FAST TRACK TO SUCCESS
Is your casting like a bad break-dancing version of Swan Lake?
NINE times out of ten I can have a complete beginner casting a long way within an hour, sometimes in minutes. Any competent instructor can do the same.
Success is quick because we’re starting with a clean sheet: no bad habits to break, no wrong ideas about methods and tackle to be corrected.
Basic instruction is simply a matter of saying “Set up like this, aim there, now do this.” And away goes the cast, long and straight. I am not exaggerating; it really is that quick and easy.
A fisherman who has struggled for years is an entirely different challenge. His head may be stuffed with casting theory, tackle reviews, conflicting opinions gleaned from websites, all topped off with advice from misguided mates who can’t cast either.
These days, his chances are likely to be further crushed by a mighty rod and hypertuned reel. It’s an endless list of woes. And then comes the silent assassin: muscle memory.
CLEAR YOUR HEAD
If I owned the mind-erasing gadget that Men in Black use, everybody would cast beautifully in no time at all. As it is, lessons usually start with hacking back the mental undergrowth.
There are many, many reasons for casting poorly, but the most common error is that the student is not doing what he thinks he is doing. For instance, he thinks he uses a pendulum style copied from…insert name of famous caster. What he’s actually doing is the equivalent of a bad break-dancing version of Swan Lake.
Mistakes like this are easy to make, not least because words, photos and even videos are, at best, a haphazard way to get the necessary information across. They certainly help a lot of people, but thousands of would-be casters fall through the net, often because of one basic misconception. For absolute clarity, nothing beats face-to-face teaching.
WHEN RIGHT FEELS WRONG
In the quest for better results, it is vital to understand that as soon as you start learning a proper method, right instantly feels wrong. Dreadfully wrong; the end of the world, even. This is muscle memory kicking in.
Do something often enough – bad casting for many years – and it becomes ingrained, automatic and it feels right. The moment you start moving your rod correctly, this powerful memory gives out an error warning – hence, what is right feels wrong. Which is another way of saying that bad habits die hard.
Casting speed and force are a classic example. It can be a tough challenge to slow down and use less effort, which is often a major key to improvement.
Get someone you trust to point out the errors and to encourage you to keep doing it the ‘wrong’ way until new muscle memories form.
Coaching keeps you on the right track when, otherwise, you might give up or drift back into those old bad habits without realising it.
Next time: What to look for in a teacher.