Month: September 2015

170 cast vs not 170 cast

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[WS] With respect to rod loading we did have some discussion in this group and the consensus was that “loading” is not a great term and that bending and straightening were better terms to describe what happens with the rod during the cast. I think that saying that a loaded rod is a bent rod is still acceptable.

[DlB]A rod bends because it is loaded by forces: e.g. torque from caster, inertial forces (line, rod weight) and drag (air).Both are linked so it is not a question of “acceptability” but of what you are looking at. Bend speaks to all, load speaks to specialists.

[WS] I like that. In the past I’ve talked about load being a mechanical engineering term that actually makes good sense in this context but most people are not mechanical engineers and are not familiar with this term or its use in this context. Bend is a term everyone understands.

The issue is that saying that a rod is loaded creates the impression that the purpose of the casting stroke is to load potential energy into the rod which can then be released at will to throw the line similar to loading a gun or a catapult. This has a few issues. To begin with the energy for the cast comes from the caster. During the casting stroke some energy is stored in the rod and it is recovered when the rod straightens at the end of the casting stroke but this straightening does not increase the amount of energy that the caster puts into the stroke.

[DlB] But to get that stored energy, the caster had to produce it anyway, of course there is no external generation of energy apart from the caster, then it takes various forms: kinetic (rod, line), elastic (bended/loaded rod), losses (air drag).That stored energy goes back mainly into the line at the end (RSP, some is lost through air drag.

[WS] With a gun the energy generated by the bullet is much greater than the amount of force the shooter exerts on the trigger. If we look at European style distance casting there is little or no recovery of the energy that is stored in the rod by bending it.

[DlB] I cannot see a technical reason for that lack of recovery. How would you explain it? Because of the angle between the rod and the line at the end? For me it goes into the line, or should I say into the fly leg and also into the loop for a 170 style.

[WS] I know we’ve had this discussion before and I don’t think we will come to complete agreement on it. Given that force is a vector quantity we need to apply force in the direction that we want an object to move in order to make it accelerate and move in that direction. If we apply force in any other direction than we intend the object to move in then the object will not move in the direction we want it to move but it will move in the direction we apply force. That should be obvious when we are talking about point masses but the line is a long flexible object so we have to consider that even though we may be pulling the line at right angles to the direction (let’s call this the X direction) we want it to go the line will not move as a point mass in the direction we are applying force, the end we are pulling on will move in that direction but the line following this will form a curve resulting in forces in the Y direction along the curve as well. If we look at rod straightening in a non-170 cast, i.e. we stop the rod so that the rod tip straightens in the direction of the cast, it’s easy to see that whatever potential energy there is in the rod is going to contribute to line speed in the direction of the cast. In the 170 cast the rod does not unload or straighten in the direction of the cast. It unloads at nearly a right angle to the direction of the cast. Only a portion of the kinetic energy that is generated as the rod straightens goes into the fly leg, much of it actually goes into the rod leg and results in the large loops we typically see in the 170 cast. I will attach a picture to make this clearer (I hope).

Another issue is that we can’t do much to prevent the rod from straightening once it has reached its maximum bend. We can perhaps delay the straightening by a few hundredths of a second but short of hitting a solid object with the rod it is going to straighten no matter what we do. One of the main benefits of rod bending and straightening is that it contributes to our ability to maintain a straight line path of the rod tip during the casting stroke. Using the term loading doesn’t really describe this.

[DlB] Above the contribution to a longer and straighter tip path, rod bending allows the caster to put a greater part of the energy he produces into the line. This is why the “flexible lever” is better than the “broomstick” for casting.

[WS] Agreed, but this is really the advanced stuff we are talking about now. Briefly, you are talking about how the spring effect allows us to apply more force to the line over the casting stroke than we would be able to with a “broomstick” or a rigid lever.

I’m comfortable with bending or loading, but maybe bending is more practical for instruction since anyone can see it.

Thanks Daniel! This is a very interesting discussion.

[embeddoc url=”http://wildoutfitting.com/testwp4920/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/170vsnot1701.pptx” viewer=”microsoft”]

 

Teaching Scenarios by Dayle Mazzarella

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TEACHING SCENARIOS

Always set the parameters if the scenario is open ended. Always include questions you would ask the student before you start, as well as how you would verify the degree of casting skills.

Review the lesson plan format and adjust your lesson plan to the time you’ll have.

1. An angler calls you and says he/she has been fishing for “ a few years” and is planning a trip to the Bahamas next month. He/she would like a one-hour lesson.

2.  A group of four friends would like to hire you for a two-hour lesson. They are going to rent a cabin on a trout stream in North Carolina for a week. One is “experienced”,       one has “a little experience”, and two are novices.

3. The local YMCA would like for you to run a four-hour clinic for 15 people they have     signed up. You have no idea what level of students will show up or what, if any,     equipment they will have.

4. A husband and wife would like you to teach them “how to fly fish”. They have no     experience, but are willing to spend one hour a week for a month. (The husband is the one who calls,)

5. An older gentleman calls you and would like to become a CI. He has been fishing for     25 years, is now retired, and is looking for a challenge.

6. A Dad calls you and says he’d like you to teach his son to fly fish so he can have a     partner. His son is 12 years old. He would like a two hour lesson.

7. A Boy Scout Troop wants you to “teach the boys to fly fish so they can earn their merit     badge”.

8. The local fly club wants you to run a clinic for its members. They have 27 interested     people. You have four hours on a Saturday morning.

Those are all scenarios I have personally faced! Start at the top and work your way down.  Have fun!

Dayle

FFF/All CI Prep Stuff/TeachingScenarios

Practice with a purpose

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We’ve talked about training rather than straining in order to avoid becoming injured. The next advice in the area of practice is learning to practice with a purpose. The goal is to make the most of your training sessions by continuing to avoid injury and to practice the things you need to practice in order to advance your skills. The things to keep in mind when practicing with a purpose are:

  • Set up a plan and stick to it. If you are going to practice your accuracy casts regularly then don’t let yourself get sidetracked by beginning every lesson with distance casting.
  • Concentrate on the things you need to improve, not the things you are already very good at. Each of us will be different in this respect although virtually everyone will begin with learning to control their loops. Are you able to consistently cast over 85 feet and make it look easy but can’t seem to hit a target? Then you should probably spend most of your time practicing accuracy rather than distance.
  • Start every practice session with some warm up drills. Make sure you are stretched and warmed up before getting into the practice session.
  • Vary your practicing and forget what the test requires. Instead of setting up targets at 30, 40 and 50 feet try setting up targets at different distances and at different angles rather than just on top of your tape. If you can consistently hit targets at any distance up to 50 feet then you will have a lot more confidence in your ability to perform this task during the test. Some of my fellows take a number of tennis balls and toss them out onto the field as their targets for their practice session.
  • Don’t worry about meeting the minimum requirements of a task but concentrate on meeting the requirements with ease. You are required to cast 85 feet – is that your personal best? If so, then don’t count on adrenaline to get you across the line in the test. Continue practicing until you can hit 90 or 95 feet consistently with minimal effort and with the line landing straight.
  • If one of your casts is giving you a problem then break it down into smaller parts and identify the things that are giving you problems. Fix these items and then put it all back together. You might recognize this as a form of Whole-Part-Whole. It works for your students and it works for you as well.
  • Work with your mentor to identify the areas to concentrate on and what sort of practice drills might help you fix an issue. Revisit the Baker’s dozen and see how they apply to practicing with a purpose.
  • Set aside a time to practice each day stick to it. If you set a regular time you are more likely to stick to practicing each day. Make sure people know that this is your time for practice and that you should not be disturbed. But don’t let your schedule become too much of a habit – vary your times on occasion. If you become mentally conditioned to making your best efforts at a certain time of day you may find your test time is not optimal for you.
  • Make sure you revisit the things you don’t concentrate on regularly to ensure you continue to improve or don’t backslide in those areas.
  • Train. Don’t strain.

Preparing for a casting certification test can be difficult because you need to practice a broad range of skills and it can be hard concentrate on one or two things. When I first began working towards becoming a certified instructor I printed out the performance test, took it to the field and worked my way through each task every time I practiced. After a couple of weeks I found that I spent about 10 minutes each session running through the parts of the test I felt mildly interested in and then spent the rest of my session trying to see if my distance cast had somehow improved from the previous day. Instead of my casting improving it became very sloppy. My loops were large and I was constantly ticking the grass. I was in no condition to attempt the test. At some point I decided that if I was going to pass the test I needed to concentrate on what was really required. Instead of spending every day trying to cast farther I concentrated on increasing the distance for which I had good loop control. If I started each session and found that I could easily handle the distance from the previous day then I added 1 or 2 feet for that session – no more than that. If I felt the loops weren’t up to my satisfaction I shortened the line until I felt I was back in control. By changing my practice methods I found that within a few weeks my casting, and my best distance, improved significantly. It takes patience but it pays off in the long run. Instead of running through the test every day you should run through it every few weeks to identify what things you need to concentrate on for the upcoming weeks. Select a limited number of items you think you can improve and stick to those.

One more tip – review your equipment regularly as well. Make sure you are getting the performance you need from the equipment you have selected and that it is kept in peak form.