Walter & Group: -
* CORRECTION.
My answer to Troy Miller in my last message, yesterday, should have read:
"...The tiny bit of acceleration we can generate with translation alone, however, will yield only a small amount of rod load compared to what happens with ROTATION.
Gordy
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More from Joan Wulff on slide loading:-
Gordy,
I left out the fact that the forward "slide" is,
in
fact a Loading Move by the rod hand, the beginning of
the
acceleration. As I did say, the backcast and the forward
cast
are done in normal time, so when the Drift move is
completed,
the forward Loading Move is next - while the line is
still
shooting backward.
I, too, call the bending of the tip backward
at the end of the
shoot, Preloading. It gives you a headstart on
the
bending/loading of the rod.
Thanks.
Joan
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Comment:
Joan has been a true expert in analyzing casts ... especially her own.
Not a bad idea for each of us to go out and try to analyze our own casts in terms that we have discussed. Each will cast a bit differently. Below is a brief analysis of one of my own casts :-
I get best results for distance when I carry no more line than I can handle well on my false casts (no where near as much as champion distance casters).
As I make my false casts, I try to keep very tight loops while gaining ever faster loop speed.
On my final back cast, I shoot line with as much loop speed as I can muster. I drift way back without moving my rod forward at all. When the line behind me, "comes tight" (my, "PRELOAD)" as the shot back loop completes it's unfurling, I begin my forward stroke. I, "pull" with more translation than rotation, then rotate more and more as I load the rod deeply and then go into my, "speed-up-and-stop" with almost all rotation. Some translation continues with this to the stop, but not much. I don't, "slide". I prefer to have no forward movement at all as my back cast loop is unrolling, whether translational or rotational.
By shooting line back, as Joan does, I can carry a lot more line for that one cast than I can with false casting without my loop suffering. If I were able to false cast while carrying somewhere near 100' of line with good loops (as Bill Gammel can), then I wouldn't need to use that technique..... but I can't.
My arm style is similar to that of Lefty ..... Low elbow, off-horizontal rod plane for my back cast, then off-vertical rod plane for my delivery cast. This way, I can repeatedly critique my back cast, because I can see it without contorting my body to do so.
I use an open stance. To maximize tip travel, I use as much body motion as I can. Since I'm 76 years old, this is not as much as I used in former years. I, also, take a step forward as I make my presentation cast. My grip is, "thumb-on-top".
If I get fatigued from practicing, I find that I can load my rod with better tracking on my forward cast if I switch to a more vertical rod plane for my delivery cast. (One of the first things to deteriorate with arm fatigue is tracking. Loop size starts to increase as a result.)
I've found that this is a style of casting which works especially well for folks like me who are not tall, are not heavily muscled, and older. It is a style well suited for fly fishing with salt water tackle from a poling skiff on the flats, especially since more than one third of my presentations are back cast shoots to moving fish.
Works for me !
Gordy