I cant believe that some (one at least) member of this board believes that learning to cast distance has nothing to do with fishing and will not increase your catch. There are many scenarios in my fishing life when being able to blast a cast well out has made a difference to my catch. Lets look at one night one the beach at Thornton BOP. My wife and I were fishing the Nationals. Fish were scarce during the day but showing up after dark. WE fished side by side with one rod each. Sue caught a kahawai early then nothing. Then I started getting snapper most casts, she couldnt get a bite. WE changed places and it didnt help, it was the distance from shore that was important. I landed 14 snapper that session and she had none. (You cannot cast for other fishers in the Nationals).
Another instance was under the lighthouse at Cape Karikari there were schools of kahawai and skipjack tuna working the current lines. Being able to cast long distance allowed me and my mates to reach the skippies and catch these prized fish from shore on lures. A short caster wouldn't have caught one, only kahawai.
Another good example of the benefit of longer casting is when you are in a contest. To get twenty metres past your neighbours bait puts you in unfished waters. Now thats an advantage.
The big surf beaches like Ocean Beach in HB, 90 Mile in the north and others where the waves roll in from afar are the realm of the longer caster.
I agree that if you fish from wharves or off steep sloping deep water beaches or even around inshore reefs then you wont need a long cast but the day you look futher afield or try to reach a passing school with a spinner you may be pleased you learned to get a bit of extra distance.