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Good casting instructors can look at a caster's technique and loops and know generally what the caster is doing wrong, and right. As explained earlier, how the fly rod rotates is the most critical motion in fly casting and most casting flaws can be traced to something not quite right in the way the rod was accelerated or decelerated. Sometimes these problems are subtle and very difficult or impossible to see but they can be very accurately measured with the Fly Casting Analyzer. Here are some tips for instructors to use the Fly Casting Analyzer most effectively to find these subtle problems.

Set a Custom Comparison Cast

Although the Fly Casting Analyzer has "canned" expert casts included, you may want to record your own using your student's rod and at the distance s/he finds most comfortable. This can add credibility to the process as the student sees you make the cast to which his/hers is being compared. Of course, if you find that you cannot make a cast that demonstrates the numbers you want your student to emulate, its time to use your Fly Casting Analyzer to improve your own casting!

Work on One Thing at a Time

When you first look at a students cast signature you may see several things you don’t like. Trying to work on all of the flaws at once is often counterproductive. Pick the one thing that is causing the most trouble, such as bad creep, or a wide casting arc, or too much power, and concentrate on fixing that problem. When you see improvement there and that is no longer the biggest problem, switch to what is now the biggest problem.

Use the Fly Casting Analyzer to Reinforce Your Instruction

Although I'm sure most of our students believe what we tell them about their casting, sometimes their response makes me wonder. Challenging your student to match a single number on your comparison cast can be a strong reinforcement to the "work on one thing at a time" tip above. For example, if your student is throwing much too hard, have them work on reducing "peak speed" until it matches yours. Or, if s/he is throwing tailing loops due to creep, have them work on eliminating early, slow rotation until it matches yours on the Fly Casting Analyzer , and the tails will be gone.

Work on the Basics

If your student wants to work on distance, but can't throw 50 ft. "cleanly", with good loops, you have to fix that first. Trying to add more rod arc and power to an already flawed cast will usually not result in more distance. Better to fix the 50 ft. cast first, then start adding distance. In most cases, the main problem going from medium distances to longer is the presence of slow, early rod rotation. This shortens the rod arc and forces an abrupt shot of power later with yields a very high "smoothness ratio". Working on delaying rotation on the shorter casts will make it much easier to incorporate that good technique into longer casts.

The Fly Casting Analyzer Isn't the Right Tool for All Students

Rank beginners usually have pretty obvious, major things to work on. Yes, the Fly Casting Analyzer will clearly show them, but if it is clear to you what is wrong, you can save some time working on those issues without electronically analyzing these casts. Also, beginners won't have enough understanding of what the charts mean to understand them. Once these students gain some understanding and their loops start to improve, the Fly Casting Analyzer will become very effective.

Work on Smoothness Ratio

If your own smoothness ratio is not routinely below 4, work on it, it will make you a more credible instructor (and your loops will improve). The forward cast below has a smoothness ratio of 12, much too high. The backcast is much better, ratio 3. The forward cast smoothness ratio is 12 due to the slow, early rotation at the beginning of the cast.

A graph of smoothness ratio on the Palm Program

In most cases, the main difference between casters throwing good loops, and those throwing great loops can be found in the smoothness ratios. Good casters have smoothness ratios from 4-8, great casters have ratios below 4. As an instructor, you should be throwing great loops.

Don't Analyze Every Cast

The Fly Casting Analyzer is a great tool and very interesting to use, but it can be overdone. What we've found to work very well is to analyze a student's cast at the beginning of a session and then work from that analysis, and your own observation, for an hour or so. You should be seeing significant improvement in the students cast and these improvements will show clearly in a follow-up analysis. Students need time to assimilate and practice what they learn, electronically analyzing every cast does not allow this. Using the comparison function for the 'before' and 'after' casts provides very compelling evidence of progress.

Video Tape and Analyze

Some students learn best visually and seeing a video of their cast along with the Fly Casting Analyzer charts can be very effective. We sometimes project the Fly Casting Analyzer chart next to the casters video and point out exactly how they compare. This can be very effective for many casters and is especially useful for pointing out subtle creep and other flaws that are difficult to see.

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