In fly casting, our stance serves a number of critical functions.
One of the most obvious purposes is to provide a stable base. What may not be apparent are the ways in which our stance must provide this stability. Here’s a list of what I think is important.
Helps Generate Forces Directed Up and Straight Back
When we launch a back cast, our stance must provide a stable platform from which a large force directed up and straight back can be generated.
Simplified vector diagram of a back cast. Notice that the vertical force vector is large since it must overcome gravity to create an upward trajectory.
In addition, at the end of the front cast when the rod and casting arm are accelerated to an abrupt stop, our stance must help counteract a large force directed down (part of which is gravity) and straight ahead by creating an equal force up and straight back.
Promotes A Straight Rod Path (Forward And Backward)
When we launch our back casts, not only do we need a stance that is able to create force vectors directed up and straight behind us, we also need a stance that naturally promotes a straight rod tip path in the direction of these forces.
Allows A Weight Shift
A weight shift should initiate our front and back casts for several reasons.
Most importantly, a weight shift uses our leg muscles – strong muscles – to change the direction of inertia in a fly cast. In other words, when the fly line straightens out at the end of a cast, we should be using a little tension from large muscles – instead of a lot of strain from small muscles – to get the rod and the line moving in the opposite direction. This consideration is especially important in casters who have a smaller stature or for children.
The translational movement during the weight shift also removes slack in our cast so that, when the casting stroke begins, the line is already taut or moving in the desired direction.
Without a weight shift, the initial part of our casting stroke would be used to remove slack. It’s a recipe for a tailing loop.
If we don’t start the stroke slowly to remove slack, and we begin accelerating the rod in a normal stroke, when the line becomes suddenly taut, the rod tip will collapse. The rod tip buckles due to the mass of the fly line and the relatively high speed of the rod tip moving in the opposite direction.
If we start the stroke slowly to remove slack, since the rod must be stopped at a certain endpoint for a theoretical trajectory, the remaining arc for our power application becomes smaller with more slack. As the remaining arc becomes smaller, we must accelerate the line more quickly over a shorter distance, causing the rod tip to yield more, and the rod tip path to be more and more concave.
One last function of our weight shift is that our feet can be used for timing and maintaining the rhythm of the cast.
In the next part, let’s compare various stances with these three criteria in mind.