Drifting on your back cast is maybe to fault for the rod not loading on the back cast.

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You might want to explain that further. Drifting is a technique used by good casters to re-position the rod after the stops are made.

Probably not the right terminology there James but I'll do my best to explain what I mean.

Basically your rod comes to the 1°clock position and you stop the rod. Then the line will start travelling over or slightly to the side of the rod in a loop. Then normally when the loop fully unloops? itself the rod tip is pulled back and that loads the rod.

However if after you make your stop if you don't keep the rod stationary and drift backwards or rotate your wrist backwards then you introduce slack into the loop which reduces the amount of energy that goes into loading the rod.

Hope that helps abit.

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Like you a learner, and what I am finding is that a backcast that fails to introduce a load into the rod, is indicating I have reached the limit of my ability. What always follows a duff backcast is a disastrous front cast, but if you are anything like me, and you are concentrating on the front stroke, you forget the duff backcast is the cause. When this happens , the initial movement of the forward stroke just opens the loop or takes up the slack, and all the rod spring has gone.

I have been practicing by false casting 15/20 ft of line plus leader, or enough to get the rod working. Mark the line with a felt pen at the reel, and as the front and rear strokes become consistent, let the mark travel up the rings, a foot or so at a time, until that length becomes consistent.

It's helping me anyway!

This might sound strange, but it can help if you turn yourself around. Make your back cast your forward cast and vice versa. I'm talking mirror casting, horizontally. We have a tendency to focus on the forward cast because we see it. The backward cast we have to "feel" as the OP describes. I found it helped to turn things around and feel for the ultimate delivery cast, whilst keeping an eye on the back cast. And when everything goes more smoothly and accurate to turn around again. Try it, it helps to do exactly the same, back and forth.

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Johan Janssens

I think everyone has touched on good points. Make sure you arent creeping into your back cast and try relaxing your hand a bit. If you give it the death grip it will dampen alot of perceived load.

HI RC, what you have described is drift, this is a perfectly good technique and used by advanced casters to hep them cast further. It is important that the rod is moved backwards slower than the speed of the loop unfurling otherwise you will introduce slack and the loop will collapse.

Maybe you are confusing creep and drift, creep is when the rod is moved forward as the loop unfurls this shortens the next casting stroke and if done with any force will in troduce slack as well.


Frank

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Frank Williams APGAI

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This is quite right, though I also think folk concentrate on the forward cast because it is the part of the cast perceived to reach the target which as we all know is forever getting further away.

When I am teaching I ask my client to concentrate on the up cast. The lift off the water, the speed and efficiency is what sets up the rest of the cast, if this fails, then the rest is playing catch up and trying to compensate. I would check that the components of the upcast are correct first before looking at the rest. start with rod tip at the water, make sure that there is no slack line either on the water or between the stripping ring and hand, lift in a straight line with no wrist rotation, as in previous post look for the water lift under the line, increasing the speed steadily. If the tendency is to push the rod backwards then aim to push upwards. Ignore the word flick as to me that implies a wristy action which can introduce slack and a downward movement of the rod tip. When lifting the line off the water think of keeping the rod as horizontal as possible until the line is about to leave the water then bend the elbow bringing the hand up level with the eye. I must stress though that when teaching there are no hard and fast fixes across the board, every fix is for the individual, a fault is often an exaggeration of a good cast so the fix has to be exaggerated too.

I think the onus is on the forward cast because the brain continues to tell us we can throw a piece of string. Ignore the brain and think pull. You pull the line into the air and then pull it back onto the water.
Tk

I agree totally, changing the mind focus into pulling instead of throwing is a good one.