When teaching how to use the wrist...

[Dag Midtgard]

I see that many advocate learning to use the wrist in order to be able to do different casts etc etc...

Which style of using the wrist are most taught?

1) where the wrist is moved in the sagital plane abduction/backcast, adduction/frontcast
(Typical with thumb and second finger parallell and in the middle of the cork-grip)
2) where the wrist is moved in the sagital plane, flexion/forwardcast, extension/backcast
(Typical with one finger on top of the handle)

[Paul Arden]

Hi Dag, I mostly teach it to be similar to throwing a ball in the lighter line weights. For heavy SW gear I teach the more traditional shake hands with the rod which helps block the wrist.

Cheers, Paul

[OLDGOLD]

It seems to me that wrist usage is one of the many paradoxes around casting. Some swear by a wrist as inactive as possible, others use a lot of wrist. Some people pull on a forward cast, some push. Some use body motion and rotation, others isolate shoulder and arm movement.

As such, none of these are fundamental to casting per se, although elements of each may make certain casts easier or harder. I guess it is why we can all spend ages just getting around casting and trying stuff when the mood hits!

[John Waters]

Hi OLDGOLD,

I view the movement of the wrist as the determinant for use. For accuracy, you want the wrist to restrict movement, for distance you want it to optimise movement.

John

[OLDGOLD]

John I guess that begs the question can you be accurate with much wrist use and without, and also can you distance cast using much wrist and without. If you can......how important is the wrist??

Yes you need to be able to decide on how much wrist to use or not, but wrist use itself cannot be seen as a fundamental??

[John Waters]

Hi OLDGOLD,

I think the wrist is important to all casts as long as we understand and mitigate against the wrist's restrictions. It is used for short casts but less important for long casts e.g. Paul or Lasse training for WCs. It is a very weak joint in the total body movement chain and needs to be used knowing that characteristic. However, that weakness is not such a disadvantage in short line or accuracy casts as we do not accelerate the line to the extreme that our body permits for theses casts. Wrist movement in short line casts, if controlled, is not detrimental to line control and cast accuracy. The key is "if controlled". The problem with no wrist movement in short line accuracy casts is it is taxing on the hand because tension must increase in the hand to use the elbow exclusively. Wrist movement allows the hand to relax and adds efficiency to the short line cast. The wrist is also used in distance but not to produce power as assumed by some. I believe it just delays rod straightening. The answer to your excellent question is that we all can cast with zero, some or only wrist movement, it always comes down to what produces the best result. As to the issue of whether wrist movement is a fundamental, I believe it is, but from the viewpoint of knowing its position, and therefore effectiveness, in the overall casting movement chain. No different from any other joint used in cast e.g. elbow, shoulder etc. You won't hit many targets using full wrist movement and you won't cast very far using no wrist movement.

John

[OLDGOLD]

Thank you for the reply.
More than one way to skin a cat, that's for sure.

Just playing today casting by trying to just use body turn with anchored arms, kinda like Lefty Kreh gone mad. It's funky, but you can be a line out......and if you use a bit of wrist but no arm or shoulder, you can get some nice loops as well!

[Dag Midtgard]

Paul...
How is it possible to block a wrist Paul? Trying to understand, and if you are teaching two different styles of casting, is not one of those techniques inferior to the other?

[Dag Midtgard]

OldGold...

A bit of wrist, no arm and shoulder... tip casting... any distance...???

[OLDGOLD]

Not great distance, but with body rotation and wrist movement you can cast a line without using arm or shoulder movement.....I was just playing around really.

I think I have a tendency to just use the wrist at the end of the normal casting stroke. I will try using it throughout the stroke as I have just seen Steve Rajeff do on YouTube. Looking at Johns videos he seems to use the wrist late. Horses for courses.