO IS USING A 12 WT. SYSTEM, THE V-GRIP OR ANY OTHER THAN THE THUMB-ON-TOP GRIP MAY NOT BE SATISFACTORY, FOR EXAMPLE.

 

TOO TIGHT A GRIP, ESPECIALLY AT ANY TIME OTHER THAN AT THE POINTS OF MAXIMUM ACCELERATION CAN YIELD THE VERY PROBLEMS YOU MENTION.  THIS CAN, ALSO, RESULT IN FATIGUE AND HAND/WRIST/ELBOW PAIN.

 

There is also a lot of discussion about the best grip. A number of instructors will discourage a student

from using anything but the thumb on top grip because this grip gives the maximum strength in the

forward cast. Again, if we agree that timing and co-ordination are more important than strength, then

the student should find the grip that provides the greatest degree of symmetry in their front and

back cast. For most people this will be the key grip or the v grip.

 

The second observation is on timing. After my experience with the casting analyzer I spent some

time working on my smoothness. The recommended exercise for this is to cast as slowly as

possible while maintaining tight loops. The caster begins with 15-20 feet of line and adds line a foot

at a time until they are casting 40 feet of line while maintaining the slowest possible stroke and

tight loops. I was doing well at this and then started to see waves in the rod leg of my line during

shorter casts. My first reaction was that I needed more practice on smoothness. After a few days

I didn't see any improvement so I took a look at Jaworowski's "Troubleshooting the Cast". My fault

was actually Problem #1 in the book. In addition to slowing down my stroke I had also increased the

pause at the end of my stroke which introduced slack in the line. If I had the analyzer available, or

an experienced instructor watching me, I probably would have saved a few days but things worked out

in the end.

 

SOUNDS AS THOUGH YOU DID THE RIGHT THING IN INCREASING THE LENGTH OF THE PAUSE AS YOU SLOWED DOWN......BUT OVERDID IT....THEN CORRECTED THIS AFTER YOU READ ABOUT "PROBLEM 1." IN HIS BOOK.

 

REMEMBER BILL GAMMEL'S TEACHING WHICH BOILS DOWN TO THIS:

1.) SHORT CAST/SHORT STROKE.  LONG CAST/LONG STROKE.

2.) SHORT CAST/SHORT PAUSE.    LONG CAST/LONG PAUSE.

3.) SLOW STROKE/LONG PAUSE     FAST STROKE/SHORT PAUSE.

 

TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE LENGTH OF THE PAUSE MUST RELATE TO BOTH THE LENGTH OF THE CAST AND TO THE SPEED OF THE STROKE.

 

THE ONE CONSTANT REGARDING THE LENGTH OF THE PAUSE IS THAT IT MUST MATCH THE TIMING OF THE UNROLLING OF THE LOOP.  IF YOU FOLLOW THAT PRINCIPLE, NO'S 1. -  3. WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.  THIS IS JUST ANOTHER REASON TO WATCH YOUR BACK CAST LOOP UNROLL AS YOU TRY TO REFINE THESE VARIABLES.

 

                                                                         GORDY

 

Cheers

 

Walter