Wow! A 5' 5wt!
Your either going to learn "good form" or take up golf!
I was throwing a sofa pillow with my 7' 5wt in the wind the other day..... I had to lead my target like a clay bird!
I was under rod'ed by a lot and should have used the 7wt, but the 5 is so much more fun to fight with...
With no one to teach me, it took a few frustrating days on the lawn to get to the point where I could finally lay out a decent cast. You're right, there is no forgiveness in a rig like that.
I lived close to Carlisle, Pa. back then (late 70's). On one of my early forays on the Letort (another frustrating venue for a beginner) I ran into Vince Marinaro who took one look at my rig, looked at me like I had two heads and walked away muttering. I didn't know who he was at the time and thought he was just an old opinionated curmudgeon (which he was). It was Charlie Fox (who by then spent most of his stream-time sitting on his bench down by the water) who kindly suggested I might be better off with a longer rod.
