This is such a good post that I've read it all the way through, although I had to reread Merlin's initial post and completely bypassed the posts with equations.
I have some thoughts, albeit possibly erroneous, and a question.
When making the "hard stop," one is supposedly accelerating up to the point of abruptly stopping. But it takes a moment for the mental thought of stopping to translate into the muscle action of stopping, and it takes a split second for the stop to actually occur. And it doesn't really even quite stop there because the rod and line's motion wants to pull the hand in the direction of the cast. So the stop is complicated by the physics of the rod's motion (momentum, inertia, SDM) and the rod's physical properties responding to that motion, etc., etc., ad nauseam with equations.
Now once the neuronal pathways are entrenched, then the active thought process goes away. But that is not where the beginning student is and we meet him/her where they are.
Paul Arden wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 5:42 pm
You’re far more patient than I am, Jarmo. When I ask a question and get a question back in return then that makes me angry.
...
We should never fear being wrong or making mistakes. For that is how we learn. I will be a student all of my life.
Paul
The socratic method makes my head hurt: I feel like a dope fumbling through my disorganized thoughts as though I'm taking an oral exam and about to fail. However, it makes me see the flaws in my logic ... sometimes.
I love the Winston Churchill quote "Success if not final; mistakes are not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." I also love Pasteur's quote: "Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity." These quotes really help me know that, if I keep practicing and trying, not only will I become a better caster and instructor, I might someday intuitively understand Merlin and Lassse.
Question: Is the "power snap" at the very end of the cast implemented for extra oooomph (a physics term), and what is the ooomph really for? I see it as part of the acceleration effort with that last little bit of angular rotation adding the biggest bang for the least effort at the last moment right before the stop. I was taught that the power snap is not needed to make a loop (which it's not), but as I cast more, I find it more useful IF not overdone.