Those video are very interesting. I have a question for Ben
I have noticed that when you distance cast, whether single handed down in the park or indeed in the video above, you stop the rod, and then lift the tip almost verticle.
All the other casters in the videos stop the rod and then point it down the natural flow of the line...ie, the butt, tip, and line are in one continous line. As the line falls on the water, the tip is lowered to maintain that "straight" line.
Certainly with distance beach and carp casting, all the instructors insist in making sure the rod remains in a straight line with the line leaving the tip to reduce drag and increase flight time and distance.
Is the rod lift a deliberate act to maybe give the line a higher tragectory or something, or just something that happens naturally.
Interested in the mechanics of it all....