Back cast / Casting analyzer

Walter & Group........

From Jeff Barefoot:

Hi Gordy,

I may have been misunderstood. I was not placing emphases on the back

cast as a teaching priority. Rather I was only stating that in my teaching

experiences [like Troy‘s] a majority of my students seem to have grasped the

back cast quicker than the front. This has got my interest piqued as why

that is. I wonder if Troy, myself, and maybe others are doing something

right, wrong, or just different that causes this? Out of the three private

lessons I taught today, again all three created better loops on the back

cast sooner than the front. In many cases [not all] It is an issue of the

student coming into the lesson being forward dominant as one of you

mentioned earlier in this discussion. Usually they cast easy to the rear

and heavy to the front. One insert-able tool that has been very effective

is to ask the student to cast left and right w/equal effort in both

directions instead of front to back.

Jeff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff.....

I did misunderstand you.   However, I have seen this, too ..... and I wonder if it is because these students are less likely to overpower the back cast. (?)

Gordy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Bob Rumpf:

Hi Gordy & Group,

 

Being a technology dinosaur, I also had initial reservations regarding the Casting Analyzer. At our shop (Catskill Flies) in Roscoe, NY we were fortunate enough to have one in the shop for a two year period. All of our guides and the owner took advantage of the technology and it was not too difficult to sit back and compare the actual casting to the analyzed reports and come to the conclusion, hey, this thing really works!  Our problem, and I am sure Bruce has heard this from shops before, was finding a "selling point" for the investment. It sadly became apparent that mediocre casters know they are mediocre although they would like everybody else to think otherwise. These people, not seeking casting lessons, do not see an advantage to being compared to an expert caster with obvious results. We just could not generate the interest the equipment deserved. It appears that pride rears its ugly head and as a result very few people like to be informed exactly how poorly they actually cast. The people mentioned here are anglers who have been fly fishing for years and fall into that group that feel since they do catch fish, their present casting ability is sufficient, and this includes the bulk of our customers. The Casting Analyzer has my vote as a very functional instruction tool, at least from an instructor's point of view. The problem here arises in the fact that at a fly shop we sell rods. We found it counterproductive to demonstrate to a prospective customer how much his casting needs improvement. It was poor motivation for selling an expensive rod. If on the other hand, we were operating a school where improvement is what is being sought, I would consider the analyzer to be almost a necessity to be used in conjunction with competent instructors.

 

Bob Rumpf

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~