Curling Canada’s Singles app, a free application for both Apple and Android devices, permits an athlete or a coach to evaluate their shot-making skills and record and review results through a season. In addition, athlete and team scores can be compared to other athletes across Canada.
In my experience, the existence of the Singles app is unknown to many coaches, especially U15 or U18 coaches who are new to coaching; hence this article.
The Singles application leads an athlete or coach through specific shots whose number and level of difficulty are pre-determined by the age range(s) of the athletes: U15, U18, U21, or U25+.
The application supports two distinct operational phases: competition and practice. For competition, the athletes “compete” through a series of shots with the thrower accumulating points for shots made (one or two of their teammates brush, and another holds the broom). Shot-making points are accumulated through the exercise and the athlete with the highest number of points “wins”. The second is practice: the app outlines specific practice drills specifically designed for each age group.
The app is available for both Apple devices on Apple’s App Store, and on Google Play for Android platforms. The iPad version, thankfully, does not merely display an iPhone footprint but uses the entire screen.
The shots
Shot diagrams
Within the app there are detailed instructions and diagrams for each shot in a competition, or for each practice drill. For competitions, there are typically two variants for each shot: a “centre” shot where the throw is close to the center line, and “side” where the throw is towards the middle of the 8-foot ring, with the other stones in the shot placed accordingly. In addition, each shot can be thrown either close-wise or counter-clockwise, so in total there are four possible setups for each “shot” in a competition.
As an example, here are screenshots of a straight runback takeout on centre line, designed for U18 athletes with scoring as outlined in the instructions. With each shots, stone colours and areas in the sheet where stones should come to rest are labelled using colours, with green indicating full marks, yellow and orange indicating partial marks, and red indicating a score of 0 as the shot, as specified – to eliminate the stone in the four-foot – is not made.
Scoring in a competition
As there are a multitude of shots with each age group, the app can split a “competition” into two parts, so that the entire set of shots can be scheduled over more than a single practice.
The Singles app allows a team to practice specific, age-appropriate shots throughout a season and record their results over time for subsequent review and tracking. Even if not all of the athletes are available together for practice, outcomes can still be recorded and saved for trend analysis through the season, player-by-player.
When running a “competition” amongst the team members it is easier to use the iPad version of the app, where in landscape format the display contains both the scoring diagram and the detailed instructions side-by-side. The app leads you through each shot, for each player, in the correct rotation so that all you have to do as the coach is input the scores for each shot.
Once the shots have been completed by the athletes, their shot scores and totals are saved and then can be compared going forward through the season, from practice to practice.
Instructions and documentation
In addition to the in-app instructions provided for each shot and each drill, setup instructions are available for the app on YouTube – below are links for the instructions for athletes aged 16+ and the other for coaches. A separate video is also available on the app’s YouTube channel for U15 athletes as the setup differs to include parent/guardian permission.
Installation guide and instructions for athletes (aged 16+)
Installation and usage guide for coaches
Summary
Curling Canada’s Singles application is a great way for teams to document their progress in making specific, age-appropriate shots even if not all of the athletes are together, or if their coach is not present. The shots are standardized, and the built-in scoring documentation permits each athlete to perform the scoring drills in an identical manner.
It is helpful to review the YouTube introductory videos to understand the app’s installation, setup, and how to connect with individual athletes. The iPad version of the app features side-by-side display of the scoring pages when recording a competition, which is quite helpful. While the app has a few minor glitches (such as a missed screen refresh when creating a team) the app guides the coach through each step of a competition, shot-by-shot and athlete-by-athlete.