Cast Handedness Issue

[catchthefish]

I took my Superfine Glass our yesterday and got into some positions where I had to cast left handed. I played sports with the my left hand growing up, but otherwise I am righty in other activities. However, while feeling awkward, the left-handed casts were better I think. They just felt incredibly awkward. Has anyone else switched up after staring and what were the results?

 

[el jefe]

I am right-handed, but occasionally cast left-handed, just for giggles. I cast decently left-handed, but in an entirely different way. When I switch to left, my casts are completely mechanical; i.e., without feel, which I equate to the awkwardness you note. I cast very simply. Move arm back in straight line, stop, wait, move arm forward in straight line, stop, let line fall. Lacking any developed casting feel with my left hand, I am forced into the basics. I cannot finesse a left-handed cast, nor could I double-haul or throw it for much distance, but I can get it to work acceptably.

 

[dennyk]

Typically I'm a right handed caster, but can cast left handed when the situation calls for it. The awkwardness for the motion and timing will improve the more you practice it as well as accuracy. Personally I'd say my left handed casts are 70% as accurate vs right handed. But it's still a work in progress.

I've also started using the bow and arrow cast and really like it for tight situations and is a very good cast to have in your arsenal.

Denny

 

[just4grins]

Since it appears you were born a lefty and changed in school to a righty,as was I, you should be able to work with either hand. A big advantage. Look at yourself in a full length mirror and notice your image would be how you'd like as a lefty. Mimic that image and practice, it works. But, you can also cast backwards by turning sideways.

 

[karstopo]

I’m right handed, but learned to cast left handed when my right shoulder hurt too much to fly cast from the right side. I found it much easier to learn to cast from the left side than the right side. That’s probably years of baitcasting use from the right side interfering with my form from that side. I’ve gotten steadily better from the left side and now have no real preference and cast from both sides every time I go out and fish. The ability to cast from either side is very handy in our typical windy conditions.

It feels different casting from the left side. It feels like it requires less effort than right hand casting and that might be about where my right shoulder is health wise. I think my form might be better from the left side and I feel like I let the rod do more of the work. I tend to overpower the cast right handed and try to cast a fly rod like a baitcasting set up at times. The kind of fishing I do I rarely roll cast. I can roll cast, I just don’t need to very often. I do cast from various angles from sidearm to overhead.

I cast almost every day from both the left and right side. I frequently cast different rods of different weights. I think that helps me get comfortable casting either way. I like to cast as just a form of relaxation.

 

[weiliwen]

I probably cast 60% right handed, 40% left handed. I'm a lefty that bats right, so I consider myself sorta-kinda ambidextrous. I find that my casts are more accurate with my right hand, and more distance with my left hand.

 

[sjkirkpa]

That is actually how I teach people to cast - begin with their non-dominant arm. I think we pick up "muscle memory" issues in our dominant arm from throwing balls, golfing, whatever. Your weak arm does exactly what you tell it to do without question or "memory" if that makes sense.

 

[mikechell]

I find, that since I am right handed, I have to think about my casting with my left hand. Thus, my left handed casts are technically perfect. I don't like doing it, because I am practicing casting, not fishing, and that takes the fun out of it. I can and indeed do it when necessary.

My problem is that I can't go through the whole routine of getting the line out there and fishing left handed. It's not my left hand casting that's the problem ... it's that my right hand can't do all the things my left has become good at. I can't handle the line stripping and casting, nor can I work a fly back in or strip set a hook. Weird, it's the only thing my dominate hand CAN'T do better than my left.

 

[mtbright]

I would think part of it comes from not having the bad habits of your dominate side. You also have to think about it as you do it. In teaching casting it is much easier to teach someone who has never cast before. I have found that I am much better caster with a cross face cast, as I would think most of my bad habits are not able to be done cross face.

 

[pnc]

Only with repeated use of off hand. Will it ever feel comfortable.
I learned just after beginning fly fishing. To use my left because of injury to right. Have used both ever since until a few months ago. Old injury to left hand starting to be problem.
Plain and simple Is anyone learning to use both hands for casting. Will repeatedly find benefits in being able to do so when fishing.

......... p

 

[bumble54]

I used to cast with either hand in my younger days but several Motorcycle injuries preclude that now I'm older.
Not enough strength or feel to cast left handed, the point being that, if you have no physical reason for not doing it, it is probably down to lack of practice with the left hand. You need to educate your muscles and your brain,( which is mission control), on what to do and when.
Remember how awkward you were at casting when you first picked up a fly rod, until you'd taught your brain and muscles what to do?, and now you don't even consciously think about casting whilst doing it, it just happens.

 

[jawz]

The key to learning to cast with your left hand is really simple. You let the right hand to teach the left.

This means pantomiming casting with your dominant hand and mirroring the action with your other hand. If you haven't tried this try it right now without a rod. You'll be suprised how easy it is.

 

[flav]

I'd never considered casting with my off hand until I picked up a two handed rod almost 20 years ago. Back then all the instructional videos had you switching which arm you cast with depending on which way the wind was blowing and which side of the river you were on.
Even though I've been casting a two hander with both hands for years I've only cast a single hander with my other arm a couple times just to see if I could do it. I can do it, but it sure doesn't feel as nice and the results aren't as nice either.

 

[karstopo]

I think a lifetime of casting lures with a baitcasting set up with the dominant hand set in so much muscle memory that it continues to work against fly casting on the dominant hand side. My non-dominant hand never cast anything but a fly rod. There’s no accumulated memory to fight.

Back when I fished baitcasting gear, I’d make hundreds of casts on an outing. Multiply that scores of trips per year and then decades. That’s a lot of memory. I used to have a drill where I’d close my eyes and then cast by feel alone to hit a target.

So my left hand, non dominant side fly cast feels more natural than the right hand side cast. The thing that doesn’t feel as natural is holding the rod with my left hand after the cast. So I tend to transfer the rod from the left hand after casting from that side to my right hand to fish, which in most cases involves stripping in a fly.

I’ve been working on fishing with keeping my left hand on the rod after the cast and using my right hand to strip and handle the line. The odd thing is that in baitcasting I’d hold the rod with the left hand after the cast and reel with the right.

Bottom line is that in the way I like to fish, mainly standing in boats and kayaks often in windy conditions, while casting at targets being able to use either hand in any way interchangeably would be the ideal.

 

[jfh245]

A spinal cord problem parallyzed my right arm, so switching to lefty was my only option.
Starting at a baseline with no muscle memory afforded me the oppourtunity of developing a cast that is tighter and more accurate than when right handed. Additionally, time practicing was very rewarding because the learning curve was quite rapid. The entire process did teach me that there is always an option.

 

[canoeman1947]

Watch a video of Lefty Kreh demonstrating fly casting. He is casting with his right hand, though he is naturally left hand dominant. Years ago, while flipping a mattress, he severely tore his left biceps tendon. Although he recovered moderate use of the left arm, he had to switch to casting mostly with his right hand until his left arm healed. He could cast with the left arm after a while but would tire quickly. He proved that with practice you could attain quite a bit of dexterity with your off hand.

Larry