>>2472934I'm still not confident the anon is casting a shooting head, though. I think he has a normal weight forward fly line and got excited by "how far can I cast" which does help teach some fundamentals like letting the line straighten out in the air between casts and feeling the rod load. That said, and in agreement with your advice, practicing in close is the only way to get better in close.
As for
>No one actually refers to heads as suchA
Almost every line manufacturer I have purchased from lists grain weight, the length of the front taper, the belly, the rear taper, and head length. Wulff, Rio, airflow, scientific anglers, and sometimes even cabelas list head lengths on their products
>picture semi related, the s.a. anadro line with a 60 foot head