Basics · a card
What is the most common pickup-and-laydown fault, and what do I teach before it?
Going too far back and breaking the wrist on the back cast — so teach the grass drill and the paintbrush drill first, for smooth acceleration.
The examiner is really asking what you have seen in your students, not what you have read. Know your answer from teaching ten people.
What the instructor says
- Going too far back and breaking the wrist on the back cast. That is the single biggest issue he sees in the pickup-and-lay-down teaching task.
- Other candidates nominate other faults — lack of power on the backstroke, or the rod too far down in front — so know your own answer.
- The grass drill and paintbrush drill come first. They teach smooth acceleration, and a forward cast all by itself with no rod in the hand.
- Horizontal casting in the grass drill comes before the pickup and lay-down.
- No time? Teach it holistically and get basic control in four to ten minutes.
Putting it to work
- Run the grass and paintbrush drills until acceleration is smooth.
- Add horizontal casting on grass, then the pickup and lay-down.
- Watch the back cast for the wrist break and the extra travel.
Source
From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 14, 00:02:08 and 00:04:38. See the video library and the task pages for the exam wording; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.