Hello Mike:
Guide performance is largely based on inside diameter, and smoothness of surface. That is it in a nutshell.
To make a rod cast farther, one must try to optimize line # test, guides, and the blank (rod), combined with....your abilty to cast.
Metal vs. non metal- some are good and some are not as good. It all relates back to guide performance- eg. SIC guides that are really slick....cast great...slide through the guides well....metal does ok....but not as well. Coeficient of friction is a term used in R & D for this area and is especially common in flyline performance.
What about line- various lines perform better with certain guides
eg. co-polymer lines, etc. are very slick, narrow, but require a very well hard surface on a guide so as to not cut a groove into them. Others like mono or dacron are more forgiving.
I hope this has answered your question....I have been around many rod....and now actually get to fish a bit more with them!
Tight Lines
Don Stokes
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