Hi Paul
Looking at #145
Part 1
Part 2a - Partially agree but this is too restrictive “Using a Closed stance and drawing back from the front target helps to facilitate this.” If this is your only solution, the casters are removing flies from trees most of the day, paddling their kayak around or shuffling their feet to get in the perfect spot to cast. I want the student to have an adaptable and robust cast that is suited to where they fish.
Part 2b - Same issue as part a, and implies that there’s only 1 way to cast. I watched Lasse’s Norwegian video where the mens section of trout distance used a variety of techniques, also in the YouTube WC videos, most of them were checking their back cast. It is also contrary to the stance you advise in your own fishing distance master class video.
I have watched a lot of fishermen trained this way throwing wide open and mistimed back casts and they don’t have a clue what is going on behind them, nor the means to find out. It also reduces their ability to access the feedback (perception) to check their own performance in the absence of an instructor, thus reducing the options for skill retention. It also means that a high back cast is the only option they have which is very limiting for fishing.
One is instead of casting square to the shoulders, the cast at an angle across the body. On the front cast this leads to inconsistencies and many problems for distance.
I do this because it reduces wear and tear on my rotator cuff, accuracy is not a drama especially at range and I can still see behind me.
And this is why iy requires an additional learning step, not just because it’s harder to watch the loops, but because the body is used differently.
I’ve had no issues with this at all, as soon as you give a front target to aim at, most people graduate to this position naturally. If anything, I have to hold off people who have fished before from turning until they have a consistent back cast. Starting people in a closed stance and then moving them around for fishing distance brings in a later new skill to be learned and one I would argue is more difficult because they have a constrained short stroke that is engrained.
Additionally, students with power application problems have a limited stroke length to work within, which leaves little room for smoothing out their acceleration. As a philosophy, having a one size cast fits all just doesn’t work for me. In my view, its a process intended to make life easy for the instructor not to produce a robust, adaptable cast that is fit for a variety of fishing purposes.
Otherwise, I agree with you
Regards
Vince