04-03-2007, 08:54 PM
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]MISSOULA - Ever notice how little sympathy you get if you happen to mention that your arm is sore from so much fly-fishing. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Now, at last, there's someone who feels your pain. Or, at least, he knows how much it hurts. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Dr. Tim McCue, a Billings native and the head athletic team physician at the University of Montana, has started the nation's first Fly Casting Institute, a weeklong clinic designed to analyze a fly-fisher's casting technique and prescribe specific methods to prevent future injury and alleviate existing pain associated with casting a fly rod. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]And, according to McCue, there's a surprising amount of pain to go around among participants of an activity generally described in terms such as contemplative, relaxing, gentle, graceful, as much an art form as a sport. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]In a survey McCue distributed to 577 certified fly-casting instructors across the country, he found that of the 292 who responded, virtually all reported experiencing some level of pain or discomfort. Half of those said they had shoulder pain; 39 percent complained of elbow pain, and 36 percent suffered pain in the wrist. Federation of Fly Fishers certified casting instructors were chosen for the survey because they spend at least half the year casting. From the results, McCue estimates that up to 73 percent of America's 13 million fly-fishers may be enduring painful side effects of their pursuit. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]In many cases, says McCue, proper form will solve those problems. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]His first institute program will be held June 26 to July 2 at Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge, an upscale fly-fishing destination in the Paradise Valley. While there, at a cost of $3,000 each, a maximum of 20 enrolled guests will have the personal attention of four world-class fly-casting instructors, in addition to McCue and other medical experts, who will analyze their casting style. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Included in the program is a physical exam by McCue to identify possible physical dysfunction. Besides individual counseling by the casting professionals, participants' casting motion will be videotaped for detailed step-by-step evaluation. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Guests at the institute will have the benefit of another technological advance in fly-casting instruction - a "casting analyzer," an electronic device fitted to a fly-rod, which uses a miniature gyro and hand-held computer to measure "the angular speed of the fly rod." This gizmo, developed by Noel Perkins of Ann Arbor, Mich., will help McCue find out "which muscles are firing" and isolate specific technical or physical casting maladies. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Every day, each institute participant will spend an hour with McCue in a "fly-casting lab" going over the results of this high-tech evaluation. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]In addition, the guests will have an opportunity to practice their skills on waters such as the Yellowstone River, a private 85-acre spring-fed lake, and Livingston's famous spring creeks. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The institute's lead instructor is Jason Borger, a professional fly-fisherman whose articles have been widely published, and author of the book, "Jason Borger's Nature of Fly Casting - A Modular Approach."
[/size][/green][/font] [font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]If you're interested[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green]For more information about the Fly Casting Institute, call Dr. Tim McCue in Missoula at (406) 543-2807, or Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge at (406) 848-7755, or visit the Web sites of Jason Borger, [url "http://www.jasonborger.com/"]www.jasonborger.com[/url], or Hubbard's, [url "http://www.hubbardsyellowstonelodge.com/"]www.hubbardsyellowstonelodge.com[/url].
[/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Borger has also produced numerous fly-fishing videos and was featured as the "shadow caster" in the movie "A River Runs Through It." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The institute, says McCue, is for fly-casters of all ability levels and "we welcome anglers experiencing pain and those who are pain-free. Everybody can improve their casting." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]McCue, a Billings native who was hired as UM's head athletic team physician last August, has a long background in fly-fishing. He worked as a fishing guide at Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge for two years after completing his undergraduate degree at UM. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]But it was after earning his medical degree at the University of Washington, while serving residencies in Wisconsin and Belize, that he became intrigued by fly-fishing-related injuries. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"It started a couple of years ago when I was doing a residency in Wisconsin," he says. "What a lot of people don't realize is that Wisconsin has some great steelhead runs out of the Great Lakes. I fished for steelhead for a couple of days and my elbow was killing me. I said 'What did I do? What did I do?' Then it occurred to me that I hadn't ever cast an eight-weight rod for a couple of days in a row." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]His first glimmer of the problem came during his medical school days in Seattle, when he fished heavy rods for salmon and steelhead in coastal streams, and again experienced discomfort from casting. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]And while he was in Belize, he saw more evidence of fly-fishing injuries among anglers hoisting "big-gun" saltwater rods for permit, bonefish and tarpon. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"So I did a literature search on fly-fishing injuries and there was nothing in the literature. I met Borger about that time, and I realized I had to do a research fellowship and research paper. So I worked with Borger on my survey. That's how we initiated our collaboration. And we found people who had problems with their shoulders and elbows and wrists." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"We're developing ways to avoid problems and rehabilitate injuries," he says. "People who have elbow instability shouldn't theoretically use a sidearm cast. We've got four of the best fly-casters in the world to show people how to do things differently to get the job done and spare vulnerable joints." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]A variety of rehabilitation exercises also might be prescribed to cure a caster's ills, he adds. There are exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff, the grip, the elbow and to improve range of motion. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"I'm sports-medicine-trained," McCue says. "I might as well make use of it." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]While this summer's first Fly Casting Institute will be general in its approach, McCue says that future clinics will be designed for specific fishing situations - from brook trout fishing in Maine to tarpon fishing in Belize. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]When he was in Belize, McCue says, he met an angler who blew out the rotator cuff in his right shoulder the first day of fishing for permit. He switched to casting left-handed the second day and tore his left rotator cuff. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"The next two days," McCue says, "he sat in the boat and watched his wife fish. The goal of the institute is to keep people on the water as long as possible. A perfect candidate would be that guy from Wyoming who kept blowing out his rotator cuff."
[/size][/green][/font]
[signature]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Now, at last, there's someone who feels your pain. Or, at least, he knows how much it hurts. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Dr. Tim McCue, a Billings native and the head athletic team physician at the University of Montana, has started the nation's first Fly Casting Institute, a weeklong clinic designed to analyze a fly-fisher's casting technique and prescribe specific methods to prevent future injury and alleviate existing pain associated with casting a fly rod. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]And, according to McCue, there's a surprising amount of pain to go around among participants of an activity generally described in terms such as contemplative, relaxing, gentle, graceful, as much an art form as a sport. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]In a survey McCue distributed to 577 certified fly-casting instructors across the country, he found that of the 292 who responded, virtually all reported experiencing some level of pain or discomfort. Half of those said they had shoulder pain; 39 percent complained of elbow pain, and 36 percent suffered pain in the wrist. Federation of Fly Fishers certified casting instructors were chosen for the survey because they spend at least half the year casting. From the results, McCue estimates that up to 73 percent of America's 13 million fly-fishers may be enduring painful side effects of their pursuit. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]In many cases, says McCue, proper form will solve those problems. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]His first institute program will be held June 26 to July 2 at Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge, an upscale fly-fishing destination in the Paradise Valley. While there, at a cost of $3,000 each, a maximum of 20 enrolled guests will have the personal attention of four world-class fly-casting instructors, in addition to McCue and other medical experts, who will analyze their casting style. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Included in the program is a physical exam by McCue to identify possible physical dysfunction. Besides individual counseling by the casting professionals, participants' casting motion will be videotaped for detailed step-by-step evaluation. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Guests at the institute will have the benefit of another technological advance in fly-casting instruction - a "casting analyzer," an electronic device fitted to a fly-rod, which uses a miniature gyro and hand-held computer to measure "the angular speed of the fly rod." This gizmo, developed by Noel Perkins of Ann Arbor, Mich., will help McCue find out "which muscles are firing" and isolate specific technical or physical casting maladies. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Every day, each institute participant will spend an hour with McCue in a "fly-casting lab" going over the results of this high-tech evaluation. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]In addition, the guests will have an opportunity to practice their skills on waters such as the Yellowstone River, a private 85-acre spring-fed lake, and Livingston's famous spring creeks. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The institute's lead instructor is Jason Borger, a professional fly-fisherman whose articles have been widely published, and author of the book, "Jason Borger's Nature of Fly Casting - A Modular Approach."
[/size][/green][/font] [font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]If you're interested[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green]For more information about the Fly Casting Institute, call Dr. Tim McCue in Missoula at (406) 543-2807, or Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge at (406) 848-7755, or visit the Web sites of Jason Borger, [url "http://www.jasonborger.com/"]www.jasonborger.com[/url], or Hubbard's, [url "http://www.hubbardsyellowstonelodge.com/"]www.hubbardsyellowstonelodge.com[/url].
[/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Borger has also produced numerous fly-fishing videos and was featured as the "shadow caster" in the movie "A River Runs Through It." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The institute, says McCue, is for fly-casters of all ability levels and "we welcome anglers experiencing pain and those who are pain-free. Everybody can improve their casting." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]McCue, a Billings native who was hired as UM's head athletic team physician last August, has a long background in fly-fishing. He worked as a fishing guide at Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge for two years after completing his undergraduate degree at UM. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]But it was after earning his medical degree at the University of Washington, while serving residencies in Wisconsin and Belize, that he became intrigued by fly-fishing-related injuries. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"It started a couple of years ago when I was doing a residency in Wisconsin," he says. "What a lot of people don't realize is that Wisconsin has some great steelhead runs out of the Great Lakes. I fished for steelhead for a couple of days and my elbow was killing me. I said 'What did I do? What did I do?' Then it occurred to me that I hadn't ever cast an eight-weight rod for a couple of days in a row." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]His first glimmer of the problem came during his medical school days in Seattle, when he fished heavy rods for salmon and steelhead in coastal streams, and again experienced discomfort from casting. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]And while he was in Belize, he saw more evidence of fly-fishing injuries among anglers hoisting "big-gun" saltwater rods for permit, bonefish and tarpon. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"So I did a literature search on fly-fishing injuries and there was nothing in the literature. I met Borger about that time, and I realized I had to do a research fellowship and research paper. So I worked with Borger on my survey. That's how we initiated our collaboration. And we found people who had problems with their shoulders and elbows and wrists." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"We're developing ways to avoid problems and rehabilitate injuries," he says. "People who have elbow instability shouldn't theoretically use a sidearm cast. We've got four of the best fly-casters in the world to show people how to do things differently to get the job done and spare vulnerable joints." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]A variety of rehabilitation exercises also might be prescribed to cure a caster's ills, he adds. There are exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff, the grip, the elbow and to improve range of motion. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"I'm sports-medicine-trained," McCue says. "I might as well make use of it." [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]While this summer's first Fly Casting Institute will be general in its approach, McCue says that future clinics will be designed for specific fishing situations - from brook trout fishing in Maine to tarpon fishing in Belize. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]When he was in Belize, McCue says, he met an angler who blew out the rotator cuff in his right shoulder the first day of fishing for permit. He switched to casting left-handed the second day and tore his left rotator cuff. [/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"The next two days," McCue says, "he sat in the boat and watched his wife fish. The goal of the institute is to keep people on the water as long as possible. A perfect candidate would be that guy from Wyoming who kept blowing out his rotator cuff."
[/size][/green][/font]
[signature]