There’s a difference in the subjects Bernd, and it is a fundamental problem with casting instruction as well, in that the lines between learning and performance have been blurred.According to many posts of Vince and John, I am sure they'll agree we might (should) look into studies about other throwing sports at what age athletes top out. I assume we all know the answers. So how about learning from the others here, too?
Along with others, I’ve looked at learning instead of top end performance. There are distinct differences between competition and fishing objectives. Competitors are trying to refine performance in a narrow range of objectives in a highly constrained task, anglers have a much wider range of objectives and constraints. For sure there are similarities between the sports but there are also significant disparities in what we are trying to achieve.
From the literature, it appears to me that fishing casting instruction has focused on performance, cloning the techniques of top end casters, instead of focusing on the learning process that lead to the top end performance. Alternatively, we may offer a quick fix to get people fishing quickly that is performance limiting in the short term. Most other coached activities recognised the distinctions between learning and performance about 50 years ago and are playing catch up.
Regards
Vince