Hi Ron,
For about 10 years I was closed stance with a step to closed stance. Ie right foot front to right foot front with weight shift. This gave me very straight tracking and as you point out a better haul. It feels like “untwisting” on the delivery cast.
However I had a problem with this technique in the WCs in Norway in that when I shifted my weight forward the pontoons would lower slightly. It wasn’t enough to cause me to fall in but with that and my concerns about stepping off the platform completely saw me holding back slightly. Which is not something you want to be doing in competition.
So when I rebuilt my stroke the next time I built it as “Open Stance”. “Open” is interesting in this regards because after a while casting closed to closed, that started to feel open and Closed felt closed.
Funny thing is I haven’t been able to track straight closed to closed since
I was going to rebuild closed to closed again for this year but off the roof of my boat this is completely impossible and I will fall in 100%!
Now some of the Swedes do something different which is more like 2 steps. I see advantages and disadvantages with this. Tip travel is very much longer for sure. But for me the biggest
disadvatange is stepping off the platform. Stepping off is not such a problem but it’s the thinking about my feet with every cast that is a problem. I’m of the opinion that if the WCs were cast off the ground and not off a floating platform that many more people would be taking two steps. A lot of people are now taking two steps so it will be interesting to watch in Norway. Especially if someone does actually fall in
These things in my opinion are the “1%ers”. They might give you a small edge in competition but the wind is a big player here, and the distances are measured to the closest 1/2 meter with the longest two being counted, the second being a tie-breaker. And I’m not totally convinced.
What I would suggest is if you are going to change stance, then have a small break. Maybe work on accuracy, Speys or presentations. Then start the rebuild process slowly. I work on form and Carry first. I might spend 2-3 weeks just working on Carry and then one week on the Launch. By then it should feel natural and happen subconsciously. For such a big change like this to peak in one prevents me peaking in an other. So comparing them takes a lot of work and time!
Cheers, Paul