-TheFederation of Fly Fishers Journal jQr Certified Casting Instructors r - , - , Spring 2002 -
'Principles Of Learning In FlycastiQg II!struction , '.Bv Mlchael Franz
- . The six principle_sof learning are'R~adin~ss" P,rimacY1 Advance toward the goai or desir~d effect. Exercise, Effect, Intelisity and Recency.,The following Bl,lild feelings of confidence cibou.ta reachable is a method for applying them to' castinginstruction. gO31. '
gefeat.Avoid feelings . .of frustration, confusion'. and. Readiness: . "" ~ Placethe studentsin a relaxedatmQsphere with . Experiences should be po&itiv'e and.satisrYirtg. all ;mxiety ~emoved. ,. - t '
. Stateyour objectjves. !1. :"v :i: " ",:: thtensit" . Explain how the instruction will pr+gre~s, :i"t:" "'~""""~"_Y . vivid, dramatic,oi exciting'learning experi. , . BreaJctbe ice and keep if-r:nelting.""v "", vi A . AnswerQuestions. " enceteaches more than a routine or boring experience. - A studentwill learn mX)r~from the real thing Primacy: than a substitute. - ,8 Say things .precisel,y; use propertefininology,- Mai;:elearI)ing fun! ' Use trainin~ aids. without being, overly technical, ::~ , Do not allow the studentsto practice tMks - .' incorreetly for extendedperi°9s, .'.' Recenc~ Use minimal supervision;students must praGtice . k I . The things most recently learneQare best' - a tas to earn rt~ .'. - 'r~membered. The further a student is removed .. i trOll} anew fact or understanding,the more Exercise: difflcult it is to remember. , "', - Assig_npractice towards.a-reacnable goal,' c Blancasummary...for the lesson.Repeat; re-state grreemphasizethe -important points of instruc- remembered.because those things- most 'often repeatedare,best. 'iion within the lesson. . Use a bUilding block tec,hniqueto go from a known to an unknown. Review the previousle~son before giving new ~: instruction. . Learning is strengthenedwhen pl~astirabie satisfying. Mic~el Franz i-r a Certified Casting instructol: ~He kola Assign tasksthat can be accomplished. post-certification classesjor casting instructors on PraiseYour students. - writing lesson plans, on laws of learning and on teachin~ ~kill~ Hp livp~ in Nnnlp~ Rlnrinn Casting Programs: Curricula, -Insuran~~, Pay and Medical Preparedness Bv ThomasNeil Zacoi
- , . " To the best of my knowledge, no one hasidenti~ii -If time allows, the studentscan also be introducedto fied wtlat c¥tin~ skills and techniques the certified - aerial mends,Fasting with their non-dominanthand; instructor shOuld teach to his or her students at a weekend curve caststo fue left and right, and the s~twater quick- school.' I collectedbrochures from 40 of the top fly cast. , . fishing schoolsin thi$ country and found striking differ- ':' en~es in their ~urric~la. In all effort to find out if there is Insuranc~. ... and ComRensation' Instructors who teacQfor a fly fishing sQoPare usually consenSUsregarding what stud~nt~should be taught, I " i covered under a blanket insurance policy. Goverage varies turned to the ~xperts. "iii"i " ""' c c however, and it's important for the individual shop owner I 0'"mailed aquestiOnnaire to twent1T..four.r of the ."c- preeminentfly fishing instructorsin Amerit:Aand a§~d to contact his pr her agent for t1i~ specifi<;;s.Many respon-' them the following questions:(1) During a tw(j4day;Ci . dents -carry their own insurance, whichrangeq from sixteen-tlourbeginner, intermediate or advancedschool, $300,000 to $1,000,000. Further information on $s what ca~tingski,lls and techniqueswould yo~ introduceto importan.t topic can be found in Black's Annual Buyer:SO your student~?(2) Do you carry insurance?(3) What is a Directory-Fly Fishing Edition. The respondents ~so fair wagefor ins\:ructors?(4) Do you have any mewr-al .agree.d that insti"uctor compensation should start at $10 training and what provisionshave you madefor emergen': .~ oourfor a flfSt year instructor,and increasetq $25 an cies?' . , ' . '~our for a lead instructor.They further agreed~at for an eight-hourday all instructorS'shouldbe paid.oa,tleast $10Q. Basedon the resultsof the eighteenpeople who Medical PreRaredness ' - replied, somepatterns e.merged. One overwhelming , -. responsewas th~t intermediateschools are a wasteof . The expertswere unanimousin their opinion that all time: Therefore,I've divided the techniquesand skills tc instructors,-especially the s.chooldirector, -should have an advanced.be t~ughtinto He:re's two whatmajor the categories-beginner resP9hdentstold me: an<;i ' up-to-datefirst aid card, have CPR training and carry a facemask,and know how to removea hook from fl~sh. Every scho'oimusthave a v.:ellstocked first aid kit OQ ptemi$es'as well as a directory of emergencyphone B~~nner's Scbool- -:'- -B~ginners should learn the right way to-put a rod together numbers,directions to the closesthealth carefacility and as well as take it apart and store it safely. This w.ould'in- a cell-phonewith a fully chargedbattery. It is also clude mounting the reel and rigging the line correctly. important to'nnd out in advanceif any of your students have specIaldietary needs,have all.ergiesor P!esenta ""-Beginners sbould be-taught the pick-~p and lay-dowti: the ro,ll cast, false casting-and-mending, .' .- health risk.-This will n~cessitatemailing a questionnaire' ~ ,It is ~ssentlal' for beginners to learn how to form and to all prosp~ctivestudents. Last, it is imperativethat the c9llttolloops.' : " , entire- staff know\ what to do and whom1f>contact in an -Beginners should be taught proper line- han~ing tech-; emergency.Most notedtbey, wouldcallQ!). nique~, i~cltlding how t9 initially get the, fly on the water and stripping and shooting line. ' '. \ / CONCLUSIONS /', /' /' ~ -:-If time allews, beginnerscan also be introducedto cast- , Base'd'on theseresuft§..o'and..0' ..0' the additional. com- " ing off their opposite shoulder,ca;ting in win'dy conditions, ments mad~ by many of the resgondeRts,I. h1ive drawn the changing the direction of a cast, the reach cast, the-..rollcast following conclusions: ..0'",/"..0' - ' , Pick-up and single-ha~lpick-up. . " Fly fishingschools tend to be dividedinto two, majorcategories ~ fishing and casting.At a '
Advanced School "fishing school," studentsare exposedto all the basics, I --::-T?e majority of advancedstudents need to re-learnhow including ca~ng, entomoiogy,knot tying, stream to form tight, aer°d.ynamic,loops. They will also needto. etiguette,reading tlie water and safe'wa!:ling techniques. review the roll cast, the pick-up and lay-down and other In contrast,a "casting school" placesits emphasisoIi basics.. ' , teachingthe widest variety of castingand fishing tec.h- ' -Advanced castersshould know the doublehl1ul, single niquesgossibl~, with minimal time spenton anything 'haul. oval cast. oarachutecast. tut:k cast and the wi1!1!le else.Spey casting should be reservedfor a separate school. Cont'inuedonNext Pape Teaching Casting Me~h~nics~n-Stream Rv Phil (;av
I teachcasting mechanics to begiQoersby first explaining them verbally while using my handsto illustrate the~ visually, Next, I demonstrate'thesemecl)anic;:s with the rod.. I keep the.mechanics simple and tell. the studentJ-arn ~oin~going-to to be ask "tested;'.) them to repeat The mechanicsthem. (ThisI teach maKesare them as follows: really concentrate on the mechanic~'sincethey--/ kllow they are
#1: Sh rtcast' short stroke.' Lon r ast 'lon'er itr e,- - On the Water .1 tell tbeQ1that there is.a relation~hip between OnceI've'completed,the ex,planation and tlie length of line we ,'aTecasting and how far we net?dto demonstrationof the castingmechanics I move into the .movethe fly,r0'the rod with them. I try to limit thi~ to about 30-40 miputes. The most commonmist*es will be excessive the studen~~can 'visually see $e slo~-to-fast technique, rod motion usually associatedwith excessivewrist ~Qt!2h,-lacko~- , ~~k~~L~~!f~s_S~~ l power on the forward cast,and moving the rod ilt a #3: .Short cast. short,{2ause. L9nger castJongeF {2ause. constantspeed (usually too fast),just to namea fe.w' - Next, I put tbe studentcross-curr~nt and intro- , I tell, them there is a relationship. between the. ' lenglli of line they are castingand how long 1heyneed to duce the basic'reachcast, mending, and the useof the pau~eafter the stot>: I re'mindthem that the line is the ' rolling pickup. I explain the importanceof good drifts weight and thai it must get out in front gf or behino the an.dthat the reachcast and mending are essentialskills in rod to function as a weight to facilitate .rodloading. . r use achievingthese drifts~ ,I try to.nev~rget the student ., , , , the candy canel Jron.-its-sideanalogy as a visual reference castmgmore than 45 depees, up streamso thilt they. can control their drifts with , simple reachcasts/mends and . .for proper timing~ Us.inga 25-30 foot cast,I demonstrate correct andincorrect (both early and late) timing. Imake don't haveto recovertoo much line before~thenextcast. a point.-o~saying that late timing is 16ssofa s~nthan-early , I also introducethem to my guide te~nologyas timing (cutting off the backcastY. it relRtes!o castingand fishing. I learnedto do this after working with a studentwho was also an engineer. After telling him to pull severaltimes wbcn the strike indicator went do,:"nI humorouslyasked h~m, "What P3:r1of pull don't you understand?"He said, "I don't understand,apy . of it." I said, '~Anyof1t? Pull seemspretty simple.t<:>.' #4: The hand aird rod must move forward and back in a ~ingle plane. , - , me.," He said, "No it it's not! 'I don't Know w.hen't~ pull, I demonstratecasting in plane in the ve.rtical,at how to pullt how hard,to pull olwha~todo aftet:I pull." 45 degre;esaI)d 90 degre~sas ~ell as.45 degreesof( the Now I explain tPesethi!lgs aheadof ti~e. oppositeshoul4er. I then demonstrate'sweeping-or £:urvingthrough'multipleplanes. This is best visualized fhil Gay, a retiied navat officer.and pilot, commanded in the vertical. I tell the studenttd always lead the rod -theaifCrajt carrier USSJohn F. Kennedyduring t~e G!llf baCl5:with the back of th~ thumb arid pu~hit forward with Waf:'l{e'~e",es Oftthe HDfrd of~ovemors and lives iii, the pad of the thuJllb. I tell them that s_weepingis usually Alexandrza. VA. -' causedby taking the rod back ~i!h the back of the'hand or rolling the shoulderto seethe back'ca~t. It seemsas thoughfe:w fly fishers willaWnit ~ey . It's beenmy experiencethat when studentsare casting needhelp, let alone addition.alinstruction. Most of the with a rod and line, they watch the fly line rather than respondentsa~ee4 tbat rn~y students,especially men, . tend to overestimatetheir abil~ty.Consequ~ntly, none of - their arm 3lld hand n,o~ements.With only the broom, handle,you can illustrate severalthings such as'arm, the expertsoffer an,intermediate scl)ool,.'~d most have elbow and hand movement.Also, you can mentio~pOwer given up on offering an advancedschool. Those instruc- 'application,stopping front-and-back and tip travel, tors who do, offer,- advancedinstruction , mentionedthat too Withouttheir,being distracted by looking at the .1irie~when many of the self-proclaimed"advanced students," need te they It}akea ca~t.By aIte;rnatingback andforth.between spendconsiderable time-reviewing the basics. ' the castingrod and the broom handle,many are able to ~eg-:8fdlessof a studen~'sability and tilr- type of correct severalproblems. Try it, and get a handle'onsome school,he or sheattends, the professional,certified' coIilmon castingproblems. - , - instructormust be preparedfor aU emerg~ncies,~ well as . ' . . Jj)eable to teachand correct & wide variety of fly fishing Allan Rohrcris a founding memberof the Bo'ardoj" . comnlex.and fly !::asting,pro~lems- " from the rudimentaryto the.. Govetnor:s~1zd luis' been a pillar of the Long Bea~h ,Casting Clubfor decades;He lives in Newport Beach, ('~:' . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - I '.youldlike to thank the following peoplewho took time out.~f their busy schedulesto {iarticipatein this survey:Fran Betters,Gary Borger,Jason Borger, Al ; Caucc'i,Fk>yd Franke,Joe Hump,hreys, Lefty Kreh, Mel Krieger, Mike Mercer, Lori-Ann M~hy, Harry Murtay, From The Editor Andy Puyans,Ed Shenk,Doug Swisher,Randi Swisher, RheaTopping~ Craig Uecker 'andEmily Zeidocs. : \ye -have !l new Program Administrator in Julie - Nelson, who w~s brought-in 'to fill Evelyn Taylor's shoes. IomZacoi'is a Certified CastingInstructor qnd the She has a degree in fisheries biology with a minor in how author of Intelligent Trouting and Flies. Tie~& ~ies: to tactfully get a Fecalcitrant Loop editor'to do his job. If Includin , He lives in you haven't alr_ea~)!,~ou'll f!nd_~~t !!:~~easure ~o work Venetia. .. ~-- - with her- - Moreilian ever,J am i~piessed by the submis- sionsThe Loop is receiving from its -readers.Over tht years,you havegrown more discerningabo~twl:iat you read, what you teachand how you teachit., That's anotherindication to me that our programis doing wha~ . , . it set out to do. A spec;al thanks w those of you who. submitted responses to Mel's question about line stretch. Many Of them CaInevia the omine casting instructor's " Helpi~g Handle forum run by Master Instructor Guy Manning. There's' someimpressive deep thinking about casting going
Bill Gammelis a memb~rof the S-ollrdof Governors and the author ofTfle Essentialsof Flv Castin,g. Nighttime Vide()taping ,publ,ishedby the fFF. His ne}1,'viaeo is enti~led TeachingYours~ltTo Elv Cast.He lives Ifighlands. Bv Bill Gammel TX. -
As a castinginstructor,' you are required to db 'some in-depth anatysisof the casting stroke. This.
generallyarises in onepf three ways.,Most of ten'you , 2002 Bl11ck'sAnnual JJuyer,'s
will be askedto help a castercorrect a difficuJt casting Pirectory Ayailable " : problem. "You. will needto be able to watch the cast and, # identify thepro6lem, Sometimes'you will need,!9 Black's Annual Buyer:'sDirectory.. Fly explain a bit of fly casting theory or a specific t~.chriique Fi$hing Edition is a publication that lists sources for flyfjsing equipment,'shQws, expos, and instruc- toand thoroughly will need toexplain show thetopic~the movement Thirdly, c;>f the you rod Will in--order, . tion. All the FFF instructerswho are currently, evaluate new teaching methods' or castiag theories ~ certified at time of publicati~n eachyear are listed devefoped by your peers., I spend a good deal of time as FFF certified c~st!nginstructors in the directory. d~termin:ing whether or not the new method or theory is The guide lists eachcaster by city and stateas well ~ lQgical. NQt all statements being l1}adetoday ~bout fly as providing contactinfornlation. Tbe.guidealso casting pass this test. Therefore;, I suggest that each cQntainsseveral editorials and chartsthat are of instructor be skeptical of .!!l1fly' casting instruction. . Do interestto the fly fishing community. not assume a_statementis logical until you h!lve person- 'The 200,2edition of BlaCk'$ is av~lable for ally analyzed it. If yon do this, yo~ will be s"urethat you ins.tructorsfor only the cost of shipping ~d i?an- are correct v.:henusing the method or teacking the dling, $3.50. If you would like to order one of 'Bla~k's2002' Annual Buyer:SDirectories, you may .theory. This win give you a great'- deal -of confIdence. when discussing or teachingt1y ~_sting;- contactJulie NeJsonat the FFF National Office , Videotapeanalysis is my-pr~ferredmethod (406-585-7592)ot senda cheCkoimoney order to - of revieWinga cast.It is a Qig help with problem- the follo,wing addre$~ solving and theory review. Some"of us have spent -- countlesshoors poring over poorly lit home video, FFF ' strainingt6 seethe intricate parts of the fly cast:" . Attn: Black's With a little effort, thi.spt:oblem can be easily fixed P.O.BoX 1595 by'videotapingyourself,at nlght. Most towns hav,e "' Bozeman.Mq" 59771 a lighted golf courserange. I have found'that,for . the price of a basketof balls, th~ ownersreally don't care if you golf or t1y cast. ~e night-lights will proviqe a direct illumination of the line thmughoutthe cast aJId'theloops and the activity : -of the lin~ will be easily seenon videQ. However, . the rod oftendoes not show up wen. Therefore,I wrap the blank with 'white Teflon plumber's tape, ,whichm*es ther~d highl~ visible on the video scret:n. ~