One of the most common errors even among expert fly casters is the backcast straying several degrees to the right (right-handed casters). This defect isn't very important and isn't even noticeable until you try to join the select club of the WF-5 boys. I'm talking about that virtual, but much-coveted club, led by a not-at-all virtual, incredible fly caster ( much-coveted, though, I do believe). To join, you have to surpass 30 yards effortlessly, at least in appearance. In this case, either your backcast is in an absolutely straight line with your front cast or you'll be an outsider for that group for the rest of your days.

Necessary equipment
Tangible: Four 1-yard-diameter hoops.
Intangible: Plenty of space in front and in back, boundless determination and very high spirits.
Objective
Short term: to get your tag (piece of yarn) to land in the front hoop and then in the back hoop.
Long term: to feel the enormous satisfaction you get from seeing your line soar and reach distances you'd never dreamt possible.
Procedure
- Place two hoops on the ground in front of you. One at 10 yards and the other at 15 yards. Place another two in back of you at the same distances. Make sure they all form a perfectly straight line.
- With a normal basic cast, put your tag in the first front hoop, the one 10 yards in front of you.
- After two false casts, put it in the one 10 yards in back of you.
- Repeat this exercise adding two more false casts each time before landing the tag in the hoop.
- When you get this down pat, then do the exercise the same way in the hoops located 15 yards away.

Harder yet
It isn't especially hard to complicate something simple!
You can do this:
- Lengthen the distances to the hoops.
- Place the hoops in front at distances that are different from those in back of you. In this case, I recommend that you place the front hoops closer than the rear ones. This will force you to practice shooting line on your backcast, which is extremely interesting. If you placed the rear hoops closer than the front ones, you'd have to make slack-line backcasts, which is something for which I haven't found any use... yet.
