A curler has two primary pieces of equipment: a brush, and a pair of curling shoes. In golf, multi-million advertising dollars are spent each year by golf shoe manufacturers such as Footjoy (recently sold to interests in South Korea) to convince golfers that one golf shoe matters over another. I would argue that in curling, a shoe – particularly what type of slider is used – matters considerably more. Unfortunately, in both golf and curling it is difficult to buy shoes on the “try before you buy” plan. Hence in this article I’ll try to document the range of options for curling shoes. Proper curling footwear offers a considerable advantage over slip-on sliders, tape, or other temporary means of enabling a slide delivery. A proper curling shoe will assist with balance, reduce the amount of effort required to throw hit weight, permit more consistency by allowing a longer and more stable slide with each throw, and permit better grip, and