Delivery
Setup – The importance of the slide foot position
This article is joint work with John Newhook of Dalhousie University. Routinely, one of the delivery elements we encounter frequently with young athletes is the inconsistent placement of their slide foot when in the setup position prior to beginning the delivery. In the delivery it is critical that the slide foot be positioned in a heel-toe orientation relative to the hack foot so as to permit the athlete to squat without twisting their hips, which leads to a multitude of potential problems that must be “fixed” in order to release the stone correctly on the line of delivery.  This article (click on the image at right to open the PDF), originally written in 2014, documents the effects of a misplaced slide foot in the setup position. We are grateful to former Wilfrid Laurier varisty athlete Evie Fortier of Ottawa who acted as our model for the photographs included in the article. To better illustrate the issues that can occur with
Blocked, Distributed, and Random Practice as it Relates to Skill Acquisition in Curling
This article originally appeared on the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks High-Performance website on 27 February 2012. An age-old question in sport is what practice structure yields the best results in relation to effective skill acquisition. This article will define three different practice structures that are referred to as Blocked, Distributed and Random. The answer to this question is critical to all coaches, as they need to structure practices appropriately by selecting technical development drills that are appropriate given the biomotor capabilities of the athletes they are working with, as well as considering such mitigating factors as experience and degree of neuromuscular development. These elements, as well as others, all must be woven into the appropriate tapestry that will lay the foundation for elite athlete development. Blocked Practice refers to practice where one skill is worked on at a time. This skill is worked on until a predetermined level of competence is acquired, and then the coach and athlete move on to the
Delivery analysis clinic – Guelph Curling Club – 15 March 2026
Throwing Rocks Consulting Services Ltd plans to offer a delivery analysis clinic at the Guelph Curling Club on Sunday, March 15 2026 between 6:15pm and 8:15pm. The Guelph Curling Club is located at 816 Woolwich Street in Guelph, Ontario. In addition to an introduction (or review) of delivery analysis fundamentals, participants will gain experience with a delivery analysis setup and its equipment, and with using OnForm’s multi-camera analysis tools with which to analyze a curling delivery. Cost for the clinic is $40. This clinic is targeted towards coaches who work with competitive U15, U18, U20, or adult teams; it is not intended for instructors who work with little rocks or novices to the sport. Participation is limited to 12 coaches and will run only if at least 8 coaches have signed up. To secure your spot, the $40 fee must be paid in advance of the clinic. The fee will be reimbursed if the clinic is cancelled. Additional participants will
Delivery by athletes with opposite ocular dominance
What is ocular dominance? Ocular dominance is the tendency of the brain to prefer visual input of one eye over the other. While like many other mammals human beings have binocular vision with which to judge distances, humans almost universally prefer visual input from one eye over the other. According to Wikipedia, about 70% of people are right-eye dominant, and 29% are left-eye; why this is so is still not understood. In everyday circumstances most individuals don’t give their ocular dominance much thought; but in sport, eye dominance can play a significant role, especially in highly accurate tasks such as aiming. Sports such as darts, archery, billiards, shooting, and curling can be impacted by eye dominance, particularly when the athlete’s dominant eye is the opposite of their dominant (throwing) hand, which is sometimes termed cross-dominance. Celeste Gauthier, who throws 3rd stones for Team Émilie Lovitt, throwing an out-turn draw. Note that Celeste’s left eye is directly above the centre of
Delivery analysis using OnForm Multi-cam support
A recent feature of the OnForm video analysis platform is its support for multi-camera input. The individual devices have to be connected to the same WIFI network, but once paired a “master” device can control the recording of all of the auxiliary devices that are providing alternative camera views. In this brief article, I wish to document my equipment setup for delivery analysis. At this practice, I’m looking at two things: slide leg position, and arm extension during the release motion, that are difficult to analyze when standing either directly in front of, or behind, the athlete. Delivery Analysis Setup For delivery analysis, I use a Ryobi steel mitre sawhorse with collapsible legs, with an iPhone mount, in landscape mode, mounted in its centre. A green light laser, positioned on the far tee line, points to the hack, forming the line of delivery (LOD). The plumb line – actually just a red hockey skate shoelace with a carabiner as a
Toe-slide versus flat-foot slide: what is better for the athlete?
Perhaps there is no other sport that causes unilateral, repetitive strain injuries more than curling. A 2004 study of competitive players competing in two USA National events found a high incidence of back, knee, hip, wrist, and shoulder injuries amongst competitors of both genders: Sweeping the stone (55%) and delivering the stone (50%) were the skills most provocative of symptoms (fig 2A–C). Collectively, symptoms of knee (54%), back (33%), and shoulder pain (20%) were most prevalent (table 2). Knee pain was most often reported in the ‘‘tuck’’ knee, which is typically flexed well beyond 90˚ during stone delivery. Sixty-two per cent of those with knee pain were symptomatic in their tuck [slide foot] knee, while 31% complained of bilateral discomfort. Reeser and Berg, September 2004 Our intent in writing this article was two-fold: one, to make other coaches aware of the prevalence of anterior knee pain in youth curling, particularly with young women, and two, to recommend that athletes who