Strong Enough

Mobility requirements depends on positions the athlete needs to reach to be able to move in the way that at the current time is thought to be the optimum technique. They know if the athlete is required to hit certain positions while performing the sport, that if those positions cannot be reached while stretching or some other assessment the technique will suffer. A position that cannot reached unloaded will not be very useful while loaded. The mobility and flexibility plays part in the ability to transfer momentum through the body, combined with strength in the movement chain. And fly casting being a throwing sport we should be interested in momentum transfer.

So back to what is strong enough? We know that it is something that depends. I have heard a number for a shot putter, they want to have an incline benchpress of “4 plates”, one plate weighing 20 kg/45 lbs and the barbell weighing 20 kg/45 lbs depending if you are in the SI world or the nuts, rocks and eagles system. That’s way beyond the requirements for a fly caster. Our great friend John Waters looks a lot at javelin throwers for inspiration for finding improvements in fly casting technique there I’ve seen the numbers of barbell back squat 1-3 repetitions of 3 plates, barbell bench press 1-3 repetitions of 2 plates, and barbel deadlift of 1-3 repetitions of 3 plates. That’s also probably a bit more than we need for fly casting.

An other level I saw a while ago mentioned by Dan John was 1 plate standing press, 2 plates bench press, 3 plates squat and 4 plates deadlift. This was for someone to build as a base to have to chase bigger strength goals. Like strive to keep that level and strength and from there chase a bigger bench press etc. If you achieve these numbers I would consider you strong, most people would and some snobby persons would not. It is not something that will impress the elite shot putter, but if it is a reasonable person it should be accepted as being strong. For most people this will take some serious dedication to reach. And still more than I would think is needed for fly casting.

I think that the novice strength standards here https://exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandardsare probably more than needed for fly casting. But I don’t think they are unreasonable. Some level of strength for sure will improve the athletes performance. I also think that if you follow my previous advice in this FP Strength and mobility for general wellbeing and fly castingduring the offseason you will be in pretty good shape for fly casting also. But we have still not reached any “standards” for fly casting.

So for the fly caster I have some ideas that both addresses some of the more sport specific strength and mobility requirements.

Hang for 30 seconds

Push-up position plank 60 seconds

25 unweighted glute bridges

If you can dead hang for 60 seconds you will have some strength in the forearm muscles, these muscles have to work a lot in fly casting. Especially during accuracy where they don’t get a chance to relax. Biceps tendons get some work and are needed during rapid deceleration. The rotator cuff muscles also gets some work here. The scapulas must move well to assist in the deceleration of the arm and rod. And the upper body mobility has to be decent to be able to perform this. So probably one of the best exercises for fly casting.

Push-up position plank, stability for the whole body and connecting the whole chain used in fly casting. A good start for momentum transfer. And aslo giving the triceps some work, also used in deceleration of the arm and rod.

Glute bridges, builds strength in the biggest power generator in the body and building some mobility in the momentum transfer chain.

I don’t want to claim that these are the absolutes for strength and mobility for fly casting but I think that this is a decent place to start. If you find that you are already there or not, assess if your mobility allows you to actually reach the positions you want to during casting. And I’m not going to find it very interesting that great performance can be achieved without any strength or such in fly casting. But I’m also sure that more strength and mobility won’t give worse performance and a better life in general. I do believe that the mobility and flexibility requirements for optimum performance goes beyond what I have suggested here, but maybe not as extreme as for the javelin thrower.

Other things going on this week beyond thinking about strength standards. I did stuck the anchor so hard in the bottom of the ocean that I had to leave it there. The current in the ocean was about 1.5-2 knots then so it did find a really good grip in the bottom. I tried to pull it loose from all angles with the boat without any luck. That was a bit hard and dangerous trying to keep control of the rope and the boat in the fast current. But I managed to cut the rope as short as possible in the end. I managed to find dog shit and kick it up on my legs while practicing. Not enjoyable at all. And I have no clue how it happened as I couldn’t find the source when I was looking around. Couldn’t even find any underneath my shoes. I had some line cleaning supplies so I could clean my legs and continue the session.

PoD: Working on not falling of the platform I think.