Introduction

Some years ago a friend who had played and coached golf at an elite level put me onto the idea of the “feel” of a movement. Intuitively it made sense. I liked it, adopted it and still use it, predominantly as a means of facilitating the removal of all surplus effort. It’s a way of imaging casting movements and effort profiles. Images capture stuff in a subjectively meaningful way that can be evoked and (hopefully) replicated later on.

More recently “feel” bobbed up in a couple of places as the subject of opposing positions. Fly casting has a habit of producing such disagreements. I set out my views which included the explanation of a “feel” as recording, evoking and attempting to reproduce an overall sensory experience of making a cast – particularly a desired one. The range of views I saw expressed, both positive and negative, suggested confusion about what it meant and applied to. In search of clarity I discussed it with my partner who was a professional ballet dancer and then took to the literature.

Among others these are the questions for which I went looking for answers. What is a “feel” – for me and the literature? How can it be used to greatest advantage? Is it only for the more advanced casters?

We choose to categorise our senses and sensations by dividing them. Sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste and, for some, kinesthetic and/or proprioception as our sense of movement. The problem with this kind of division is that it assumes little or no relationship between our senses. Not a good idea. For another example, a great deal of what we “taste” actually comes from what we smell.

The Felt Sense of Movement

What we feel when we move and remember afterwards is analytically quite complicated. Picking over the experimental and analytical detail doesn’t always serve my purpose. What I’m looking for is the value science offers me in improving my movements. It is generally agreed is that our sense of movement comes from a combination of kinesthetic sensation and proprioceptive sensation. Again, the precise definition of these terms doesn’t help me. Some people separate and mix them together in different ways but these senses are together what give me a felt sense of movement, especially when I recall that movement sensation includes effort – how much and when during a (casting) movement.

We send neural signals to make a movement and receive neural signals which inform us about the progress of the movement as a means of controlling that movement. Again there is a whole warren of rabbit holes to go down in exactly how that happens. In my view we clearly do both and do them in a bi-directional flow. Moreover, I don’t need to know more than that I can simultaneously direct and feel (have a sensation of) my movements. It doesn’t particularly matter what labels are devised and applied in analysing sensing, making and controlling movement. My muscle spindles, and other soft tissue bits, receive instructions and send information about how those instructions are being carried out. That’s about all I need to know.

There are other and related sensory inputs when we make a fly cast. These include our senses of sight and touch. The sense of balance is in there as well and the vestibular is sometimes mixed into the proprioceptive sense. The sound, if any, made by the rod and line also give us valuable data. There is, then, an overall combination of sensory data that I/we can attend to, store and attempt to replicate when I/we cast.

So all of that means to me that the “feel” of a movement comes predominantly from the kinesthetic and proprioceptive senses which include effort. For my purposes it also includes the sensation of resistance in towing the line – of being connected with it. Whether that involves touch via my rod hand or is merely part of experiencing weight and force proprioceptively isn’t of much significance to me. Mind you, I doubt my casting would be improved by wearing welding gloves. Over time I have adjusted to wearing sun gloves and made that sensation the norm.

Using and Imaging the Felt Sense

Different strokes for different folks but I am able to focus on the felt sense of casting and have improved my awareness of it. This happily includes my sense of effort and its likeness to my intended profile of effort through the chosen kinematic sequence of making a cast. That awareness can be combined with or isolated from, my visual sense in both the movement performance and outcomes (line behaviour) of my movements. Awareness and focus of attention are brothers in arms – pun intended. Each benefits the other.

It’s my view and experience that kinesthetic/proprioceptive sensation is part of the overall sensory experience, That experience can be imaged and the resulting image can be summoned and used to prime, ease and smooth out my casting stroke. My image of a good cast at longer distances has also been given a subjective and evocative (word) description. I could tell you but it probably won’t mean much. Oh, ok. “After the meal, always leave a tip”. Warned you.

Imaging

I can, pausing while typing these words, call to mind what that phrase refers to and imagine making that movement and getting the “feel”, especially but not exclusively on the forward cast. Out in the field it can be recalled and used variously to prime and to model what I want to do. Would be surprised if dancers and golfers (among others) can’t and don’t do much the same.

Is this being set up in competition with the visual sense, with watching what the line does and responding to this outcome(s) data? No, not at all. Like getting your balance sorted out and playing with different kinematic sequences and effort profiles to see what happens, it’s just more inputs for better neurological and physiological patterns and that is what we all work towards when learning to move.

There’s no drama and kerfuffle about referencing similar movements like “flicking water off the paint brush”. Analogies, similes and metaphors reference and register with existing neural patterns. What I’m on about is more of the same. In a nutshell: analogy, imagination, evocation of movement and sensation, production of movement as imagined, sensory experience of the movement. Repeat.

Odd spot

If you aren’t too sure that imaging affects movement here is a little something to try. Standing or seated and looking straight ahead, imagine turning your head to the right. Don’t do it yet – just imagine doing it. Now imagine turning your head to the right again and then, make that movement. My guess is that like me it seemed to move very smoothly. Next up, imagine turning your head to the right but then instead turn it to the left. I’m guessing that the movement felt stiff, awkward and somewhat restricted. What just happened? If it worked for you as it does for me then we’ve demonstrated that imagination of movement is connected to and affects actual movement. Probably something to do with how the pre-motor cortex works with the motor cortex.

Who is This For?

The short and simple answer is “Anyone who can learn and benefit from it”. If I were teaching a beginner it wouldn’t be habitually centre stage but if my intuition told me to do it I’d bring the subject up and see what happened. I’d make the same cautious trial run with a more advanced caster, especially if their backgrounds were likely to have included body awareness and a felt sense of movement. Some people get it and some people don’t. C’est la vie. It’s their journey towards to making the movements their own which matters – not mine.