Equipment
Curling Strategy Tool on iPhone
I have often used a strategy board to discuss game situations with the athletes I coach. A strategy board is a really useful tool and I make sure I have one at each practice and every game. But one frustration that I have is being able to document situations during a game and be able to discuss them afterwards or at a subsequent practice. Switching to paper when I have more than one situation to document is rather inconvenient – though I’ve done so oodles of times. Moreover, the paper copy is harder to share amongst team members, and my handwriting is appalling (just ask my kids). A solution comes with the Curling Strategy Tool for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that’s available from Apple’s iTunes App Store. The application, recently upgraded to version 2.4.1 (20 May 2011), was developed by Jeff Rogers and is from the same firm that also sells the ROG stopwatch curling application, also for iPhone
Curling shoes: choosing a slider
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
The Junior hack
This afternoon I helped Jason Rice and John Tartt run a Club Coach refresher course at the Guelph Curling Club. During the course I got some interest in the Junior program at Elmira and, in particular, the Junior hack we use for 7- and 8-year-olds. I realized that I didn’t have any photographs of the Junior hack posted on Throwing Stones, so here they are. As you can see from this photograph: the Junior hack is constructed of 2×6 cedar planks, held together by a combination of 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 inch galvanized bolts, and attached to the side boards of the curling club adjacent to sheet 1. The hack consists of a single Marco hack on each end, which when mounted sits directly on the center line. I went with a single hack design simply to save on weight, to reduce the amount of torque on the structure when it’s in use. Attaching the hack to the side
Cleaning your brush
Over the weeks you spend curling, your synthetic brush head accumulates a lot of dirt, lint and other debris that eventually gets difficult to remove with the scrub brushes at the end of each sheet. If you find your brush head looks particularly dirty, you’ll need to clean it with detergent and water. Here’s how. There is no reason to be concerned about compliance with Curling Canada or WCF regulations for a WCF-approved 55 Oxford Nylon 420 Denier mustard-yellow brush pad or sleeve; neither Curling Canada nor the World Curling Federation have a policy regarding the cleaning of sleeve or pad fabric, so cleaning the fabric with a small amount of detergent (not soap) and rinsing thoroughly will be just fine. Today’s brushes feature removable pads that are held in place by the two large bolts on either side of the handle. The synthetic pads are typically nylon cloth over a thin piece of foam, mounted to a plastic base
Where to buy curling shoes – part deux
Now that it is December, I know that several parents are looking at curling equipment as Christmas presents for their kids this year. Previously, I mentioned a number of suppliers that offer curling shoes, clothing, brooms, and other related equipment. In this article I would like to mention Kirk McElwain’s Curling Supplies in Elora as a local option for purchasing curling equipment. In addition to being convener of the Bantam Interclub league, Kirk is also President of the Elora Curling Club: I try to carry a reasonably complete sample of product from Asham, BalancePlus, Goldline & Tournament/Ultima so that our club members can see what is available, try things on for size, etc., without having to travel all over Ontario to the various show rooms. Except for curling pants, I have discovered that clothing doesn’t move very well so I don’t have much of that in stock – but, I do carry shoes from all of the suppliers listed above
Where to find curling shoes
Curling shoes can significantly improve a delivery by allowing a longer slide, and thus a greater degree of flexibility in precisely where during the delivery to release a stone. If your son or daughter is interested in a pair of curling shoes, there are a number of retailers and distributors who can help you. Retail/wholesale distributors/manufacturers of curling shoes include: Goldline, with its main store at 6620 Kitimat Rd, Mississauga, (800)-465-6900. Balance Plus, located at Unit 1, 99 Hooper Rd in Barrie, (800)-715-1715. Asham Curling Supplies, 700 McPhillips Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, (800)-267-5730. Asham’s has an outlet in Vaughan, ON located at Unit 7, 9000 Keele Street, (866)-514-2875. During a recent trip to Goldline at their main Mississauga store, I found that they had a fairly good selection of shoes in small sizes suitable for younger players, starting at women’s size 5, in three different models. It can be difficult finding children-sized curling shoes locally. The Elmira club has a small