Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Mike Barrio

Casting Instructor
« on: 25/03/2009 at 08:49 »
Hi folks :cool:

What things make a really good casting instructor? I'm not thinking about qualifications here, more about ability and type of person perhaps :wink

Best wishes
Mike

Stefan Siikavaara

Re: Casting Instructor
« Reply #1 on: 25/03/2009 at 15:58 »
Hi Mike!

That is a good question. I had quite a few lessons and I still take lessons as often as I can.

I had to give it some thought. I know the typical answers of course that are described in study guides for instructors and in various books, they are good and apply naturally but if I really go to myself the answer is much simpler.

The best instructors I have had had a burning ambition to give and share. They really wanted to give me something and used all their methods and tricks to connect to me as an individual and pass it over. A good instructor for me is a generous individual.

Best regards
Stefan

Will Shaw

Re: Casting Instructor
« Reply #2 on: 25/03/2009 at 16:40 »
Excellent question!

Stefan's spot on of course.

I'm still a relative newcomer to all this, but I'd add the following as things I aspire to be:

A good casting instructor is student focused. It's all about finding out what they want to achieve and find a way for them to achieve it (even if it means sending them to someone else).

A good casting instructor is really observant, and listens a lot. Seeing/hearing small things that mean a lot. Is the student happy? Do they understand? Is there a reason why something's not sinking in?

A good casting instructor is a great motivator who makes you want to learn and improve. Different people are motivated in different ways and a great instructor can work out what buttons to push.

A good casting instructor likes to learn new stuff. It's good to have firm opinions but bad to be dogmatic. All the best instructors I've spoken to have said that they are still learning and love it when they pick up something new.

A good casting instructor is flexible in their approach. Stefan talks about the using all the methods and tricks to connect. If one approach doesn't work, try another one. The better the instructor the bigger the bag of tricks.

Looks like I've got me work cut out!  :cool:

W.

Jim Eddie

Re: Casting Instructor
« Reply #3 on: 25/03/2009 at 18:33 »
All of the above  :wink

However , you do not just have to be skilled in what you teach (it helps) you need to be a good taecher , ofetn people do not have both skills.
I'll use football as an analogy , being a fantactis player (Pele for instance ) does not mean you will make a good manager. Most of the best managers have been journeyman players.

Bascially what I am saying is that its a rare gift being a good teacher , particularly if you have dyspracsic pupils like me  :oops

 :z18

Jim

Ben Dixon

Re: Casting Instructor
« Reply #4 on: 25/03/2009 at 21:04 »
Summed up perfectly by Stefan & Will the best questions you can ask a student are very often not casting or fishing related.  An instructor should continue to take lessons and should certainly spend time working with other instructors and make sure that they keep on top of their skills.  In my time I have had lessons from a number of instructors some, although very good casters with an excellent technical knowledge have been pretty poor at imparting their knowledge. 

Cheers

Ben

Iain Goolager

Re: Casting Instructor
« Reply #5 on: 25/03/2009 at 21:53 »
Again, good points.

Over the course of my adult life I've attended numerous courses, college classes, etc. and the instructor is pivotal to the success of the student. All the enthusiasm and desire in the world will not guarentee attaining the desired targets if there is no understanding of the students strengths and weaknesses. 

Perhaps I'm thick but I've had tutors trying, almost to the point of frustration, to explain some or other principle to me which I just couldn't grasp - only to have the same principle explained in a matter of minutes by another lecturer that had the experience to tackle it from another angle with simplistic pertinent analogies.

Back to fishing, I like an instructor to be respectful and friendly but critical, very critical infact. I'm a big boy and won't burst into tears if my casting is dissected in a constructive way - that's what I'm paying for - if I want someone to stare at me for an hour and tell me what a pretty boy I am I'll go down the docks! Achieving the level of casting instructor should be prestigeous and applauded but only at this point does the real test begin. Joe public takes on many personas - tall, short, fat, thin, asthmatic, arthritic, nervous, stupid, academic, etc. etc. and all have the right to receive attentive tuition geared toward their particular abilities.


Perhaps it's as important to focus on not being a bad caster that to try to rush into being a good one, either way the mechanics have to be understood and the pupil has to be made aware of exactly what's happening to the rod and line when he is casting.

What was the question again? Right I'm boring myself now so I'll go.

Iain


Rob Brownfield

Re: Casting Instructor
« Reply #6 on: 27/03/2009 at 12:12 »
Buzz terminology for teaching..."Knowledge Transfer"....without it the most qualified and skillful person will never be able to teach.

 




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