Walter & Group........
Guy Manning makes a case for choice of casting style being responsible for painful arm conditions:-
Gordy
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This
is an subject I have been considering a lot for the last few months. It is
my contention, based upon casual observation, that the majority of pain is
related to casting style. I have to say I am not a doctor or physiologist so
some of this may not hold up to scrutiny. I have though, tried to be accurate.
If I am not I am open to correction. I guess you could say this is a first draft
of an article for the Loop.
Keep
in mind that the majority of good casters I see here in California use the elbow
forward style based upon what used to be called “west coast tournament style”.
Think of Mel's casting style here, which he learned at GGACC during 3 years of
tournament casting when he first got into the sport. The Rajeffs would also be
classed as elbow forward casters (I am talking about normal casting and not
distance, most of us change quite a bit for distance). Of the other good casters
in the minority here, most use an elbow out style. There are a few who use a low
elbow but not many. I know that this style is much more common in the South and
South-East so my sampling isn’t the best.
Of
the people using the elbow forward style, I have met no one who had casting
related pain that couldn’t be attributed to an non-casting related injury. The
one time that I had the problem followed an injury caused by bumping the
protrusion on the outside of my elbow (on the humerus) into a door jamb. It hurt
much more than it should have for the light impact it had with the door. My
guess is that I had also injured a tendon during the collision. 2 days later I
spent 6 hours doing pickup and lay down casts with a 9 weight over Anchor River
Steelies. A week later I reached down to pick up a coke can and didn’t have
enough grasp strength to hold on to it.
In
my casting instructors workshops I have had 3 people in the last year or two who
had casting related pain. Two in the elbow and one in the shoulder. The shoulder
pain was due to a previous rotator cuff sports injury. The elbow pain in the
other two was strictly casting related. One wore a forearm band and the other
just toughed it out. The shoulder injury person would not get pain when using
the elbow forward style. The elbow injury people when they could finally make
the adjustment to elbow forward style also didn’t experience the pain from
before.
All
of the muscle names below are hyperlinked to a page that will show the muscle as
it relates to the bones. If the hyperlinks don’t work go to the following
page and click on the individual muscles along the left side to see the correct
illustration: http://www.rad.washington.edu/academics/academic-sections/msk/muscle-atlas/upper-body
This
started me thinking that elbow forward was a better style if you wanted to avoid
casting injuries and pain. I already believed it was the most efficient for
conservation of physical energy, in addition to accuracy. I sat down with a
friend who is a physical therapist and knows quite a bit about anatomy and
physiology. I told him I had a theory and wanted to run it by him. Being a
prospective CCI he understood my thoughts and pretty much confirmed what I
suspected. When pulling a rod forward from an elbow forward position the main
motion uses major muscle groups (big muscles in the arms and back:(Latissimus Dorsi , Deltoid
, Pectoralis
Major , Triceps
Brachii and a small shoulder muscle the Teres
Major (see Extension at: http://www.exrx.net/Articulations/Shoulder.html#anchor109903
.
When casting elbow to the side you are no longer using the “lats” and
larger muscles for the majority of the work, instead you are using the small
muscles in the shoulder:
Teres
Minor , Infraspinatus
and the Deltoid.
(see lateral rotation at: http://www.exrx.net/Articulations/Shoulder.html#anchor109903
..
So
you can see that shoulder soreness is more likely when due to overtaxing the
weaker, smaller muscle set involved in the elbow to the side style.
In
addition many who use an elbow to the side cast have a tendency to “push”, or
not pull the rod through the stroke. This pushing motion uses extensor muscles
of the arm which are usually not as strong as the contraction muscles Another
result of using an elbow to the side cast is that it causes a tendon to cross a
protrusion on the humerus. (I am trying to discover which tendon this is at the
moment, maybe someone here can help). I believe this is where the casters cause
their elbow problems. Repeated stressful travelling of the tendon over the bone
is what causes the pain in the elbow. This problem would also show up in a low
elbow style cast.
Imagine
having a bucket of bricks behind you and a rope attached from the bucket,
through a pulley, and down to your casting hand. Using either the elbow forward
position or the elbow to the side position, which is the stronger way to pull on
the rope. The elbow to the side is a weaker position and could possibly lead to
injury depending on how many bricks were in the bucket. It uses minor muscles
creating rotation in the shoulder to do the work. The elbow forward position
uses the major trunk and arm muscles to do the work, so it is considerably
stronger and doesn’t overtax the small muscles in the shoulder. Therefore
I believe that the elbow forward style is not only more energy efficient but
safer as a casting style and should be encourages over the other style for
beginners. Intermediate casters who have developed a good elbow forward style
usually have no problem adapting to the elbow to the side or low elbow style
when needed.
Guy
Manning
FFF Master Certified Casting
Instructor
Moderator FFFCCI Yahoo
Group
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Comment: Guy makes some good points, here. I agree with his anatomical discussions. I have, however, some additional thoughts about the relationship between casting arm pain and style.
Some of you probably have made your own observatins on this subject. If so, let's hear from you before I write.
Gordy