Fundamentals, not kindergarten

Larsen and I joined Jeanne and Cathy at Danny's for a day of training on a cold and wet March morning.

Larsen started casting wide, so we backed up a step. We started at a more basic level. I started Larsen and then would, myself, roll in the clip-wing quail while his back was to me. This ensured that Larsen would find the bird about 5 steps in front of me.

We did this same exercise three times.

Larsen improved each time, with tighter casts, better response to the whistle, and even an occasional glance back to me for instruction. This eliminated the self-hunting.

Later, I described this to the others as going back to kindergarten, but then I caught myself and thought that that is really not right. Everyone, even professional athletes, work on fundamentals and there is no reason to understate the importance of doing something simple successfully and repetitively. Having returned to and improved our fundamentals, we are in a much better position to move forward with some more advanced steadying techniques. If we can't get the more advanced steps right, we will return to the fundamentals that we know how to do and enjoy doing.