Basics · a card
When a student shows several faults at once, which one do I fix?
The first error in the sequence — the later ones are very likely its consequences — and when faults overlap, the most fundamental one, which in a fast, wide-arc, no-pause cast is the pause.
Dissect the cast and correct the first error in the sequence; errors five, six and seven are very likely caused by the error at four. When faults are stacked, rank them and take the most fundamental — trying to fix them all at once is how a lesson stalls.
What the instructor says
- Correct the first error. “Break it down and get to the first error in the sequence.” If the cast breaks down on step four, that is where you work; do not chase five, six and seven, and do not correct a hundred things at once.
- Pick the most fundamental. In a fast cast with no acceleration, a huge arc and no pause at 40 feet, “the one you have to stop is a pause.” Closing the casting arc alone does not help when the line is wrapped up; get the pause first and the rest becomes easy to teach.
- Exaggerate, then walk it back. Tell a student who uses too much wrist to use even more, then reverse it — less wrist, less wrist, less wrist. Students often improve by exaggerating the fault and moving backwards from there.
Putting it to work
- Write the sequence down before you speak.
- Find the first step that fails and correct only that.
- Re-run the sequence and re-rank what is left.
Source
From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 15 part 2, 00:09:39, and lesson 23, 00:02:05 and 00:13:27. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the teaching tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.