Shoulder lift

[Dangermouse]

I have a problem with my shoulder creeping up during false Casting
Doesn't happen on a single cast but when I false cast my shoulder comes up a little each cast, spoils the cast and makes my shoulder tense up
Anyone have a trick or exercise to correct it ?
I've been practicing with my left hand pushing down on the shoulder

[Paul Arden]

Hi DM, is this Open Stance? If so then you should twist your torso to allow your hand to pass through your initial shoulder position.

It would be useful to see what you are doing but the blocking/wrist flip video I posted earlier in the year should help because there is no incentive to lift your shoulder if you are flipping your wrist.

Another exercise that can be very useful is (surprisingly perhaps) to cast using different planes. Eg vertical, 30 degrees, 60 degrees, 30 degrees, vertical.

Cheers, Paul

[Dangermouse]

No I'm casting closed/accuracy stance
Kind of feels like I'm creeping up in a vertical Z

[Paul Arden]

Ok that’s different then. Try starting the backcast with the hand closer to the body ie elbow more tucked in.

You might be starting close to the bottom one and migrating to the top and raising the hand to compensate.

I like the Closed Stance to Open Stance exercise. How is it when you go Open?

Cheers, Paul

[Paul Arden]

Sorry DM, I didn’t see this was in the beginners section. Can you post a video of your casting please? You could upload to YouTube and embed. Alternatively email it to me.

Thanks, Paul

[whinging pom]

DM it sounds like we are pretty much at the same level of Duffership. I recently posted about me watching a film of myself looking like a beam engine from the industrial revolution with the shoulder pumping up and down while the elbow rotated.

The Simple answer is tape yourself and send it to Paul or post it here for the great and good to look at... but its not always easy I know,
Personally and i rather be filmed in my soiled and sodden lucky Y fronts singing 'I will survive' while pissed as a newt, than expose my casting style on here ( 'sexy' loops it certainly aint!.)

MY problem was again over-working everything to try and stretch a bit more distance. Producing too much bend in the rod so not efficient ( focus on the tip!!),
The trackings wandering out with the extra mechanics being forced in to the cast.
...and trying to punch that front cast too early before the back cast has unrolled in the panic that the extra carry produces. ( it must have straightened out by now!.... then you hear the crack of the too early forward cast) .
All of the above conspire to frustrate the efficiency of the casting stroke.
And as everything's inefficient, the cure logically is to put in more effort and add more body movement and grunt and you end up shoulder pumping .busting a gut, and breaking a sweat for an extra 5'! Its maddening!

Then I tried this.
Kneel down, if you cast right handed then put your right foot on the ground and right knee up , then rest your elbow on your kneecap so you cant pump with your shoulder.
I put my car keys down a measured 50' away ( using a 5 wt ) and with the minimum movements just concentrating on the rod tip feel and short snappy late hauls to get the line speed up , i was dropping consistently close to the keys every cast and soon feeling pretty smug.
Just work on the minimum effort and movement needed to achieve that.
Then I stood up and recreated that feel adding some body movement to lengthen that arc without screwing up the Straight line path of the tip, with more controlled tracking and without putting too much extra haul in was carrying 65- 70' before it fell to pieces and I struggled to carry more. that will come with time and timing

The answer really is filming yourself and looking at what you're doing over what you think you are doing or what you feel you are doing.
Its good that your aware that the shoulder is coming into play when you don't want it/need it. Your showing awareness that's encouraging.

If I were you, and what i want from myself( and often fail) is to concentrate on the tip/ the feeling and the timing to gain your distance and reject the bodies urge to get there with brute force and ignorance! Just keep doing the minimum, and each time you extend a bit more length pull back on the effort to keep it under control and feel how little you need to achieve that. Look at the loops and try and get them as thin and close to collapse as you can manage. If they are not parallel or are threatening to tail, try just using the tip to steer them out of the problem, or adjust the haul, not extra grunt or big body movements .

Try the knee technique I don't know if its a common teaching aid its just my solution to stopping the shoulder pumping and keeping it tight and precise, it worked for me to help produce the 'feel' and confidence to rely on the forearm and the wrist and timing to overcome the problem to manage 70' casts without getting into extending arms and full on hauls.

hopefully I've stirred up some extra response from the better casters and instructors and advice to move us past this tricky stage.
all best
pom