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There are some statistics that would back me up
on this but I don't know where they are. Grant me
this one though. People learn better, faster, more
easily, whatever you might want to call it, when
they are given positive encouragement. In
teaching/training there are a few differing schools
of thought. Most commonly known might be the 'carrot
and stick.' Sometimes it is better to teach by giving
a reward and sometimes it works better to give punishment
when things go wrong. Where am I wandering off to with
this? Teaching fly casting. And I will probably take a
shot in the chops for writing about it again, but here
goes anyhow.
I am all in favor of us all helping each other with our
casting, good grief, we can all use some help. And no
one needs to be licensed to help out a buddy with his
fly casting problems. Go ahead, stand out in front of
him on the lawn or the street and let him know when his
backcast is flopping way over to his side. Go off to his
side and let him know when his back-loops look like
doughnuts and are scratching the grass. This is all
great fun and helpful too. Practice and try to get
better every chance you get. But, what I am against
are the teaching methods of some who feel they are
natures gift to the fly casting world. Whether or not
they know it.
When one sets himself up as an instructor he takes
on a huge responsibility. I do think, however, that
most have the right goals and ethics. Greed, fast
money, higher guiding prices, fame and fortune though
are poor reasons. I see no problem running fishing
schools or just casting schools either. Offering them
for a fee is also not wrong. Gear and time has a value.
Offering and teaching a class however, when one doesn't
know much about it, is not a good thing.
One of the biggest mistakes that can happen is the "Look
at me. I am wonderful. Now cast just like that." Then
they go through the line of students telling them what
they are doing wrong. Perhaps you have been there,
"No. Not that way! Don't do it like that!" That is
negative. It doesn't move anything forward. Positive
phrases communicate much better, such as, "Great, now
just add a little more punch to the forward stroke."
It is so much a game of positive versus negative
reinforcements that makes the difference in teaching
and having the student make progress.
The other problem is not knowing what to look for in
the student. Let's call it bad habits for lack of a
better term. If an instructor does not know what bad
habits or casting mistakes look like, how is he going
to keep the student from making them, or even worse,
repeating them? The instructor must know what causes
bad casts. He must know exactly, for instance, how to
make a tailing loop on purpose. We actually teach how
to make it, so when it happens, the student will know
what happened and how to correct it when he is by himself...
Those are two of the biggest factors that can effect
teaching. Making negative remarks instead of positive
ones and not knowing what to look for when the students
are making casting mistakes. If you are just helping
out a buddy or a professional instructor, try to keep
the comments on the positive side and watch like a hawk
for the small errors of casting so the student does not
continue to practice mistakes. ~ James Castwell
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