Once your thumb is trained no spool tension is needed. I back the knob on my calcuttas off to the point where it wil just stay on the reel and not fall in the river. A good rod and line with very little memory is pretty important also.When it all starts coming together you will find you can cast farther with less effort and the same weight. Steelheader69 hit the nail on the head. Once you learn to load the rod and release at the right time you won't be casting above or below your target.