Casting Descriptions.

[Malcolm]

Brian,

In my way of thinking there are no hybrid casts. A corkscrew cast where the whole line ends up at 90 deg to the angle of the backcast is no more a hybrid than the classic spey or overhead.

Casts are made up of components that we can mix or match at need.

Personally I don't think of specific casts but rather a bag of tools that we have at our disposal that we can choose from for the demands of a given situation: these tools are
1. the back cast which can be formed from a spey, switch, one of the rolls, snaps, pokes, overhead, side cast, maybe the line on the water behind the caster. Sometimes making a "position" cast before making a "delivery" cast.

2. Line trajectory: to the side, overhead, off the water.

3  D Loop placement. often the placement of the D loop for "off the water" casts may be quite far away from the body - really wherever there is space.

4. Position of the fly in relation to the line loop. It's sometimes possible to cast with the fly above the line but sometimes it's to the side and sometimes the fly is underneath the line loop.

5. Loop and line control.  Being able to deliver very tight loops, open loops, curves(mends) and hooks off any kind of preparation is important.

6. Lot's of miscellaneous things: Letting a snake roll unwind into a gap in the vegetation, drifting a fly into position etc.

It's the way I see it - but I am not an instructor.

[Brian Mcg]

Malcolm you may not be an Instructor but you have a clear understanding of Casting and that will do for me.
I understand what you are saying about "Hybrid" casts. I suppose what I am really meaning is how you use it. Wether you use it in the classical sense or modernise it. I refer to these casts as combos. You have a different term for them,fine by me.
If you were to show somebody one of your casts I would hazard a guess that they would say " i never thought of doing it that way" or some sort of comment along these lines. That is because we all see things differently but when shown another way accept it readily or totally dismiss it. The ones to dismiss it  imo are daft

Brian

[Wildfisher]

I am a believer that an ego,like a balloon is easy deflated.

I do like the balloon analogy Brian.  I have invariably found that it's pretty easy to predict how inflated egos will react if you prod them just a little in the right places.  That can be a useful tool for solving potentially  problematic situations.