Paul Arden | Tuesday, 27 September 2022
I had a fantastic Zoom casting lesson this morning, but very nearly didn’t. After a chaotic week of nursing Ashly through Covid (I’m a terrible nurse) we came back to the Battleship late last night. Somewhere along the line I managed to get my days mixed up and had forgotten that I had a student from Chicago at 7am. Fortunately, by some bizarre coincidence, I was up and when the message came through at 6.56 that Nick was looking forward to his lesson but couldn’t find the Zoom invite; I moved faster than I’ve ever moved before. And what a lesson!!
Actually it was not this lesson that was fantastic. It was the previous one and Nick’s three weeks of training since then that counted. But this was the one where I saw how it had all come together for him. And my how it has come together!
I’ve mentioned it before, that there is something about learning the 170 technique that significantly advances Open Stance Distance and even Accuracy techniques. I noticed this shortly after moving my lessons online at the beginning of Covid, when my first Zoom student, Michael in Hong Kong, all of a sudden started doing all things better after teaching him the 170. I was amazed at the time and as a result have used it many times since. In fact all my Zoom course students (bar one) have been taught the 170 and all have improved as a direct consequence, either at the time or during the practise sessions immediately afterwards.
I’ve often considered why this should be and I think it’s a power exploration reason. With the 170 you apply force through a wider arc, it’s not rushed and then when the force application is narrowed again it smoothens out both Open Distance and Closed Accuracy. There may not be any immediate gain in distance when going over to 170 – in fact there isn’t! – but what it does for overall casting is often beyond words.
I liken it now to driving a three-lane highway. The inside lane is Closed Stance, the middle lane is Open Stance and the outside lane, the one with the black BMW flashing his headlights as he tries to drive over the top of you, is the 170. Jumping between lanes is how I like to approach a lesson (and organise training too!).
It’s all very exciting stuff with Nick. Today was lesson 6. Six more to go. I don’t know how many we will fit in together before the weather turns too cold for him, but actually it would probably be a very good thing to have a few hours in reserve for Spring Time.
Incidentally I have a few spots coming available now. I do 12 lesson courses that usually take around 6 months to complete. I have students from Hong Kong, Australia, UK, Europe, the USA and elsewhere. Time zones are certainly not a problem! Each lesson is an hour long. You’ll need a phone or iPad, decent Internet in a field near you (I have 4G Internet while floating around in the jungle), a stand for your phone and a bluetooth headset. 12 lessons are 700USD. Every lesson is recorded and you can download and keep a copy afterwards. Definitely do this! Replaying the lesson, I believe, is so effective, that I’ve decided to record my in-person lessons in full too.
And remember every Hot Torpedo fly rod also comes with a free Zoom lesson!
Later today, I plan to make a couple of casting videos for the Board. But first I’m heading off for a bit of an afternoon Snakehead hunt. We are coming into the Wet Season here in Malaysia and the lake is really starting to come alive again. I’m quite sure that the fish missed my company last week, as I missed theirs too.
Have a great day! :))
Cheers,Paul