The Long and Short of it

This is by way of an apology, I may or may not be able to put up a post this weekend. I have done something nasty to my back. I can work or lie down, what I can’t do is sit for more than a few minutes because getting up is agony (gets up, walks around, comes back, where was I?). That’s the problem, I lose track of what I was writing. Being told I have the brain age of an eighty year old by a Nintendo DS doesn’t help, does it? I don’t so much need brain training as a complete brain transplant, anyone got one they can spare? Actually, I could do with a whole new body to go with it, this one’s getting very worn out. Funny thing is I can still cast, I went out yesterday evening and did some gentle accuracy stuff but there was something on ‘loops which had piqued my interest in a distance technique so I had a go, guess what?, not a twinge, I was even getting some reasonable distances ( hang on, I need a break, I’ll be back, this is quite interesting).

 Over the years I have moved from a compact stroke to a much longer one, for distance, I just found it more comfortable to accelerate the line over a longer stroke rather than a short one. There are one or two notable ‘short strokers’, Steve Rajeff being the most famous and successful. Their short stroke (relative to the 170 stroke) means they have to use a much faster cadence than I am now used to, it’s a very explosive delivery. I have said somewhere before, that if I stopped my rod the way Steve does I am sure I would have body parts flying off, that’s what put me off trying it seriously. Anyway, it was a short stroke I was trying out last night. OK, I found it a bit harder on the arms but it turns out to be a lot easier on the body, no leaning back (as far), no moving the body as much at all really. If you use your whole body and a lot of lateral rod movement you are opening up yourself to a lot of potential errors, especially if, like me, you’re  getting on a bit and aren’t as supple as you used to be. I found that less body movement reduced this possibility by quite a bit.

 I have a lot to work on but because it is completely different from my 170 style I think I am going to enjoy working it out.

 Damn, I have sat here too long, got to go.