Short line short stroke.

In previous posts we have looked at the first three of the five essentials.
In this post we will look at the casting stroke and casting arc.

Why do we talk about both the casting stroke and the casting arc?
The reason is that to talk of one, is to talk of the other, because as we cast these two actions overlap one another.
What is the difference between the casting stroke and the casting arc?
The casting stroke is defined as the distance the rod hand travels between the stops. The casting arc is defined as the angular change of the rod butt between the stops.
The casting stroke (translation) is what we use to initially get the line moving, this movement breaks its inertia and sets the line along its intended path.
The casting arc is dictated by rotation, this creates rod tip speed, and should be matched to the bend in the rod in order to maintain the straight line path of the rod tip.

How long should our casting stroke and arc be?
Well, that is all to do with how much bend we have in the rod as we cast. This all comes back to maintaining the straight line path of the rod tip. The more bend we have in the rod as we cast, the longer our stroke length and the wider our casting arc should be.
There are several ways in which we can get a bigger bend (load) in our rods as we cast. Firstly, the longer the length of line we have outside the rod tip, the more mass there is, and therefore, more acceleration is needed to move it. This in turn creates more bend, so a longer casting stroke and wider arc are needed in order to maintain the straight line path of the rod tip. The easy way to remember this is short line, short stroke – long line, long stroke.

Secondly, the softer the action of our rod, the longer the casting stroke and wider the arc should be for the equivalent length of line compared to a faster actioned rod. Another thing that will cause increased bend in the rod is when casting into the wind. We automatically apply more acceleration when casting into the wind to help increase our line speed. A lot of people tend to get wind knots when casting into the wind. In reality it isn’t the wind causing these knots but the caster. The reason is when we cast into the wind we tend to apply the power too abruptly over too small a casting stroke and arc, leading to the application of power becoming inappropriate, yielding a concave rod tip path and causing a tailing loop. To help remedy this, we need to consciously lengthen our stroke, this will also increase our arc, which will help the rod tip path track back in a virtual straight line.
Conversely, casting with too short a casting arc, will also lead to tailing loops, as well as creeping (unintentional movement of the rod tip in the opposite direction of the unfurling loop) this reduces our stroke length and casting arc which can lead to tailing loops.

The other extreme is casting with just arc and no stroke length. This is a common fault of beginners who try to cast by moving just the wrist, which causes a convex path of the rod tip leading to large, air resistant loops. If you find this is happening, try lifting and drifting back with the elbow and shoulder, to help lengthen the stroke and concentrate on reducing the amount of wrist rotation. Even better still, think about booking a lesson with a qualified instructor, he or she will be able to identify any faults and help rectify any bad habits.

I hope by now you are starting to gain a better understanding of the importance of the five essentials and how they can help to cast more efficiently.

In the next post we will take a look at the final essential, last but not least – the pause.

Tight lines,

John.