Any idea what I am doing wrong? I bring the tip back to get the D loop, accelerate forward and stop, line projects out but leader often knots. Frustrating.

Assuming you are canting the rod tip over away from your body, you must cast inside the tip.
By that I mean if you are casting right handed in the conventional way off your right shoulder, you can only cast along a line to the left of the anchor.
If you try to make a cast to the right of the anchor it will probably tangle (although you can get away with it by making a side roll cast).

Is that what your problem is or are you getting a tailing loop? This is rare in the roll cast, but can happen if you put speed into the cast too early.

Start by moving the rod tip forward maintaining the same approx 45 degree angle slanted backward until the last possible minute, then turn your wrist over a la Joan Wulff's "powersnap". Press down with your thumb and pull up with your pinky (assuming a thumb on top grip). This should ensure the speed is delayed until the last possible moment, which is what you want.

Alex
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Taniaxxx live

Canting the rod tip over and coming inside the anchor. No tailing loop that I notice but may well be the problem.

Will trying giving your tip a go.

Imagine a railway track, set up on the outer rail and deliver on the inner. The static roll cast is not normally a change of direction cast. You mught manage a few degrees to your left, if you are a right handed caster, but, as Alex say's, you should never try and deliver to the right of your anchor.

Mike

If you are trying to roll cast with the anchor a long way in front of the rod a lot of things happen which need quite advanced techniques to control. Rather than go into the possibilities, try to start off by getting the anchor in the easiest position from which to make the cast.

This position is slightly to the front and right of the rod (assuming right handed casting). A lot of things start to go right once the anchor is placed there.

putting the same thing another way, the top and bottom legs of the loop are crossing to create the knot, a nice smooth, clean parrallel loop shouldnt tangle,
very long or fine leaders with too big fly on can do strange things.

I'm bit nervous to get into giving advice on casting again, after having been shot down in flames so recently on the "double haul" thread, but seeing that I'm a big boy, and really am a blutton for punishment, here is my advice.
The roll cast is no different from a normal cast, it's just that the line is lying on the water, and not in the air, so, treat the forward cast, exactly as you would any normal cast, and you will be fine. On the back cast, be sure to load the rod, and you do this, buy bringing the rod far back enough to allow a sufficient amount of line to be lifted off the water before you begin the forward , and release cast. You can't do this on the ground. It must be done on water, to enable the surface tension to provide some resistance to load the rod.

Perhaps you are a glutton for punishment, or a gig goy

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Malcolm
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Quot homines tot sententiae

I can see nothing wrong with that Andreb.

Alex

for those of us with inadequate verbosity, whats a gig goy?

being shot down is the best bit