Using a ball to practice casting...

[cam123]

Hey guys, ive seen a few vids of people practicing casting with a ball.
Im trying to learn the pendulum myself at the moment and this looks like a handy way to practice.

Just wondering what is the best way to attach the ball, and is a heavier ball (closer to the weight of a lead- 4 or 5 ounce) better or does this matter- would a tennis ball be too light like?

Thanks.

[paddyc]

Tennis ball IMO are too light unless you fill them with silicone or something simular...
Best off using a hockey ball, these weight aprox 150g-170g. Get a 12inch lenght of 100lb mono, drill the ball straight through with smaiil drill bit, run mono through and and fix it at the bottom via a stop of some sort that wont allow it to be pulled back out, 100lb swivel to be attached at the other end leaving about 6 or 8 inches of line coming out of the top of the ball this will allow it to bounce better without causing too many tangles, just make sure you use heavy duty crimps.
And thats that....Simples

[cam123]

Cheers for that Paddy, Im off to buy some hockey balls so

How do you mean use heavy duty crimps, is it to stop the ball moving up the length of the 100lb mono?

I have 60lb shockleader would i be better off getting some 100lb or would the 60lb do the job for making up the rig?

[roger de dodger]

the 60 lb would chaff and wear very quickly where the ball would be rubbing off it,the crimps are used on the mono normaly double crimps for heavey stuff ,a grinner knot should work ok on 100 lb mono but use a pliers to pull it tight, some kind of washer would prob be good on the underside to stop it pulling through the ball?

[southaussie]

I have a normal 4oz beachbomb glued into a drilled out golf ball which is easier to see than a normal lead but half the size of a hockey ball will try and get a picture up tomorrow if anyone is interested

[cam123]

The golf ball idea sounds good southaussie

I made up a few rigs with hockey balls (lost 2 to the sea already )

Ive also invested in some 100lb shockleader

The balls i used were 5.5 oz, they felt a bit heavy on my penn powerstix but nevertheless were very handy for helping me to improve my technique.

I also got one of the lads to video me on my phone too, so seeing what I was actually doing as opposed to what I thought I was doing helped greatly . The hockey ball was much easier to see in a vid then a small lead.

The visability of the ball also helped with the multiplier as I could easily see the ball all the way through the air and stop it as it hit the water/ grass- no losing sight of it in mid air. So getting a better feel for when to stop the spool and hopefully less birds nests in future

So cheers for the advice lads, its paying off already

[AG]

put the video up of you casting

[cam123]

I dont know about that now AG im not great like

Plus the vids are pretty shite, there is about 10 vids a couple of seconds long- dont think there is any pause button on the camera on my new phone- smart phone my arse

Ill try to make a decent one over the weekend maybe... and if its not too shite I might even post it up

[bigsod]

Put up a vid, the lads will advise you on your style, We have some amazing casters on here and they will help you, no point practicing bad habits if you have any