3. MORE FLY CASTING TIPS FOR THE EXPERIENCED CASTER
LAST UPDATE 05/27/02 08:55
Copyright BP Ptrs. 1998, 1999, 2000.
38. Contrasting methods of casting a two handed rod overhead.
This segment is through the courtesy of Carl Holmkvist a Swedish professional game angling instructor and guide who is certified by the Association of Professional Game Angling Instructors, APGAI, of Great Britain. Carl guides on the west coast of Sweden for salmon and sea trout using a double handed rod much of the time. He compares two theories of producing an overhead cast with a two handed rod.
"As promised I'll try to give my view about different theories behind an overhead cast with the double-handed rod - that I know of i.e.
The sole use of the lower hand and the use of the upper hand as only a fulcrum is based on the theory that you will get your rod to bend in a more even curve and thus will the energy transfer be more efficient and the loop tighter. The followers of this theory believe that if you instead used your upper hand only it would break your rod loading curve and create a less efficient loop.
To get the most out of this a heavy shooting head and a fast action progressive taper is recommended - the Sage 14' is used almost exclusively. I believe that another factor to be taken into account is that these are the same motions that (Goran) Andersson (author of "The Modern Swedish Method") uses for his underhanded cast - no need to learn a different technique for a totally different kind of cast.
A different technique is the one that is described in Peter MacKenzie-Philps book ( Flycasting Handbook) and this is almost the opposite to the technique described above. The upper hand makes the cast and the lower hand merely takes the weight of the rod. Only for very long lines is it necessary to use the lower hand during the forward cast. The problem with double handers and DT lines, let's say 30-35 yards outside the rod tip is gravity. The recommended cast for these rare occasions is that one starts with the flick earlier and end up with the upper arm straight up, over your head, and then, before the forward cast is started you lower your hands as for a conventional forward cast. Some of the British living legends that I've been lucky enough to meet take their back cast right between their eyes and drift up and backwards (as described on Derek Brown's page) before they start their forward cast. To take your back cast between the eyes guarantees that it will be high and straight - the line that goes over the top goes the fastest, as you probably know. They also hold the rod with thumb and index finger only, only to prove that no brute force is required to cast a full 35-40 yds DT-line. "
39. Distance with a fly line. The other day I was at a sporting show distance competition and had a chance to watch the contestants closely. One of the women cast a five weight weight forward line ninety one feet indoors. The winning men's toss was 102 feet. The interesting thing is that at this same show two years ago, the woman's 90 feet would have beaten all but three of the men. The winner in '96 threw 96.9", second was 95'3". third was 90'3" and the rest were in the seventy's and eightys. The qualifiying for the men was 85' and most of them did not match qualifying in the finals. This year the men's qualifying was eighty feet plus a few feet depending on where the casting platform happened to be and only the top ten qualifiers were in the finals. The second place man threw 98'6" and three others threw over 90 feet. There were two things of interest to me about the competition. The woman is six feet tall and slender. She cast with the elbow leading technique but with her thumb on the top of the grip as I recall. She did not use much body movement and had only a slight open stance. However, when viewed from the front, she had the straightest casting stroke of any of the men or women competing. Nearly all of the casters had quite a curved path to the back stroke. One man, who placed in the shooting head, had his rod tip about two feet to his left at the end of the back cast. This of course required that his rod curve around his head on the forecast lest he decapitate himself. He was not the only one in this predicament. Not many of the men other than the shooting head winner used the elbow leading approach. This elbow leading movement is the baseball throw approach advocated by our national champion Steve Rajeff . He describes this on his page which is linked elsewere in these pages. You can draw your own conclusions from the straight backcast stroke and elbow leading forward stroke of the winning lady.
The other interesting thing was the amount of tip snap being used by some of the casters. Heavy tip snap on the back cast, needed to straighten the line, is the enemy of the high back cast that works with fly line distance events where keeping the forward trajectory down is a key to success. The snap drives the line down so it is a constant battle to get adequate power for a high straight back cast from a shorter back stroke. We saw one caster with an enormous tip snap which, unfortunately was putting the line on the ground behind him. It was awe inspiring to stand at the side of the course and see the yarn fly drop back ten or fifteen feet on the high casts. This happens because the front taper falls more slowly than the thicker body of the weight forward line. From the side the body will be hitting the ground while the taper and leader are still quite a ways up. This curve robs the caster of the distance originally achieved up in the air. If those casts had been low, off a high back cast, they would have been ten feet longer. The closest thing to this in tournament casting is the seventy foot shot on the bass bug. It seems easier to get line speed with a higher cast but the higher, up hill cast leaves more room for the bug and line to blow around in the wind as they fall to the target. If you watch the winning bass bug casters many of them try to put the back cast up and fire the bug out down hill with the line rolling along the water the last ten feet or so and plopping the bug into the target. That way the bug doesn't blow sideways as much and does not tuck under and come back to the caster if there is extra power on it. If you are fishing this cast also announces the arrival of the bug to the bass.
Since we are talking tip snap here, it seems appropriate to refer to the remarks of Jim Green on tip snap at http://www.anglers-supplies.com/ts_green.htm, where he describes the "positive stop", which I call tip snap, as the "secret of flycasting". We used to give Jim's treatise on casting to the students at our club casting course but it is out of print now and I am reduced to buying it second hand for five times what we used to pay for it. We will talk more about his principles of casting.
Nearly all of the men were trying to false cast as much as possible - 75 feet or more - and hope for some shoot. A few relied on a more controlled and shorter false cast and more shoot. The jury is still out as to which is the better approach but the long false casts seem to be winning.
Long casting with a fly line is not an event in organized tournament casting. The shooting head is the distance line there.
The shooting head event was won with a cast of 137 1/2 feet indoors by a man who has fired a 310 grain shooting head fifty feet farther out doors. The shooting head was really a nine weight - about 280 grains and the rods were all nine weights out of deference to the size of the hall. Two years ago, with full ten weight shooting heads and ten weight rods the winning shooting head toss was 133'. Which brings up an undisputable conclusion from this clam bake. The troops have been practicing.
40. EVALUATING FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES
BY STEVE RAJEFF
(This segment is through the courtesy of Steve Rajeff, the current all round world champion caster and many time American and international champion.)
When we go out to practice fly casting accuracy or distance, many of us forget to evaluate important basic techniques. Distance casters often resort to the "hit it harder" method while accuracy casters execute countless mindless imperfect false casts. While power and lots or practice are important, effort spent on pure technique may yield even better improvements.
Fly casting may be analyzed from four main categories: Loop, Stroke, Tempo and Trajectory.
The Loop
Face it, without a really good, narrow loop, not much is going to happen. A controlled, tight loop should be priority number one, both on front and back casts. The size of the loop is controlled by the path the tip top takes as it travels back or forth. The closer to a straight path, the narrower the loop. For most casters, the back cast loop needs more attention than the front loop. The key to improved back cast loops is the ability of the caster to stop the rod abruptly. This will transfer the stored energy in the rod bend to the line and help form a narrow loop. Depending on the length of line, the exact stop position shifts between 12 and 2 o'clock. The longer the line, the more bend the rod experiences and the further back it will need to travel to help maintain the straight line path. Also, depending on the length of the cast, a slight drift back on a short cast or a longer drift for longer casts may be needed depending on rod length and stiffness. Longer and stiffer rods allow the caster to power harder during the stroke, resulting in higher line speed and it is possible to shorten the stroke significantly. Softer rods require a longer stroke and more drift.
The sudden stop of the back cast helps the tip track a straight line path. The typical novice caster relaxes the hand and wrist as the rod reaches the back cast position. This relaxing promotes a wide arc or curved path of the tip resulting in a wider backcast loop.
The final forward cast loop of a distance cast can be improved by a slight forward drift via wrist turnover, following the stop. Very good casters achieve a "V" shape to the front edge of their loop because of this subtle follow through drift. This slight drift, while simultaneously reducing grip pressure, absorbs the tip deflection bounce down, minimizes shock waves and tightens the loop.
While wide loops are bad, tailing loops are worse. Every caster has had the fly catch the line or fold back on the leader creating big problems. This is the infamous tailing loop. It is the result of the tip of the rod curving under a stright line path. It is the opposite of too wide a loop. Overpowering the rod in too short of a stroke causes the rod to "overload" and as a result the tip top will dip under a straight line path causing a tailing loop. Spreading the power over a wide portion of the stroke and also lengthening the stroke will reduce or eliminate tailing loops.
Stroke
The stroke is the second most critical aspect of improving fly casting in general. Length of stroke and arm positions during the stroke should be analyzed and the assistance of another caster or coach really helps here.
In accuracy casting to a short target, the hand should be forward of the body, in front of the shoulder or even slightly toward the center of the body. Think of tossing darts at a dart board. A good tossing position is holding the hand with the dart just forward of the eye or slightly off to the thoulder. Casting is similar in position.
When we start lengthening line, the hand should shift gradually outward to the side to make the longer stroke easier. Think of the throwing motion of a baseball if you had to throw 25 feet, then 75 feet, then 125 feet and finally from deep center to home plate. As we cast with longer length line, we should similarly extend the stroke and reach back.
In order to locate a caster's most comfortable and powerful stroke posture the assistance of a second person is very helpful. With the caster stopped at the backcast position, the assistant should stand just behind the caster and grasp the rod just above the handle. Providing resistance to the forward stroke, the assistant holds the rod back while the caster tries moving the hand and arm up, down, closer or further from the shoulder, then drive forward and through the stroke. Casters should seek their most comfortable range of movement in this exercise. this will result in better casts because the most "natural" throwing motion is employed, translating into greater speed.
In addition to the stroke, the perpendicular to horizontal tilt of the rod (overhead to sidearm) during the cast affects the stroke. Direction control is most enhanced with the rod more perpendicular, while extra power can be gained with a sidearm slant during the cast. Wind conditions, rod stiffness and even leader design and how fast it turns over the fly have an effect on how perpendicular or sidearm you should cast to optimize control.
Tempo
Having looked at loops and stroke, the next emphasis should be to evaluate the tempo or cycle time of the cast. Many casters have a tendency to cast a little too slowly front to back. Probably each of us has been reminded of rushing the back cast (not allowing the line and leader to straighten out), so we slow down. Instead of slowing down, it would be even better to quicken the actual stroke, and wait the same time for the line to straighten on the backcast. The faster the line moves, the more we can feel the rod working and the less effect a wind will have. The next time you practice accuracy, test your tempo, try a faster cycle time cast. Sometimes you may find it necessary to lengthen the leader tippet to stop from ticking. The added line speed will cause the leader to kick over the fly much harder, so the tippet adjustment is your way to compensate for the added power and speed.
Trajectory
Finally, study the trajectory. In accuracy we should cast high enough not to tick, but as low as possible to help see the fly just above the target, enhancing depth and distance perception. When distance casting, adjustments to trajectory and overhang is ongoing. Aim higher on windy days and use longer overhang. On calmer days, try lowering the cast using a shorter overhang.
The overhang adjusting controls how fast the shooting head turns over during the flight of the cast. Too short an overhang and the head will straighten out too soon during the shoot. The back end of the head is heavier than the tip end so it will catch up to the tip and eventually the whole head will land in a big spaghetti pile. Too long of an overhang and the loop will not have straightened out when the cast lands. The overhang adjustment control is the most critical in Anglers's Fly because the head is relatively short and turns over very fast. In singlehand and two hand fly distance both having rather long heads, changes in overhang are still important but do not require as much change in length.
Loop, stroke, tempo and trajectory are key elements to good fly casting and worth evaluating every time you go casting.
Copyright 1988 Steve Rajeff
Steve and his brother Tim post additional casting tips on their web page.
41. THE POSITIVE STOP, by JIM GREEN
Jim Green is known throughout the fly fishing industry as a creative rod designer and inventor. He and Sage founder Don Green have been pioneering new rod designs and materials since the early 1950s. He is the author of Fly Casting From the Beginning, a truly useful and concise book on fly casting first published in 1971. Jim Green continues to experiment in rod design and to build graphite fly rod blanks from graphite cloth at his home in Asotin, Washington.
Jim tells it thus:
The various techniques of flycasting are all necessary for successful results but the most important part is what I call a positive stop.
The expertise of a flycaster can be judged by the way he or she executes this positive stop. It is this stop that forms the correct narrow line loop and makes the line roll rearward on the back cast and frontward on the forward cast.
Without a good positive stop a person cannot become an expert caster. Putting something in motion and then suddenly stopping this movement is not what we often do in everyday life. Having no previous muscle memory of this stop makes it difficult to learn. Teaching a person to cast would be a piece of cake if the beginner could learn the positive stop quickly.
The best way I have found to teach this stop is to have the beginner go through the casting stroke repeatedly as if false casting without a line on the rod. Hold the rod with the wrist slightly bent back from the forearm and place the hand about three inches below the shoulder top. The forearm and biceps will form about a 90 degree angle. This is the beginning position to start the back cast when false casting. Do not bend the wrist or the elbow. Lift the hand, wrist, foremarm and biceps as a unit upwards by rotating the shoulder joint. the rod will travel up a casting stroke path of 45 degrees, until it is stopped close alongside the eye. The forearm will assume a vertical position. When the rod hand reaches the eye make a positive stop by tightening the muscles of the shoulder, biceps, forearm, wrist and hand. Stop all arm movement and this will stop the rod handle. The butt part of the rod above the handle, being the stiffest, will stop next. The stop will progressively move up the rod. The tip, being the most limber part of the rod, will be forced to unload rearward very fast. If a line were on the rod a fast narrow rolling loop would be formed. The line always follows the movement of the rod tip top. The faster the tip top moves so goes the line.
The beginner should repeatedly make this back cast stroke until the rod tip is forced rearward. This positive stop must be learned.
After a good stop has been accomplished forcing the rod tip to roll the imaginary line and leader so they almost straighten behind, start the forward cast. Move the arm unit downward by rotating the shoulder joint and return to the same position as the beginning of the back cast stroke. Again, tighten all the muscles of the arm unit and make the rod butt handle come to the positive stop.
The rod will be forced to unload. Loading the rod is really automatic for the rod is moved, the line weight will bend the rod and, as you accelerate the movement, the rod will bend or load more.
The tricky part is to unload the rod. It is the correct positive stop that unloads the rod and forms the fast rolling narrow loop.
Repeat this dry run exercise until a good positive stop is made on both the back and forward cast. This stop has been called various names. Flipping the tip, power snap, whomping the rod and I'm sure there may be more. Call it what you wish but the caster must make a positive stop. It is the secret of flycasting.
42. Backhand Casting With Tip Snap
Anyone who casts a fly from a boat owes it to the others in the boat to become a proficient and controlled back hand caster. I have had the experience of hosting a fly fisher in the front station of my drift boat and learning that this expert righthanded fisher wanted to cast to the right with the fly coming directly over, under and beside my nose as I rowed. I suggested a back hand cast and was advised that there was no such thing. We all know there is a back hand cast and that it is not as easy as the forehand cast.
The geometry of the shoulder joint and the relative sizes of the muscles controlling arm movement dictate that the back hand cast cannot be as strong as the forehand cast. However with effective execution of the loading, power, tip snap and drift segments of the casting stroke the back hand cast can be fully developed and a delight to perform and watch. Because it is hard to make a really long stroke the loops tend to be tight and voluptuous. The most important single factor in the backhand cast is tip snap. Without strong tip snap the cast will not straighten out - with tip snap it will. It is done generally in a horizontal or nearly horizontal plane so if the leader doesn't straighten it is not only short but off to the side, resembling a paper clip - very ugly.
You can achieve a near vertical backhand cast which will have the same limitations as the horizontal. Tip snap is still the thing that makes it go.
43. A STUDY OF THE BIOMECHANICS OF WORLD CLASS VERSUS GOOD CASTERS. This is a review of a May, 1993 article in Fly Fisherman by Al Kyte and Gary Moran concerning observations they recorded in a detailed study of the practices of two groups of skilled fly casters throwing long lines. The actions of this group of eighteen California casters throwing a nine foot seven weight medium action rod with a weight forward floater indoors were recorded on cam corders and then analyzed and measured in stop action and slow motion modes to determine just what differences there were between the casting mechanics of the two groups.
The "good" casters threw an average of 70.7 feet. The "elite" group, which included world class tournament casters Tim Rajeff and Rene Gillibert and noted angler teachers Mel Kreiger and Andre Puyans threw an average of 80 feet.
The authors, Al Kyte, a noted fishing author and teacher and member of the faculty of the University of California and Gary Moran, a professor of biomechanics at the University of San Francisco, concentrated their analysis on three aspects of the cast - the back cast, the loading of the forward cast and the unloading, or stop (what I call tip snap) of the forward cast.
BACK CAST:The casters all used the double haul, about fifty feet of back cast and two false casts. Al and Andre noted that the elite casters all straightened the back cast more completely than the others with smaller loops and a higher path. They also observed from the films that the elites (they are not a singing group) stopped the rod (snapped the tip) more abruptly on the back cast than the goods, as measured by the angular path of the rod after the maximum load on the back cast.
FORWARD LOADING MOVE: The elites bent their rod more on the loading phase of the forward cast and produced a straighter path of the rod tip than the goods achieved. In fact, the figures for the elites showed a direct correlation between the amount of rod bend and the length of the cast with the caster with the greatest rod bend casting the farthest, the caster with the next greatest bend casting second farthest etc..It was observed that all nine of the elites achived a straight path of the rod tip with maximum rod bend just before the stop. The goods had a dish or concavity in the path of their rod tips achieved by applying their maximum force too early in the stroke.
FORWARD CAST UNLOADING PHASE: The elites stopped their rods substantially more abruptly than the goods. As a group the elites restricted rod butt angle change to an average of six degrees compared to eleven degrees for the others. The longest casting elites moved the rod butt about one degree in this unloading movement.
This article is a gold mine of other related information about the characteristics of a good long cast. The elites used more body movement and rod drift. If you want to see an outstanding exposition of the actual observed characteristics of efficient, capable casting practicioners then invade your local library and find the magazine. The article is on seven pages and is worth reading and memorizing. The most charming thing about it is that it is not opinion but actual observation and quantification of the differences between good and outstanding rod mechanics.
If you are not into long casting these observations will help your short game as well.
44.
The following article is taken from the March, 1999 edition of TARGET TALK, the newsletter
of
the Long Beach Casting Club, of Long Beach CA. The author, Carl E. Rischer, Ph.D, is a
Biology
Professor in Long Beach and moonlights as Corresponding Secretary of the Long Beach
Casting
Club. The "Joe" referred to in the article is Joe Libeu, another LBCC ite who
has been know to air
his casting and fishing views on the internet.
IN PRAISE OF DOUBLE TAPERS
Because I primarily fish trout streams, Joe recommended a double taper line and an
inexpensive one
at that. The double taper allows a gentler presentation, is easier to mend than a weight
forward line,
and with a little practice you can cast a double taper about as far as you can a weight
forward line.
In fact, I purchased two double tapers that week and was easily casting my four weight
over 68 feet
and double hauling my 6 weight well over 70 feet. The argument for purchasing inexpensive
line is
persuasive because if you fish a lot, and are as clumsy as I am, you should replace it
once a year
anyway. Another hint, clean your line each night before you fish so it's easier to manage,
casts better
and lasts longer.
The Weight Forward Crock
There's a macho myth that a weight-forward line is the best all round line because you can
cast it
farther (woof woof), it's more forgiving for a beginner, and it's better for punching
through the wind.
Sorry, but this sounds like one of those studly things used to market to a male ego.
However it’s
working, because I’m advised that weight-forward lines outsell double tapers 4 to
one.
Now let's talk real fishing. The distances I easily cast a double taper line far exceed
the longest
distances required in tournament casting for the dry fly, trout fly and wet fly games.
More importantly, those distances exceed those required in actual river and creek fishing
where the
real rule is: the longer the cast, the less chance you have of hooking a fish. Also, in
creeks there's a
huge premium placed on mending, which the double taper does more efficiently.
And, if the wind is blowing too hard for you to punch a double taper through it, you're
not going to
be having fun with a weight forward line either.
An important economic advantage of double taper is that after the first half of the line
wears out, you
just flip it end-for-end and fish the other half for the rest of the year. Try that with a
weight forward
line. Thus, the economic advantages of weight-forward lines favor the line makers, not the
fishers.
(About the only place I know of that casters need to use a weight forward dry line is for
large rods such as in bass bugging, where they want the short taper on a bass bug taper,
and in salt water fishing where the flies are big and the winds are ever present. Bill Van
Natter)
45. This is my recollection of remarks by Tim Rajeff in the course of a sports show presentation on distance casting. He mentioned that the two fundamentals of distance casting are length of stroke and size of loop. ( But you knew that). He went on to enumerate a number of characteristics of the most proficient distance casters. 1. They tend to use body motion to lengthen the cast. 2. They obtain greater speed of the stroke at the end of the stroke. He went on to discuss some of the reasons they get greater speed. They use body motion to make the stroke longer. This is done by leaning back into the back cast and leaning forward into the fore cast. They stop the rod harder. He demonstrated, but did not mention drift of the rod after the snap. He was back nearly to 3:00 in his back cast before starting the forecast. He explained that the back cast and the forecast should be at 180 degrees. For instance, in a shooting head cast the back cast should be low because the shooting head will go up on the fore cast for maximum distance. With a fly line, the back cast should be up so that the forecast can bring the line down to the surface. He described the effect of a high forecast of a fly line in bringing the fly back toward the caster as the heavier part of the line falls back, thus shortening the cast.
His remarks about the tradeoffs in closed stance and open stance casting were worth remembering. He noted that it is easier to produce a controlled tight loop from a square or closed stance with arm movement being relatively well controlled with the body stationary. In order to add length to the cast the caster can go to the open stance - casting arm foot side back and other foot forward. The extreme of the open stance is the caster facing 90 degrees to the direction of the cast. The open stance permits more fore and aft body movement and the more body movement the longer the rod movement. And - the more body movement the harder it is to get the good back cast and keep the loop tight . He remarked that with great body movement nine casts out of ten might be failures but the one that is just right will be a stupendous cast. This is the trade off. He mentioned and demonstrated the added length of cast from shoulder turn. If the shoulders of a right handed caster are faced to the right at the commencement of the fore cast and are faced to the left at the end then the breadth of the shoulders has been added to the length of the cast. You can see the result of this motion in a commonly seen photo of a caster standing in a stream with his shoulders rotated clear to his left and the rod extended. This is part of an oft repeated tackle ad.
Such a frank and authoritative discussion of the risks and rewards of body motion casting is unique and something that you cannot find in books. He remarked that the line goes all over much of the time when body motion is extended toward its' limits. This is comforting talk from a world class caster who is human enough to have trouble with this difficult and complex motion.
One of his themes was that analysis of baseball pitching and casting shows great similarity between the two. The baseball pitcher starts with large muscles - the legs - then goes into smaller muscles, the torso and body muscles - then to smaller muscles, the arms and finally into the hand and fingers. He mentioned scientific studies of this progression, some of which can be seen in videos reviewed elsewhere on this site.
He mentioned that he doesn't ordinarily fish at these lengths but there
are times when the distance can be very useful. Any salt water fisher will want all the
distance that can be found at times and I have personally observed that the fish seem to
know how far I can cast and rise just out of reach. It is great fun to fool them. If
course the great rule is that if you can cast to 70 feet consistently you can fish
comfortably at 60- feet. This holds true if you can cast consistently to ninety feet with
your nine weight rod and can fish comfortably at seventy-five feet. Tim and his brother
Steve have a web site which contains casting tips. It can be found on the links page of
this web site.
46. LISTENING TO THE ROD AND THE PERFECT ROD. The more you are around fly fishers the more you hear people talking about the perfect rod. There is a never ending search for the rod that will perform the way the caster wants it to. One thing you learn in time is that by listening to the rod you can make any rod perform to its' capacity and there is no perfect rod. The stiffer the rod the farther you can cast and the quicker you will break off the fish on the strike. The softer the rod the better it will do at short distances, the easier it will be to snapthe tip and the harder it will be for the fish to break you off. Likewise, the more tip oriented the action of the rod the better it will do at short distances and the worse it will do at long distances, and vice versa.
By LISTENING TO THE ROD I suggest being aware of the straightening of the line on the back cast and being aware of the tip action, or snap, of the tip of the rod at the end of the forecast. These are equally important in producing strong consistent casting. The straightening of the line on the back cast can be felt when the back cast is strong and the rod tip has stopped around 1:00 ( remember, you tried to stop it at 12:00 and it finally did stop at 1:00) the longer the stroke, the harder it is to feel the line straighten. At 2:00 it is pretty hard to feel. On longer casts it is necessary to snap the tip on the back cast in order to speed the line out to a feelable pull as it straightens way back there. The back cast that allows you to feel the line straighten also sends the line back so fast that you do not rush the forecast. If you are going to drift you do that after you have felt the line straighten. This is a subtle movement but it gives you a chance at a great cast because you are moving the entire line from the beginning of the stroke rather than half way through when you have finally got the line straight. .
Feeling the tip snap on the forward cast ensures that you will remember to snap the tip and not dump the line. It is easy to get so caught up in the loooooong cast that we forget to snap the tip. This generally results in a collapsed loop at the end that will not turn over. The snap makes the line lay out because it adds that extra speed.
Those of us who play casting games learn to associate the tug on the back cast with a straight fore cast, right in the center of the line to the target and we learn to associate the tip snap on the fore cast with the leader straightening out to its' fullest extent. Then, on the river, when you want the fly in an eddy behind a stump across the river, you remember to feel the tug and snap the tip. You probably won't be casting overhead but the same principles apply.
The reason this stuff is described as "listening to the rod" is that you can be aware of these actions by feel and can condition yourself to try to feel them every time. If you listen to the rod in this manner you become aware of what the rod is doing and can adjust your stroke to suit the rod, rather than cursing the rod because it does not adjust to you.
47. MORE ON LONG CASTING. Steve Kantner, who fishes in Florida, the land of the long cast, has a worthwhile dissertation on long casting .