Open Stance Distance body movement and a launch/power application exercise

This is a surprisingly long discussion on the body movement for OSD for a couple of questions on the Sexyloops Board. I’m not sure they’ll be useful to anyone else 😀 but if so then great!

[@calliefreemanflyfishing]

This is just so, so good Paul. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the information you put out here on KZbin and your site. So helpful! 🙏🏼

[@SexyloopsTV]

Thanks Callie!! 😎

[@philipmccartney9948]

I have been hoping you would post a new video. The detailed description of the body mechanics of the cast was worth the wait. Terrific !

[@user-yn2dj8bf9t]

Brilliant!!!

[@stevengrant902]

Best video yet!

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Great video! Excellent information.

[@dariomanfroi9447]

A beautiful video, thank you very much Paul 😊

[@berndziesche9770]

Excellent video, mate!

[@morganhanson7940]

Great video! Particularly the 3 simultaneous movements of leg and arms! And bet your glad you didn't have to start the whole thing 🎥 again Paul! ✨

[@SexyloopsTV]

Phew 😀

[@dragangolubovic2786]

Alo, Hello, PAUL...! Ponekad je potrebno zajebati stvar, ali je bitno znati Čoveka koji zna Čoveka...!

[@Martinreij]

Hiya Paul, now that is a great video, all ingredeants for a smooth long distance cast are there. Tracking and a great tool for preventing overpowering the forward cast. Thank you. I know you seem to resist putting your feet on terra firma. But if you do I would very much love to see this sequence performed with a hi vis line from a greater distance. Just to study the behaviour of the line just after the flick of the wrist . Do you think this routine will work best with a slightly heavy wf line? Cheers ans stay well Martin .

[@SexyloopsTV]

Thanks Martin, I plan to reshoot the launch part from the roof of my boat which is more stable. I can try to shoot some loops too. If we are talking just line weight (and not line weight to rod stiffness) then I use this technique for heavier line weights say 9WT and above and if it’s all-out distance then “170 technique” for 8WT and below. But even with the 170, since it only works with a long carry, to get there you still ideally need this compact stroke. If we are talking heavier lines than the number on the rod, then this is more complicated. Partly because I think many rods nowadays are actually too stiff but it’s further complicated by the fact that many lines are overweight too. I think of the line (& loop) as the vehicle and choose lines according to fly size (and some other factors), and according to the actual AFFTA weight. Then I pick the rod to best throw the line. The line I gave this presentation with was a SA bonefish 8 on the HT8 which is the one I use for Snakehead fishing here (I was fishing 🙂). In the next one I’ll use the Instructor 6 with a MED5 because it’s more visible (and I don’t have a MED6!). I’ll post another video tomorrow. Cheers, Paul

[@theoanest854]

Hi Paul Love your stuff! I do notice the reel on your backcast twists to the side so that you see that bottom part of the reel in the video. Then on the forward cast it rotates back to directly under the rod. I find myself doing the same thing and the rod actually feels more balanced in my hand on the backcast. My question is, even if the rod is tracking strait, do you feel this "corkscrewing" of the rod through space causes any problems?

[@SexyloopsTV]

That’s a great question Theo and no I don’t think it matters. With the 170 cast it’s incredibly awkward not to do this. I do have some casts labelled under “Torque Twist” where I do this intentionally at the end of the stroke. You will hear arguments relating to the Spine but I don’t think it matters and besides we have many casts where we have to do this, particularly when changing the plane of the loop relative to the rod. It’s difficult to use wrist flexion/extension without some twist and I’d *much* rather use the wrist this way!!

[@theoanest854]

@SexyloopsTV thanks Paul! I do notice when I put the camera directly infront of myself, I do tend to slice across a bit with my hand as I rotate it. Not a ton, but enough where the loop isn't perfectly vertical as it would be in a closed stance accuracy. Do you have any video of you casting distance from directly infront? I'd like to see how your rod tracks from that vantage point.

[@SexyloopsTV]

I do but not dedicated ones. Accuracy and OSD are usually pretty much bang on. 170 I’d like to improve and have been working on that. I’ll shoot some video. I plan to make a lot of videos this year, and I’ll make sure I film that angle more often, Theo. Thanks!

[@pjsmith3314]

Excellent stuff Paul. Thanks for that. Are there any resources out there that set out drills specifically?

[@SexyloopsTV]

Hi PJ, not specifically but I’ve been thinking about doing it. For a start it would make setting training plans much easier! That’s something else that is very much missing too. Structured training plans, exercises and drills would be an excellent resource.

[@pjsmith3314]

@@SexyloopsTV that would be great!!!

[@Karel_N]

​@Paul Arden It is an excellent video. Thank you for it. It covers so many topics I struggle with :-) I've been thinking for quite a long time about a training diarry with drills to help me focuss on one topic at a time but I haven't succeeded to make it so far. The difficult is to know when it's time to move to another drill/topic and not to be stuck on one problem for a long time.

[@SexyloopsTV]

@@Karel_N that’s would be a good subject for a FP. I’ve been thinking a lot about training sessions recently. I do think it’s important to change disciplines when improvement plateaus. Often when you come back to it quite quickly you pass where you were stuck. What I like is we can just shift to another discipline, for example presentation casts.

[@billkreitner9884]

so what would you do in a boat when you don’t want to rock the boat, as in saltwater flats fishing?

[@SexyloopsTV]

Then I don’t weight shift, Bill. In fact it’s very rare for me to weight shift at all when fishing. But what I like about it is that I think the cast should normally start from lower down and progress up through the body finishing with rotation of the rod butt, as opposed to how very many people cast which is by leading with the hand and following through with the body. It’s much easier to learn this by weight shifting and then progressively freezing the body from the ground up. Done that way it’s actually less likely to rock the boat than by leading the cast with the rod hand.

[@NikolaVa87]

5:55 I have that problem, my hand always going to the side, thats because i am afraid of the hook, passing so close to my eyes, ears etc, cos there's always some wind there :-/ That's why my back cast looses its trajectory and speed, and my cast falls apart when i need to cast far :-/

[@SexyloopsTV]

Hi Nikola, yep I fully understand! It’s actually a big subject and an important one. In fact there are two things here; one is dealing with all wind directions and the other is casting using all rod and loop planes. I have exercises for both. I’ll keep it in mind and post some videos on both subjects, most likely during this coming Wet Season!

[@NikolaVa87]

@@SexyloopsTV Thanks for answering Paul! Looking forward for it! All the best!

[@gkeightysix]

Good comment Nikola. I’m the same. My tracking is okay when I cast over the shoulder as Paul describes here, but when I have to change the casting plane (wind on a flat, big flies, etc) I struggle to track as straight because the biomechanics aren’t as easy to keep everything lined up. Comments or drills on that would be really welcome!

[@SexyloopsTV]

@@gkeightysix I was thinking about this today. I’ll put something together with a couple of other exercises. 🙂

[@gkeightysix]

@@SexyloopsTV thanks for the reply! Will keep an eye out.