Walter & Group...........
A brief note on fly lines for CCI and MCCI testing: Discussion is
being held as to whether or not to allow the use of marked lines. Some
examiners feel that this should be disallowed.
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From: masterstudy@xxxxxxxxxxx
To:
pblackwell_1@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Teaching cases to solve
Date: Mon, 21
Apr 2008 11:59:52 -0400
Pat &
Group..........
Here are three more of David Diaz's TEACHING CASES
:-
1.) Deal with this problem.
A student presents himself as
experienced and the recipient of instruction from a famous teacher or casting
hero. What he requests is advanced instruction, working on his haul for
very long distance.
BUT
His fundamentals are terrible; loop control does not exist ... he
doesn't even point one foot at the target.
How do you return him to the
real problem ? Remember, he paid for big league teaching.
First
determine how long it's been since he's had formal instruction and how much
practice (number of days a week etc.) he's been doing, perhaps it's been a
while. Make a comment on how fortunate he was too able to have
instruction from this instructor. Then find something to complement him on,
the quality of the rod, his grip, anything positive. I would continue with "do
you remember when so and so instructed you how important it is to have a
straight line path of the rod tip and solid stops, in order to have good
loops". Then comment on how his loops may have opened up a little. At the
same time reminding him how important tight loops are to very long distance
casting. Offer to help him work on his loops so he gets the maximum
benefit from the hauling for very long distance lesson. Other
corrections such as the stance and foot pointing at the target can be casually
worked into the lesson.
I like that approach. This happens often ..... a student
who thinks he or she has mastered the basics, when they haven't. It can
be a real mistake to plunge in and teach the hauls before a good foundation
casting stroke has been achieved.
Your text strongly indicates the essence of tact to be use in
this situation !!! Any, "put downs" will breed
failure.
Lefty says, " Poor casters use the double haul to throw their
mistakes farther". He's
right.
G.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2.)
A male prospect in his is going to Key West for 4 days to fish for
bones, tarpon and permit, departing in 2 weeks .....his trip of a
lifetime.
Although he has 10 years experience fishing for rainbows on large
Western rivers, the brand-new, luxury grade 9 wt. with matching reel and
floating line feels desperately awkward to him and he wrenches his casting arm
shoulder every time he uses it. He wants a single one-hour lesson before
he goes.
a.
What do you concentrate on?
First
I would verify that he has reasonably good loops and stops, can cast
between 60 and 80 feet with hauling, and handle different wind
conditions. He is probably used to using a 4-6 wt. rod of
medium-to-medium fast action. The new rod is likely to be much faster than he
is familiar with. I would have him do a few pick up and lay down
cast starting at about 30' gradually increasing the distance until
his loops looked like he was about to start losing control. At this point I
would go back to about 30' and start false casting without hauling, again
watching his loops for loss of control. With around 40' we would start working
on false casting with hauling, make maybe 3 false cast and shoot line, as he
continues have him increase the length of line he carrying. In the
final few minutes I would have him work on salt water cast with the fly in
hand. In this lesson I would have him cast using the least amount of power
possible, just enough line speed to keep the loops from
collapsing.
b.
Why?
I
believe the student is out of his comfort zone with a 9wt. rod and
is trying to force the cast instead of allowing the rod to do the work. By
slowing down he can see and feel the results of not trying to over power
the rod. One final point, due to his shoulder it would probably be best
not to let him cast too long without a brief rest.
I get students like this frequently. The things I usually
have to concentrate on are these :-
1.) Smooth application of power. (This student may well be
using too much force.)
a. A tight loop with good tracking will go a long way to gaining the
needed distance without the use of exessive
force.
b.
Delayed rotation for distance. (This also has been shown to help for nice
tight loops ..... and it helps prevent the use of explosive power too early in
the stroke.)
2.) Teach him to carry only the amount of line he can handle
well with good controlled loops ......NO MORE
!
3.) He's likely to be fishing in wind ..... so time spent
having him understand this and knowing some basic wind cast principles will
prevent disappointment on his trip.
G.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.)
In one month, four friends are going trout fishing in the American West.
One has some experience, is past beginner but not by much. The other
three are, " below beginner". They all want to acquire the
skills necessary for success and satisfaction.
What is your suggested
program for this group ?
I
would recommend 3 lessons with a 4th if their schedule permitted; the classes
would last about an hour and a half, with 6 or 7 days between classes. By
starting all the students at the beginning, the student with some experience
would benefit by have his current level of casting reinforced.
The
first class would start with an explanation and demonstration of the
fundamentals of a cast and why they are important, show the different
grips. Start with ground casting, then pickup and lay down, finally false
casting. During the breaks we would go over leaders, knots, flies or any
equipment they wanted to discuss.
Class
two would start with a brief repeat of the first class. Go to pickup
and lay down casting but add a couple of targets, move on to false
casting with shooting line on the forward cast, then to shooting line at
a target.
Start the
third class with a repeat of class two, just long enough to
reinforce what they learned. Roll casting moving to a roll cast pickup
followed by mending and why we would want to mend.
If
they elected to have the fourth class, allow about a 1/3 of the time for any
extra help on previous lessons, with the remaining time used to
teach them to haul.
All
classes should have breaks for discussions about equipment,
safety etc. Encourage the students to practice, have them make
appointments with each other; they will be more likely to practice with their
buddy than alone.
Yes. Here, we can place them in the same, "catagory" and
go with whatever lesson plan works well for you in teaching new
casters.
G.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From
Gary Eaton (Another approach ) :-
Gary & Group..........
Here are three more of David Diaz's TEACHING CASES :-
1.) Deal with this problem.
A student presents himself as experienced and the recipient of
instruction from a famous teacher or casting hero. What he requests is
advanced instructlion, working on his haul for very long distance.
BUT
His fundamentals are terrible; loop control does not exist ... he doesn't
even point one foot at the target.
How do you return him to the real problem ? Remember, he paid for
big league teaching.
Gordy - I describe this as the 'instructor's
nightmare'. I use it in preparing instructors
frequently.
My best answer is -"I can move you along to hauling
if you can one-hand shoot more than 50% of the line carried. So let's work on
that."
It is a perfect opportunity to re-build the
basics. I really don't mind if they don't come back after
that conversation, because they are going to kill my time and try stuff
they see and get from other coaches - undermine my plan for their
progress.
2.) A male prospect in his 30's is going to Key West for 4 days to fish
for bones, tarpon and permit, departing in 2 weeks .....his trip of a
lifetime.
Although he has 10 years experience fishing for rainbows on large Western
rivers, the brand-new, luxury grade 9 wt. with matching rreel and floating
line feels desperately awkward to him and he wrenches his casting arm
shoulder every time he uses it. He wants a single one-hour lesson
before he goes.
a. What do you concentrate on ?
Smoooth rod loading with very delayed
rotation
Foundation of all tight loops and powerful
casts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.) In one month, four friends are going trout fishing in the
American West. One has some experience, is past beginner but not by
much. The other three are, " below beginner". They
all want to acquire the skills necessary for success and satisfaction.
What is your suggested program for this group ?
Twice weekly lessons right up to
departure.
Lesson One - The essentials, safety, gear selection
and assembly, fly lines, and roll cast (teach them a half cast
first)
Lesson Two - Off shoulder roll cast, line retrieve,
two knots, side arm roll cast, identify targets.
Lesson Three - Introduce overhead cast by starting
with horizontal loop formation then go to MPR, Mel-O, Fly-O progressing on to slightly over-lined class rods. Focus on
delayed rotation, and tightening loops by "Stopping Harder" ala Lord.
Tragets.
Lesson Four - Develop optimal loop control. Introduce
Aerial mends like puddle and reach.
Lesson Five - One hand shoot & good loop plane
alignment. How slowly can you throw a narrow loop?
Lesson Six - Back cast haul and one-hand shoot. Side
arm casts. Change trajectory for wind. Cast off opposite
shoulder.
Lesson Seven - Haul and double haul. Oval cast for
wind. Open loops fo rthrowing heavy stuff. Drift boat etiquette.
Lesson Eight - Distance & power for reaching out
and straightening long leaders. Wading safety and etiquette. C&R rationale
and practice. Review and send-off.
All lessons can be moved up by one or two sessions if
they progress faster - and they might.
Gary Eaton