# Question about the pendulum...



## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

I know there is no substitute for expert instruction and that it would answer my question, but barring a lesson there is something I'm wondering about the pendulum cast.

I've been watching the tournament footage and other videos online and I notice that there seems to be a "dead period" in the cast between the lead swinging back towards you and the final step into the full loading. I hope that makes sense to someone. I'm wondering what the lead is actually doing during this period. I can't pick it up anywhere on the videos.

So again, the cast seems to go: swing out => swing back => PAUSE => whip => release. I may have left a step or two out before the pause, not sure. You can see what I'm talking about really well in the SE Open video of Willie Longcaster. The "dead period" coincides with where he moves his left foot.

So yeah, what is the lead doing there?

Evan


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## far out (Mar 25, 2009)

ive been wondering the same thing. cant wait for an answer


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## Jeremy Schrader (Feb 7, 2009)

The pause on the backswing is to allow the lead to climb up and step out from the tip . this means that you either lock the right at this stage to allow the lead to have someting firm to pivot on or make sure that you have enought power on the backswing to have it push well past and load the tip even is you arm drifts back a bit. 

Try and feel the lead by not gripping the rod with a tight fist as the tensing will cause a more restricted turn etc. Turn slowly at the start and allow your right arm to come lower than your head/ shoulder while getting the left around and up in front of the face to the allow a proper Push /Pull on the hit.

Hope this helps


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

Jeremy explained it well, but to add a little bit more.

The lead is traveling in an arc, whether high swing or flat, and most casters will need to have what appears to be a slight pause, as they are waiting for the lead to travel the arc and get in postion before they can apply the hit to the rod and send the sinker on the way-- if you hit the rod too early the sinker has not had time to swing out and "around the corner", or rod tip, so to speak. Keep in mind you must maintain "contact" with the sinker throughout the cast, meaning you must maintain a tight line between rod and sinker to keep the preload in the rod, if you "lose contact" or let line go slack, you have just defeated the benefit of swinging the lead in the first place, which is to preload the rod during the intial stage of the cast, and to help accelerate the lead as you turn into the cast.

Although it appears to be a "pause" the rod is not stopped dead in it's tracks at any point-- or the sinker will simply start to decelerate, sometimes hitting the ground as it travels in an arc. (deceleration is not the only cause of hitting the ground-- but it can be one of them)

Keep in mind-- I don't do much pendulum casting-- but I have studied it quite a bit -- both live and on video.

Hope this helps--- I too was quite baffled from trying to "see" how the pendulum worked from videos-- it's almost impossible to follow the entire path of the sinker and see the whole cast as it is happening on video-- seeing it live at a tournament generally helps to understand what is happening a little better than just watching videos.


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## eric (Oct 24, 2007)

think of the cast like this.
if viewed from directly above the caster.

for rightys
the sinker travels in a big upside down, lower case ' q ' shape arc.


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## RW_20 (Oct 16, 2007)

I was going to suggest one of Jeremy Schrader latest vids on here recently has him casting with what looks to be a white ball. This is the first video that I encountered where you can actually follow the weight. It help me alot with the same question.


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

I've seen some videos with people throwing baseballs, and that makes it easier. But there is no angle to tape that lets you follow the whole swing except taping from above. Which would be really cool, maybe someone will do this at some point.

I think that videoing from above would shed new light on casting techniques. Anybody want to try, or have a place that you could set a camera up above you?

Evan


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

kingfisherman23 said:


> I've seen some videos with people throwing baseballs, and that makes it easier. But there is no angle to tape that lets you follow the whole swing except taping from above. Which would be really cool, maybe someone will do this at some point.
> 
> I think that videoing from above would shed new light on casting techniques. Anybody want to try, or have a place that you could set a camera up above you?
> 
> Evan



It's been done-- Lee (another Aussie) had a video where the camera was mounted high above, and it did help.(search you tube)-- not sure if it is still out there.

The problem is that any way you cut it, the cast is 3 dimensional, and a camera is really only good at capturing 2 dimensions at once. 2 cameras from different angles might help, but just seeing it done live is absolutely the best way.

Quite frankly-- most people get at least the idea behind the pendulum the very first time they see it done. It's really not super complicated, it's just super tough to describe in words properly, or to video clearly.


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

Surf Cat said:


> just seeing it done live is absolutely the best way.
> 
> It's really not super complicated, it's just super tough to describe in words properly, or to video clearly.


Agreed. I didn't understand it until I saw it in person, but I only paid true attention for one cast at the castamuck. I look forward to watching more at the Charlotte tourney. 

Evan


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

kingfisherman23 said:


> Agreed. I didn't understand it until I saw it in person, but I only paid true attention for one cast at the castamuck. I look forward to watching more at the Charlotte tourney.
> 
> Evan


The first thing you notice (after watching several different casters) is that there is no single "correct" way of doing a pendulum. The basic fundamentals are the same, but no 2 casters swing the lead the same way. You have to find what is right for you. There should be plenty of people to "demonstrate" their version of pendulum casting at Charlotte.


I hope to "graduate" to pendulum style in the future, for now I'm sticking with the ground cast during tournaments. For myself, my pendulum distance lags behind my groundcast by (on average) 50 to 60 feet.


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

Yeah, I'm not ready to move up to the pendulum. And I'm not planning to start working on it until I can hit better than 600' consistently with my groundcast, which means I still have a lot of work to do smoothing out my casting. My curiosity just got the better of me watching all these videos.

Evan


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## FishRung (Nov 26, 2002)

I started casting four years ago under Tommy's tutelage and, against his advice, moved to the pendulum much too early. This year I'm staying with OTG to make sure I have it mastered before moving back to the pendulum, if I ever do. I extended my PB by 44' in Shallotte using OTG.

You'll notice that Tommy is throwing OTG mostly these days and he just threw 827'. That's a very good example to follow.

Cheers,
Brian


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## Tommy (Jan 24, 2001)

I have held off on jumping into this thread. I do not want to discourage anyone from learning the pendulum cast. In the right hands it is a very effective tool for throwing sinkers a very long way.

I learned the pendulum cast before the groundcast. Back in the late 90's / early 2000's nobody here in the states was throwing the groundcast. I spent literally hundreds of hours in the field honing the pendulum cast. It did not come easy to me, but through stuborn persistance I became fairly profecient swinging the lead.

In 06 I was invited to cast in England at the Primo Event. When I found out that the main event was groundcasting I knew there was trouble because I'd never learned to cast a static sinker. For months every practice session started with 4-6 groundcasts and pretty soon they were flying pretty good, 90-95% as far as the flat arc pendulum cast. The practice served me well, it helped me to a second place finish in the main event behind Danny M.

Over the past 3 years I've played around with several different casts. The high swing, the flat arc, the 3 step groundcast and the standard 1 step groundcast. Over time I migrated to mostly throwing from the ground and soon noticed a funny thing. The sinkers were flying just as far as a pendulum cast with more consisitancy. Working on the fundamentals was sooooo much easier with the sinker on the ground. Practicing the left extension, body rotation and that all important punch-pull were much more effective when the sinker was not a moving target.

If you want to learn the pendulum, go for it. It is a very challenging and fun road to follow. I would make one very strong recommendation though. Learn the groundcast FIRST. Once you truely learn how to hit the rod it will be much easier to transition that hit to the pendulum if you have the proper fundamentals in place.

And remember this, 

*A properly executed groundcast will outperform even a good pendulum cast, every time*. 

Tommy


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

Thanks all. The replies here have been quite enlightening.

I'm sticking to the OTG for sure right now, my fundamentals are not nearly strong enough to start learning the pendulum. And I want my numbers to keep moving up before Charlotte.

Evan


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