Cisco, I start every practice by casting my fly rod horizontal to the ground for a few minutes. This does several things. 1) It stays under my power lines. 2) It's an easy visual if I'm breaking my wrists and opening up the loop. As the line falls, I can easily see if I have a tight or open loop. 3) I think, "pass a plate" this gives me a mental picture and helps keep me from rolling my wrist over during the cast. 4) It's much easier to see if I'm keeping my fly rod tip moving on a straighter line.
It's kind of hard to explain, but just a few minutes each practice gets me started correctly.
With the weather we've been having, a flatter cast really helps the fly line stay under the wind.
