QUESTION / HAUL FUNCTIONS / Teaching disabled youngsters

Walter & Group.........

 

QUESTION ON THE DECK :

WHAT DO THE LEADER,  FLY LINE,  FLY ROD AND A BULL WHIP ALL HAVE IN COMMON ?

Gordy

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From Gary Eaton: -

Gordy,

 

 Sorry to be late on this as I have been extra busy in my household. Here are an excerpts from the notes on the subject from my teaching and demonstration courses - my file is titleD "DOUBLE & SINGLE HAULS"

 

The line can have NO slack when the haul is made

BUT, that load must be smooth and start gradually. Before a successful haul can be made, you must first have the rod loaded from the line's mass . Steve Rajeff and others haul when the rod reaches vertical & that works IF you have a stroke like Steve Rajeff's (Shorter, abrupt, power)

Making the fastest part of the haul coincide with the deepest rod load (through fastest rod tip speed) provides maximum efficiency and wicked fast line speed.

Line Hand & Rod Hand accelerations should be matched in time and distance,

 As the rod becomes loaded, pull smoothly with your line hand in a constant acceleration.

------- I can send you the entire 4 page hand-out if you'd like but, it is really redundant to the discussions had so far.

 

 

 Here is the actual parapgraph from my 2005 teaching hand out on this subject - Sorry I cut some of it off when I pasted it into the last reply.

 

When to Haul?

The answer is: "When there is a load on the rod." This is essential; because undisciplined casters fail to fully load the rod, especially with backcasts.

Without rod load, there can be no effective haul!

An early haul completed before the final acceleration of the rod tip is not going to significantly increase the line speed. It may reduce some slack of a sloppy cast and improve loop shape.

A late haul made after the rod has started to unload will have little or no benefit.

Making the fastest part of the haul coincide with the deepest rod load (through fastest rod tip speed) provides maximum efficiency and wicked fast line speed.

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I often have good casters who are having problems coordinating the haul ask me why they need it . This answer is also in my hand out-

 

The haul can:

1.) Increase line (loop) speed directly. (According to Mac Brown 300% increase to over167 mph)

2.) Increase rod load. (In the power storing mid & butt sections)

3.) Smooth cast by taking up unwanted slack & prolonging duration of rod load.(delay unload)

4.) Reduce the work done by the rod arm.

5.) Reduce the needed stroke length and rod arc while keeping good loops. ..

6.) Assists efficiency of line pickup as with tension casts (water hauls).

7.) Helps diminish the number of false casts by allowing shooting line to increase carry.

Lefty Kreh has pointed out that the haul can also, "Help bad casters throw their mistakes farther". This is a good reason not to attempt the haul until a good basic stroke is mastered.

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You asked for teaching techniques and many came  to the following  also in my  teaching sheet. Troy Miller and I had a lengthy e-mail discussion on this over a year ago (maybe two) and we shared the exchange on Allen Crise's forum. Here is my end-point from that stimulating bit. I do not represent this at Troy's advice but what I learned from our exchange-

I believe that the consistent one-hand shoot of 50% of the line carried is a valid requisite to going on to the haul & double haul.

Start with the hardest part of the double haul, "up-recovery" of line hand to reel seat (or stripping guide).

Make the line hand bounce back up to meet the rod hand.

Practice 'riding- up' after a one-hand shoot.

Pantomime with a 'bungee' cord or piece of rubber tubing.

Make sure the rod hand stays still while the line hand comes to meet it

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IMHO this starting point -

Practice 'riding- up' after a one-hand shoot.

- tackles the most difficult to coordinate portion of the double haul first and confronts the student with having to pay attention and do small steps in detail. Following this part, the double haul "catches-on" and my students tend to go further faster after this point with fewer catastrophic melt-downs.

 

Gary Eaton

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Gary......

A good presentation on the double haul.  All candidates should become familiar with your list of things a haul can accomplish. 

In the beginning, you state, " The line can have no slack when the haul is made."  It is certainly true that if you have line slack as the haul begins, you will use up some valuable haul movement and energy which could otherwise have been used to increase line speed and increase rod load as well as decrease the energy expenditure needed for the rod hand.

One way of looking at it is that one of the functions of the haul on your list is the very fact that the haul can take up unwanted slack.  That we'd prefer not to have to use the haul for that task is obvious... in the real world of casting, however, we all sometimes have unwanted slack. ( As a less than perfect caster, I sometimes find that I do.)  As you state, this can smooth out the cast.

It is this very function of the haul which allows early or poor casters to, "throw their mistakes farther" .

To prevent adding slack with the, "up" movement of the hand during the haul, my own preference is to have the student grasp the concept of following the line up toward the stripper guide.  A common fault with hauling is one which Lefty caught me doing just a few months ago..... creating momentary slack while bringing my hauling hand up a bit faster than the line was moving back into the rod.  This can make the cast less smooth by providing a momentary loss of, "staying connected."

For me, teaching this concept is easier when I have the student learn hauls with a rod loaded with one or two fly line weights beyond the rod designation because they can feel the line pulling back.

Gordy

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Gary also has some professional advice on teaching autistic/ Aspergers youngsters:-

For Lewis -

 

I am a rehab physician and get similar difficult cases from my therapist 'friends'. Asperger's is of variable manifestation as anything on the Autism spectrum of disorders. I would want to know the Speech and Language Therapists finindings as these tell me most about attention, perseveration, communication and comprehension. Behaviors that interfere are also of interest. Usually the school district has an Occupational Therapist or Psychologist who has identified tactics that work and they may have identified motivating strategies, too. This disorder does not imply impaired intelligence or guarantee motor dyscoordination but they can coexist at a deeply neurological level. Generally, if the person can keep up in school, they may enjoy angling.

 

Be extra safety conscious. Include parent or therapist. Be prepared to upgrade or downgrade expectations depending on the individual response. Avoid group lessons, decrease distracting stimuli. Have a safety plan and panic phrase that gets you help. Have a sliding scale of expectations - Not many Asperger's clients will comprehend catch & release and typically the 'safety & feelings of others' is not on their radar screen. They frequently have little or no capacity for humor & abstraction in the traditional sense.

 

A few hints -

Bright yarn fly that is big. Bright line, too.

Move to fish catching earlier rather than later to keep their interest.

Simplify the appearance of the gear. Don't wear or display a fishing vest (side tracked).

Make it visual and auditory feed back at first. Expand to 'feel' if they are amenable.

Bring your biggest can of patience and hope you don't need it.

Use a casting target to keep the focus.

A shorter first session lets you assess the prognosis for subsequent expectations.

 

Good Luck,

 

Gary