Walter & Group...
Let's give thanks where thanks is due .... to those who fought for the freedoms many take for granted .
Have a great Memorial Day !!
Gordy
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Request from Pat Damico :
Really enjoy your casting information! I would like to see a discussion of Macauley Lord's article. "Direct Instruction: A New Paradigm for Teaching Casting."
How do Master and BOG members feel about this information?
Pat Damico, CCI
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Pat...
As you may know, Macauley Lord has been one of our most energetic and effective teachers of fly casting for years. I recall that he was head of the LL Bean school for a long time, past editor of the LOOP and is now retired as Emeritus CBOG member.
My own opinion is that this was a well written article. The concept of "Direct Instruction" has been around for quite some time. Thus I don't agree with the title in that I feel this is not an entirely new paradigm, though by his own statements it is a new approach for the the author. Some of our finest instructors use this method when the goal is to have the student learn as quickly as possible to make basic fly casts in order to fish.
Lefty Kreh has used a variation of this method for years as he teaches his students to cast without burdening them with a lot of fly casting theory and/or physics. One could call this the "KISS METHOD".
As Macauley Lord stated, one must go beyond this method when teaching those who wish to be effective instructors. At that level, a good foundation in fly casting theory is needed as background information no matter what method these instructors will be using as they teach.
Macauley was careful to note that while most students will benefit from this method, that there are a few who learn not only by the conventional methods of seeing, hearing, and doing, but also by understanding (cognition). These fly casting students may be engineers, scientists, mathemeticians, etc. who have become accustomed to learning by study and in- depth understanding of their fields of endeavor.
I must admit, I have been guilty of "overteaching", leading to students becoming lost in the process. I've work hard to avoid this in recent years.
My own experience is that a certain amount of understanding leads to better teaching. Instead of teaching by the oversimplified "just do it this way"method, a low dose of very basic fly casting mechanics can help achieve retention. Examples include things like Lefty's principles and Bill Gammel's "Essentials".
In the end, I think one must tailor the level of teaching to the student. "Different strokes for different folks."
I do recommend reading Macauley's article in the new edition of the LOOP :-
The Spring 2009 issue of the LOOP is now available.
http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4469
Let's hear from some of you on this method of teaching .
Gordy
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