Do we need to know all this Physics ?

It seems that all this discussion about acceleration and physics is a bit confusing. It would seem to me that the basic FFF principle of beginning the cast by accelerating to a stop is sufficient, and maybe the rate of acceleration depends on the distance. As long as the rod is moving am I not accelerating? And yes a stop too abrupt can result in the rod tip dipping causing a tailing loop. I do find that different casts are more successful by different acceleration speeds, some slower some faster. But I find that I must be always conscious of acceleration variables as they can affect the loop I want.

When I practice in the street I always look at my back cast, but when fishing I only rely on the "feel", the tug of the straightening line loop to tell me the rod is unloaded and read for the initiation of the forward cast. The target and the distance determine in speed of acceleration. Also, many times I will use an ariel roll cast to retrieve the line and that indeed requires a bit more acceleration speed.

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I suspect the answers given by our Group mathematicians and engineers will have already answered your questions. As we advance as fly casting instructors, we need to know more about how this all works.

Let's try to relate all this scientific stuff to the various levels of understanding of fly casting:-

To the Rank beginner, it may be sufficient to have him look at it as making a loop and propelling it to a target.

The Intermediate caster will have the concept of a straight line path of the tip of the bent rod along with smooth application of power. This will allow him to achieve more distance and (more importantly) to chose a loop size for the task at hand. It will also help to minimize his tendency to form tailing loops.

The Advanced caster must know enough physics to be able to CONTROL the cast and the loops to achieve many different casting objectives. He/she must know and practice smooth acceleration to the best stop which can be achieved for most casts.

The Instructor at a CCI level should have a basic background in the physics of how all this works so that can be communicated to students at various achievement levels in terms they can understand. That is why we require CCI candidates to have a working knowledge of rod loading and application of power including a basic understanding of acceleration needed to achieve the right amount of rod load. He will use this knowledge to diagnose faults and come up with corrections which work.

The Master, should have a knowledge of casting mechanics far above this ..... for the master's task is often the teaching and certifying of CCI's as well as students. That requires a much deeper understanding of the physics behind the mechanics of fly casting. The master will have a wide range of methods for diagnosing complex casting faults, seperating them into their component parts (as with a student who makes a cast with 3 or 4 faults at the same time), making the decision as to which fault to tackle first, and using logic derived from physics principles to come up with the corrections.

He/she will be able to add cognative ways of teaching to the time honored visual, auditory, and hands-on (feel) methods for students who learn best by achieving basic understanding of casting concepts.

The master will have an occasional scientist or engineer as a casting student. To be able to relate to that student using his/her own language correctly will go a long way to achieve success.

This goes way beyond the, ZEN concept of : "If it feels good it must be right" , the teaching methods of, "just do it this way", and, "don't shock the rod", "If you cast like him, you'll be OK", "Cast harder if you want more distance", "You need a different rod if you want better loops", etc. etc. (I've heard all of these and worse over my years of teaching and casting)

Granted, some teaching words do yield temporary results ..... such as Lefty demonstrating to a student that he can make a tight loop as he instructs: "Try to throw your line at the rod tip". It works. Lefty understands why ..... the student doesn't. Same thing with the caster who is getting repeated tailing loops. The instructor, "solves" the problem by having him increase the stroke length and rod arc. Neither the caster or the instructor may have a real understanding of why that worked ..... a, "bandaid fix" which won't hold up as the caster goes on to get back into the same problem as he casts with increasing lengths of line.

To the fly fishermen and most instructors, whether the loop forms a few milliseconds prior to RSP or not , or whether the acceleration of the butt section of the rod is constant or not, makes no difference whatsoever. To those who seek detailed background information on why this all works and how to improve casting instruction, it does.

I commend the physicists, mathematicians and engineer instructors in our FFF for helping to educate us in these principles, for it will doubtless make better instructors of us all.