I just returned from a 2 hour casting lesson with Sheila Hassan, an IFF certified Master Casting Instructor. It was EXCELLENT! She is so full of information and she's a really good instructor. We did it at Choate Park in Medway where there is a large ballfield and a pond.
We started on the grass. She liked my false casting a lot.
She found some timing issues on my double haul that I just need to practice. All left hand issues, like I am introducing slack into the back haul because I'm sliding my hand back too quickly, I should remember to keep tension on the line in my left hand. She had me run through some exercises but all they did was make me think too much and everything fell apart. I do much better when I don't think and just go for the feel.
She showed me how to roll cast effectively from left and right sides, more to practice but it was progressing nicely by the time we quit.
I got to cast my new TICRX for the first time with my Orvis intermediate line and it shoots to the moon! She said she really likes that model of rod, so I guess I made a good decision there.
I learned about "overhang", that is how much line past the shooting head is beyond the rod tip. She says that you don't want to false cast with very much overhang because your loops will open.
We learned that the floating line on my 5wt has a short head, which makes it very difficult to cast for distance. And here all along I thought it was me. Now I can legitimately blame the line.
If you are interested in a lesson you can contact her at
http://cast90.com