Curling Up

Well, my first opportunities skipping in league games didn't go quite as well as I would have wished. We went 0-2, and weren't really close in either game after the first couple ends. At least I made the scores respectable, losing 7-5 and 6-3.

I think it all came down to an overall lack of experience on the team. We had to play down a member both weeks, as there were not enough spares to fill in for all of the people gone for the week. That did help out our newest member, who just started curling, and she improved drastically over the two weeks. However, losing our skip, who had more experience than the other three of us combined, was a big hit. At least he will be back for our next games starting in January.

In the end, I didn't set up the ends well enough, and always left myself in a big hole. The main thing to do is chalk things up to a good learning experience. Maybe next time I'm asked to skip, I will be able to use this knowledge to my advantage.

Another New Season

Well, my previous year's blogging did not go so well. One blog in the past year?! Whoops. I guess it's easy to let this slip. Hopefully I can avoid that this year. The 2008-2009 curling season is finally underway for the Curling Club of Houston. We were delayed quite a bit by Hurricane Ike. Rebuilding the ice is not a quick job!

However, it did give us an opportunity to paint new houses, and the two of us that handled it (with the help of lots of student workers from the rink) added a few surprises for the rest of the club. Namely, center lines running between the tops of the houses. Although the skips have trouble seeing them, I used them a lot this past week during our match.

Also, repositioning the houses has made the fall on the outer sheets more manageable than previous years. It seemed to be about 6-8 feet this week, as opposed to 10 feet plus in the past. However, it still wasn't enough for my team, as we fell 7-5. We played a pretty good match except for the 6th end, when we gave up a 4 due to not knowing how the ice would play on higher weight throws. A shot for the tie in the 7th drifted wide (actually, narrow b/c of the negative ice), and time ran out on us. Hopefully next week we can rebound, although we will be without our skip for the next two sessions.

Taking Arena Curling to the Next Level

This past weekend I got to be the first person ever (as far as I know) to curl in Houston's Toyota Center! As part of a promotion with the Houston Aeros minor league hockey team, our club set up a competition where four audience members competed for a chance to win tickets to a Minnesota Wild - Calgary Flames game. Whoever got closest to center ice curling from the crease won the tickets and a flight/hotel package. My job was to throw one stone to "show them how it's done."

The experience of throwing a stone there was much different than in the little hockey rink where my club normally plays. Although most of the crowd had left already, it was still impressive seeing the thousands of seats circling the ice. (Due to the time required to set up the ice to curl, we were forced to wait until after the hockey game was over, so most people had already left.) Maybe someday we'll have a bonspiel in Houston that actually needs to use the Toyota Center! Even if we could just use the ice there for the finals of the Texas Open Bonspiel when it comes back to Houston, that would be a huge deal.

The winner of the competition was the only person that wasn't a newbie to the sport, although he hadn't curled in several decades. That's what happens when you put it on during the Aeros' Canada Night promotion. Hopefully before too long, we will be able to put on a similar exposition with the Aeros. I think that having open ice after the game for anyone to come try curling would keep a lot more people around.

New Season

Well, October is upon us again. Now that the temperatures are finally turning cooler (it's down to highs around 85 here, which is rather nice!), it's time to look to a new season of curling! In just another week, my club will start another season. For this coming year, I have been selected as the vice skip of my team, which means a lot more work on curling strategy.

For some, this would be a rather terrifying proposal. However, for me, at least 50% of my love for this game comes down to the strategy. I hope that this season will help me advance my knowledge greatly. I know that with my skip, it will be a big challenge for both of us (his first season as a permanent skip, and my first season as a permanent vice).

Hopefully it will be full of development in all facets of my game!

It is also time to figure out my goals for this season, which will be have to be lofty considering how suprised I was with last season (most notably 4-1 with a D event championship in my lone bonspiel). Those will be coming soon

Quick Tip #1: Whoops, wrong color!

Quick Tips are tidbits of knowledge that have surfaced during my curling games. They could be rules clarifications, etiquette, or just an "Aha!" moment.

One mistake that happens often, especially among new curlers, is throwing the other team's rock. So many novices get so excited by the game that they simply grab the closest stone and throw it down the sheet. After a recent occurrence in one of my games, I decided to look up what the actual rule is.

Although there are different rules for various leagues, the official procedure as stated by the World Curling Federation and the United States Curling Association is that the throw should play out, and the wrong-colored rock should be switched out before the next delivery for the proper color. (Since all curling stones are theoretically identical, there should be no advantage gained in throwing the wrong stone.)

Many people mistakenly think that it should be treated as a burned rock, and many leagues use this rule (most likely to avoid the game delay in sliding a replacement rock down the ice); however, the official rules are much kinder to a player who makes this mistake!

Equipping Yourself, Pt. 2

Part 2 of this series of curling equipment advice covers the other necessary item for all curlers: a broom.

Broom: Buying your own broom is the only other essential piece of equipment all curlers need. These days, there are a wide variety of styles available in the curling market.

Traditionally, brooms were made of corn and looked like a household broom. Now, brooms tend to be made either of hair or of a synthetic head that looks like a shoe shine pad. There are pros and cons to each one of these. Synthetic heads seem to be better at polishing the ice, but some say they are too good. They can completely rub the pebble off the surface. Hair brooms can sweep slightly closer to the rock, but run the risk of losing a hair and causing the rock to "pick." This results in unpredictable movement from the rock.

The other technology advancement in broom design recently has been in the handle material. Fiberglass handles have been the norm for quite a few years, but now the much lighter but more expensive carbon fiber handles are reaching the market. Which material to buy depends largely on the amount of sweeping you will be doing. If you play many games a year, the carbon fiber models will reduce the amount of pain and fatigue you feel. However, the price increase can often double the price of your broom. Some manufacturers are now making brooms with a mixture of materials to give you a lower weight than fiberglass without as large a price jump as carbon fiber. These are often given names such as fibrelite.

Finally, the handle angle is an important component. Many brooms, especially cheaper brooms and those available for club use, have fixed handles either running perpendicular from the brushing head or at an angle to the left or the right. Newer brooms are often being designed with adjustable handles. In this way the angle of the broom can either be changed to match the side of the rock you are sweeping on, or can swivel even during the course of sweeping so that you can sweep from any direction and maneuver the head quickly. These are often the most expensive, but I have also heard that the head can sometimes shift in undesirable directions and risk hitting the rock. I know Olson makes brooms that have swivel heads with adjustable tension, to reduce the risk of the head sliding.

Pricing on brooms runs from under $40 for a fixed handle hoghair or synthetic broom, to about $150 or $200 for a swivel-head carbon fiber broom featuring other additions and available in your choice of colors.

Personally, I purchased my broom second hand from a teammate. It has a synthetic head and a fiberglass fixed handle. It is starting to get worn down however, and I am considering buying a new broom. I am leaning towards a Performance model broom with an adjustable head. When I last checked, Steve's Curling Supplies had the Peformance Tournament Extreme model on sale. I also am a big fan of the BalancePlus brushes and the Olson Reactor2 brushes. What type of broom works for you depends on your personal preferences, and your position on the team. A skip needs a carbon fiber broom much less than a lead would, for example. The best advice is to use several types of brooms at your club, ask some more experienced curlers if you can borrow their broom for a rock or two, and find out what will fit your needs the best.

Next issue, other accessories you may find helpful.

Equipping Yourself, Pt. 1

One of the biggest issues facing new curlers is deciding when to start buying their own equipment instead of borrowing or renting from their club. Most curling clubs are very good about providing equipment for new members, which helps keep more of them in the sport. Imagine joining a baseball league and expecting them to provide you with a glove or cleats!

However, rental equipment can only get you so far, and eventually you will want to outfit yourself with gear that you can call your own. But what should you buy first? How much should you spend? Where should you get it? Here I'll provide a helpful buying guide for your curling needs.

The Essentials

When you look at the basic sport of curling, there are really only two essential pieces of equipment: shoes (or a slider) and a broom. Although other items like warm clothes are also necessary (for most people; I know some who curl in shorts), they are not items that must be curling-specific. Any good pair of athletic pants will work.

Shoes: After spending some time using the elastic slip-on sliders that most clubs have as loaners, you will probably notice that they tend to not provide optimum stability. A slider provides one more point in your contact with the ice where slippage can occur. This is not the case with a good pair of curling shoes. The slider is firmly attached to the bottom of the shoe and will not slip separately from the shoe as most slip-on sliders will do. This creates an amazing difference in the stability and consistency of your delivery. For this reason, I rate shoes as the first product a new curler should buy. They are not cheap, ranging from about $65 to more than $200 for a pair. However, since they are not used every day, they should be able to last you for at least a year or two before they need to be replaced. I personally use a pair of BalancePlus shoes that cost me about $125. I have used them for almost a year now and they still have lots of time left in them. Other good brands include Asham and Tournament.