Acceleration - different views / Teaching

Gordy,
Nice to see Aitor and Stefan on here! Here is a link when I looked up exponential acceleration:

http://mathpages.blogspot.com/2008/07/exponential-acceleration.html

Interesting concept from that read. I was not really familiar with the term so had to do some digging. After reading the link above I am sure we will dream tonight of loop velocities at light speed (it will be all Stefans fault too!). I think from the years of calculus long ago that it is the constant acceleration that was so critical to Newtons contributions. I am no math guru so Walter, Grunde, Perkins, Richards or someone really into it will have to tell us the real skinny!

I do remember going back and finally seeing the light about calc derivatives long after school and then the light bulb went on. One would have to google some basic calc derivatives to get a brush up on how those came about. One will get their fix rather quickly as to how position, velocity, and acceleration all relate to one another. I know that sounds rather deep, but as Aitor stated earlier, most all of us sat through years of that kind of thing in early academic years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative
or
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Calculus-2063/Calculus-Derivative-Applications.htm
(this one is better for looking at position, velocity, acceleration)

The one regret I had about all of that at the time, was my calc teacher did not relate it well. He really was a poor teacher in that he did not relate to the whys, whats, etc.. and how it came to be. If he would have used lots of analogies to fly casting, planes, cars, bikes, etc... in travel-there is no doubt in my mind he would have been remembered as a great teacher. The students would have had a much deeper appreciation of the subject matter at that time as well. I was in my early 30's when I really began to understand derivitives and why they were so important in those early years. Now the truly amazing part of all this, think of the headache Newton must of had putting this all together? Now that had to be a deep place for sure.

I do think as Stefan that there are some very different things which occur for really long distances as opposed to the fishing distance casts. Many discussions focus on just rod rotation / translation. I think the real magic lies more in the haul combo with the rod. Not just at RSP, but the increase in rod leg tension before/at/after loop formation for the really long distance strokes. This can reduce counterflex and add more acceleration to the fly leg (so it is a win/win for long casts). You can throw really long casts by tucking the rod under the elbow, hauling far and fast, and simply rotating at the torso. This is a great exercise to teach students (you can also have them put the rod butt right against the navel as well).

Thanks Gordy for putting all of this together! Take care, Mac

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(I didn't get the link to function..... but I Googled exponential acceleration as you did. )

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Hi Gordy,
You mentioned that you did not pretend to be an "expert". What is an "expert" ? (answer follows AFTER your definition!)
Liam Duffy

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Liam.... I remember our definition when we were students in medical school : "An S.O.B. with slides". G.

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I remember Mel Krieger and his description of the way different fly fishers look at the mechanics of fly casting. Some were "engineers", some "scientists" and still others, POETS.

Now lets diverge from science and math behind all this and look at other ways of describing what happens when we make fly casts. Here are some entries from some of the best fly casters I know :

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Gordy,

My fly cast does both. It unrolls (both the rod and the line do)

and, at a certain point toward the end of the stroke, I "flick" (power, force, whatever) the tip toward the target (where I want the "fly" to go in the air.)

When I do flick it, the entire fly like outside the rod, the leader, and the fly act as one long lure.

Then the fly line both unrolls, AND I'm doing both. acts like a lure as it shoots. I'm doing both.

I've mentioned that I get the rod to unroll as I unload it.
I've found that as that unbending gets into the upper half of the rod I must hold back, not go faster, so that I can get the unbending to go smoothly. This helps me get a more finely tuned acelleration ( I think) and helpd me cast more effortlessly and farther. (and I think efficiently too.

When most all of the rod is unbent, and only the part up by the tip top is, I flick or force the rod tip.

This has worked marvellously for me in casting all distances, and for being as accurate as I've ever been, again at all distances.

So I do both, unroll everything, and flick like a lure.

Mark

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Mark... I never forgot what you told me many years ago about the feeling you had of the power starting at the bottom of the rod and flowing out the tip to the line ............ G.

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From Lefty Kreh. Lefty has an exceptional ability to get into students' brains quickly with plain language :

Gordy--Wow! I have no idea what you all are talking about. When I want the caster to increase line speed I liken it to a passenger on an airline on take-off.

If the airline goes faster and faster the passenger is firmly pushed back against the seat. The faster and faster (I thought this is acceleration) the firmer the person is pushed against the seat and the faster the plane goes.

As the plane goes faster and faster I liken this pushing back against the the body as the same as the rod being bent or loaded during the stroke. If the plane begins to slow the passenger can now sit up--or the rod will begin to unload a little.

Every student I explained this to suddenly seems to understand.

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Lefty... I highlighted your last sentence. This is what it's all about when we teach !

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