Understanding how to cast, and the physics of a cast.

[magman]

Everyday there is questions about how to improve my cast, how do I load my rod, the list goes on. I thought I would try and explain.



The first thing you have to do, is understand the physics of a cast, how to generate tip speed, that is the speed you can get that lead to generate, before it is released (when your rod starts recovering). You do not load your rod, that is absolute k*K. Your sinker compresses/loads it by generating resistance against the tip. You just finish the cast by ‘hitting it’ when your rods is in the right position, and your sinker is in the right place. It is all about getting your sinker to add more resistance against the rod, to make it heavier in effect.



Generating Lead speed-Try to understand this first, and you can learn how to improve your cast yourself.

Try this little experiment first.  Take 10cm of line with a small sinker at the end, and swing it around  using a consistent speed with the wrists. Now do this with say 20cm of line using the same exact same action with the wrist. What do you notice? The longer the line, the faster your lead has to travel to stay in sync with your wrist, and the heavier it feels. What does this mean, maybe a longer leader drop? Imagine you using a leader drop of say only 50cms on your rod, basically wherever your rod tip is, no matter how hard you swing that rod, the lead is going to be right there by the tip. Do this now with say a 2.50m leader drop, swing that rod tip around, and you will see how that lead has to travel to keep up. My rods are all 2pc 13-14ft rods, and I do not cast anything with the lead higher than the 2pc join in the middle of the rods, even casting shoulder to shoulder on the piers (that is another cast)



Rotation, say you casting towards 12 o’clock, you usually start your rod at 6 o’clock, bring your rod up through your shoulders and hit it. What about this though, say you start your rod at 9:00, what is going to give you more rotation to get that lead generating speed? Here’s Another easy way to think of it. Have you even been behind a sports boat with a tube on the end. The boat can come to an almost complete stop, turn around to the opposite direction, then floor it, what happens to the guy on the tube 50m’s behind, besides ending up doing somersaults across the surface of the water, he kaks in his pants.



Inertia, this is the extra angle between the rod and sinker via the tip. Take a ground cast for example, Have your rod tip on the ground pointing to 7o’clock, with a 2m drop place your sinker at 9o’clock. The angle between the two is called inertia. But add more inertia, say with the rod at 7o’clock and the sinker at 11o’clock. Answer this now, which sinker will have to travel further and faster to catch up, the sinker at 9o’clock, or the sinker at 11’oclock?

 

Have you ever seen a proper pendulumn cast. The cast is started with the sinker between 26-30 feet in the air. The rod is in a vertical position, and travels down almost in a “U” shape to where it finish’s. (the cast everyone one here refers to as a pendulumn cast, especially after the local casting DVD was released, is in fact called a Haterras cast overseas and was mainly used by the Americans.)



A tournament caster will do exactly the same, but use a lot more rotation. Also everybody thinks they have to hit the rod as hard as you can, this is wrong, if you try a big rotation like this, and hit it from start to finish, you will put your back out, especially with weights over 7oz. You only hit the rod with your arms, by pushing your right hand up through the rod, and and pulling the butt end down towards your belt with the left (right hand caster). If you can ever get your hands on a casting DVD by John Holden, he sums it up as hitting something on the wall with a big sledge hammer. That is the only power you put into your cast, everything else is just preparation in getting the lead in to the right place, and setting your rod up to that position to hit it like a hammer.



Putting it to practice

It is pretty hard to try and explain it on the forum, usually examples are best shown. But try playing, try the ground cast. Before any pendulumn casts are taught, people have to learn to hit it, and this done with a simple ground cast. The ground cast is exactly the same as a pendulumn, except that the leads gets started in different places. The ground cast is a lovely easy cast, only except that it does not help with clipped baits.



Place your rod at 7o’clock, with your lead extended to 9o’clock. Your left arm has to be level with your shoulder, and your rod tip on the ground. Your leader drop should be at the very least half your rod length. Don’t try and punish the lead, go easy and soft at first, try to sweep your rod tip in a long slow sweep across the ground, and then come over in a long arc, in to the position where you can finish the cast with the hammer action, drive your right arm through and pull down with the left. If your rod feels too stiff, you are trying to put the power in too early.  Lots of people may cast to the left as they try to get used to bringing the rod over, if this is the case, pick a cloud 30degrees to the right, and 30 degrees up from the horizon, use that as your marker/target area. Try with that till you are casting in the direction you want. Once you are feeling comfy with this, try playing now, come around softer, make yourself feel lazy, but hit it harder at the end. Now try playing with rotation, start your later around the clock, add more inertia between the tip and rod. Take small steps, or I promise you will crash and burn and give up. Take it slow and easy and persist and have fun.  One important thing you must do, is keep your hands away from your body, as far away as possible. This adds more rotation, but also if your hands come in towards your body, you are cutting the corner and bringing your rod in, and wasting everything you have set up.



For the guys that cast the Hatteras cast, or the SA version of the pendulumn, try increasing your rotation with the rod just a bit more. Small steps. Also instead of swinging out to say 6o’clock, try starting with your lead at say 7,then 8, then 9 o’clock. This will be adding the inertia, making your lead have to travel more to catch up to the rod. Move your rod angle more, and play more. If you go from 6 to 9o’clock in one hit, it will feel awkward and like you try to cast with a steel pipe. Find your feet, and walk from there. If you can perfect this cast, so that you start your cast that one split second that the lead is motionless in the air, you have the makings of a world champ (a static lead in the air is much heavier than a moving lead)



One very big difference casters must know, especially all that start the cast with a lead in the air, is the speeds different weights of leads and leader drops generate.

An 8oz weight swings much slower than say a 4oz. The same with a leader drop, on your out swings (setting up the cast), a longer leader swings much slower than a short leader. When I used to coach the pendulumn, I would start off with setting somebody up with a 5oz, and the leader drop was 6” from the top hand with a 5oz. In casting, it does not matter how big or how old you are, it is timing that you need, and you must remember this on any out swing, to compensate by either lengthening your leader for a lighter weight, or shorting it for a heavier lead. Your lead must be in the same place every time when you come through to hit it. I don’t believe this nonsense that so and so can cast 200m’s and he used to be a heavy weight bok boxer. That is kuk. I have checked ouns in probably in their 60’s casting 230m’s. It is all about timing. Finish and klaar!!!!



To make the proper pendulumn, it is much more complicated as it involves creating a outswing and then inswing, purely to get the lead into place, that in itself is the only difficult bit to learn of the pendulumn, but if the guys are keen, I will try and explain it in more detail. But the swings do require practising of their own.



I know people will try and argue with this, especially like they say you have to load the rod etc, then go for it, this is purely for people to try understand and pick up tips where they can, and is based on how I used to coach/help people. If your cast is fine, then why change it. You may go through a stage where you think you wasting your time, but persist, and you will get there. Just take small steps first.  I did this first in a word doc with lilttle stickmen to explain like inertia, but it did not copy across, I will try and post them later.

[Sailor]

Magman nice article.  :fnx:

[aquadementia]

 

a very helpful article, thanks magman

[rofflign]

 

[nico]

Cred for you! Fantastic article. Do you no longer teach casting? I would love to learn to get some distance...

[LUPO]

Very interesting and informative report Magman.

I await your STICKMEN post!!

Going out to practice soon.

[magman]

Cred for you! Fantastic article. Do you no longer teach casting? I would love to learn to get some distance...

If you ever up north, then give me a shout, and I will try and give you pointers

[magman]

Very interesting and informative report Magman.

I await your STICKMEN post!!

Going out to practice soon.

I left those stickmen figures on the laptop of the previous company I was at, but I will try and see if I can do something in 3D with pics and an action man,

[nico]

If you ever up north, then give me a shout, and I will try and give you pointers

Well, if all goes well I will see you in Vidal in November - maybe you can watch my cast, and once you've stopped laughing, give me a few pointers!

[ignoblis]

Magman

I spin with ultra light tackle the heaviest being a 10' Shimano Aerocast Rod and normally throw spoons and plugs of about 1.5ounce. The technique used above, do they also apply or do you have better advice for lighter tackle?
ignoblis

[WalkersKiller]

 

[sea sick]

Magman;

would you still use this type of cast, when casting a live shad; big baits?

your views please.

ss

[magman]

Magman

I spin with ultra light tackle the heaviest being a 10' Shimano Aerocast Rod and normally throw spoons and plugs of about 1.5ounce. The technique used above, do they also apply or do you have better advice for lighter tackle?
ignoblis

Sorry i been absent, but I got a sick queen angel, it's one of the nicest angels there is, and it's been stressing me trying to get it better, it's in hospital tanks etc and a real nightmare!!!!

Ignoblis, too be honset with you the physics work pretty much the same, but for example on a bass boat your partner will blixem you if you got leads flying around his head. The principles are the same, but not as definate as they are with the longer rods and heavier leads.

[Tsutsuma]

Magman
Great stuff and I will credit you tomorrow as I used mine for the day
I will bring my Beach Outfit to Vidal and stand in line to shake your hand
Keep it up
Carlos
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[magman]

Magman;

would you still use this type of cast, when casting a live shad; big baits?

your views please.

ss

Live bait I would only slide as it will kill the fish. In tournemants, for 175gm (8oz) guys basically use less of the angle, maybe swing out to 8'oclock only. Generally the back cast is supposed to be used for heavy baits, google it on you tube, exactly the same as a pendulumn, except when you hit it, pretend you digging a hole and sholveling dirt out the hole with a spade, you throw the dirt over your shoulder, same as back cast. With a back cast also, you keep vision on the lead the whole time until you hit it, but it's just when you getting the lead on the inswing to stop coming inside (it must stay outside of the rod tip, or it cuts the corners and wants to go in a differant direction.  Is what I do for 10oz, I just use the old tourney sort of style, but I only swing the lead out to six o'clock, then on the inswing, I push my left hand out to the side, this gets the lead to swing a full 360 in a horozontal plain, as it comes past me I wind it (this is the X cast, or flat arc).  When you trying these cast though with big leads, go slow at first, cause they will bite you back if your timing is out.

Just always make sure your lead is not "bouncing" when you do any swings, as this can easily snap a rod if the tension is not built up progresivly.

[sea sick]

yoh. n bek vol wat ek nie eens half verstaan nie.

i have found, when trying to cast too far with a live, the hooks normaly tear to far in the baitfish. espesiously when it's a real big shad. i would then rather try just to lob the shad over the first big wave. i have seen many garrick chasing shad in real shallow water. but i also have seen guys casting live shad distances not seemed possible.

i quess it come with practice.

ss