More on SLP (Straight Line Path) of the Rod Tip
I’ve been exchanging a few e-mails about various aspects of casting with Dr. Server Sadik, who is both an engineering prof at Montana State University and part of the original MSU/FCI motion-capture crew from back in 2004. In our back-and-forth, Server mentioned that he had some good SLP still shots from that original mo-cap session. He forwarded them to me over the weekend, and I thought that I would post them here as an adjunct to the earlier SLP post.
One unique thing about the mo-cap system is that it allows for the rod and line markers to be tracked clearly and accurately as they move over time. This is great for visualizing SLP, as well as how much the rod tip moves during SLP (and all the way through unload into counterflex), versus the rod butt (it’s a huge difference). So…without further rambling, here are a couple of still frames from Server, showing all the tracked data (caster is me, rod is a Sage XP 590-4):
Above: Very long, slightly climbing SLP.
Above: Somewhat shorter SLP, with tracking showing rod unload into counterflex. Note how much the rod tip moves relative to the rod butt over the same period of time…
Cool stuff!
Intersting to mote that the rod-tip path points slightly upwards in both this pictures. This (and gravity) will give upwards tilt of the fly-leg, which I guess is a good thing since it gives lift.
Grunde
Grunde—Yeah, I had forgotten about the upward path on some of those casts until Server e-mailed the still frames. In that top pic, I was kneeling (due to early issues with the mo-cap capture stage), so I wonder if that affected my stroke inclination?
Really interesting guys. Keep up the good work!