Paul Arden | Tuesday, 26 November 2024
This is a late FP because I’ve just returned from Kuala Lumpur. Ashly and I currently head down every other week so Ashly can get professional swim coaching (she plans to compete in the Ironman 70.3 next year). I also get coached too, about once per month in my case.
For a one-hour pool session today for Ashly, we drove 5hrs down, stayed in a hotel last night, and drove 5hrs back up again. Pretty intense for a one-hour lesson!
Hopefully in the future, when Ashly has better skills, we can use the GoPro in her local hotel pool and both of us get coached via the Internet. Zoom coaching with swimming may be challenging; communicating while swimming under water is extremely difficult, although not completely impossible, and of course even Ashly moves when swimming now, so it’s difficult to film from a stationary camera position! Besides, stroke analysis is always done partly with a GoPro underwater and then reviewed after the fact.
Fortunately with flycasting, we don’t have these technical challenges, and Zoom is extremely effective, providing the added benefit in that the session is recorded for review afterwards. When I think about the 10 hours of driving, the expense of diesel and the hotel stay, and basically two days of effort just to make a one hour lesson happen, I’m keen to move our swim coaching to being closer to how I teach flycasting. Our respective KL swim coaches don’t offer this service, but some internationally renowned Australian instructors do. So she’s a ripper mate.
Anyway, if you are interested in Zoom flycasting with me, then this has turned into my main job nowadays. The only time zone that is currently full for me is Eastern US. If you are elsewhere; mid or west coast USA, Europe, Australia or New Zealand, then I can currently fit you in and am accepting 1-2 more students.
Drop me an email if you are interested in me being your flycasting coach. I offer 10 one-hour zoom lessons for 900USD. Next year this will increase slightly, to about the cost of a new top end fly rod. And while I would like you to buy a new rod from us (of course!), if you really want to see long term improvements in your fly casting, then structured coaching is by far the best solution.
I’m looking enjoying reading Rickard’s Sunday pages, because he went from being a 70-80’ caster to 4th in the world in Trout Distance over the course of 18 months! Of course a lot of that is down to him, but I can tell you, everyone becomes an outstanding caster after about 12 months with me. Everyone becomes, what I consider, to be Advanced (top) Level. I am simply as the catalyst. Many become instructors themselves, if they are not already. One has become a full-time fly fishing guide. Seven are competing in casting championship events. All can certainly throw a line. Basically you may not be good now, but you darn well will be!
And best thing of all: it’s a blast!!
Next week I’m guiding for Giant Snakehead. I’m really excited to fish with David from Los Angeles. He was one of my early Zoom students. I’m looking forward to meeting him in the flesh and having a few campfires together. Davind is here for a week.
Enjoy the rest of the week and hopefully catch a few fish!
Cheers, Paul