Greetings From Oakville, Ontario

My husband is ready to get started!

  Hello from the True North! Hot Shots Curling Camp has wrapped up and I am wiped out. But in a good way. The organizers of the camp really gave us quite an experience. I feel fortunate that we chose to attend now; when we are still fairly new to curling, so we can absorb the tips and pointers better. As they say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

 I think my Thursday night Skip will be happy to hear that I found good HIT weight. And I mean, real hit weight. If I practice and work hard, I can really make it consistently good. This is HUGE for me!! I honestly didn't think I had any good hits in me.

 I'm also excited to report that I found a slight toe shift of my hack foot when I'm about to take off from the hack. Not exactly sure why I do this, but I just made a mental note to control that foot better. As the day went on, I got better and better at that. My whole delivery got a bit of an over haul. I'm VERY pleased with the changes. I feel like I can find my center of balance better. I can find more power when I need it (HUGE!!) I can find my line faster. I could go on and on and on about this...

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!

 I was greatly encouraged by a few of the classroom sessions that we had. The ones about Team Communication and Team building were eye opening to me. I've sort of taken for granted the fact that the Husband and I have always found a team when we needed it. Now that the Thursday night team is forming again for this year, we have an opportunity to really link up and work together. Really try to build something. I think if we can do that, we won't have the bad collapse like we had in the end of the season last year. The biggest thing for me personally in all of this, is rising up to the role I play in the team. If I rise to my highest potential, that will help others in the roles they play. I'm looking forward to our first practice session!

Learning about angles from Paul Balabuck

 I know it's going to sound like I'm gushing, but seriously, the weekend was great. It all came down to the AMAZING instructors. People that not only are at the top of their games, but also are excellent at instruction and teaching the proper principles of curling. Our very first instructor on Day 1 was Jill Mouzar, a former Canadian Mixed Champion, a World Junior Silver medalist and represented Nova Scotia at the 2007 Scotties.. Her analysis of my slide and delivery was very informative to me. The one thing she did with us is break up the whole delivery process into chunks. By slowing it down and concentrating on those separate parts, you really get a better sense of what you should be doing and why you aren't doing is. Another instructor, Hugh Murphy, offered up extremely valuable advice as well. You knew he never rests on his laurels, and wants to be the best he can be. Plus he wants YOU to be the best you can be. He is the ultimate competitor and just by being around him makes you excited to play. Our Team Building and Dynamics session with Earle Morris was extremely insightful. Since he has worked with some of the top teams in Canada, he has a unique view of what it takes to build a successful team. He emphasized that a lot of the things that those elite teams struggle with are the same as what we all struggle with. Your team is a relationship that takes work! No one person should be taken for granted. If you can really work together, get on the same page, and everyone contributes, then you can only get better.

 Overall, I am totally blown away by the whole weekend. The Husband and I learned a lot. Some of what we learned can be applied to our personal curling abilities, and some can be applied to our team. Obviously, I want to get better at curling. I want to improve every year. But higher up on my wish list is that our Thursday night team be the best it can be.

 I know you probably have heard this before, but Canadians are awesome! They are some of the nicest, most genuine people you will ever meet. The people at Hot Shots are truly passionate about the sport of curling. They have such enthusiasm for the future of the sport and want to share that enthusiasm with as many people as they can.

 To wrap it up - I am dying to get this season started!! I am looking forward to using what I learned at camp, but first and foremost I want to play and have fun.

To blog or not to blog...

 Ack, It's summer - It's hot out. And to be honest with you, I haven't really thought about curling since last April.

 The husband likes to point out every week how close we are to curling camp in Oakville, Ontario. 6 weeks, 5 more weeks, 4 more weeks, etc. Camp starts August 26th and runs through August 28th.


Where's my stabilizer?

 Since I haven't really thought about curling, I'm not in any mind set yet for camp. One thing I have vaguely wondered about is: How bad will that first release out of the hack be?? Is it like riding a bike, as they say? Will it come back to me quickly? Or will I be splayed out on the ice, flopping around like a seal.

 The header of this blog currently calls me a "first year curler." When camp commences I will no longer be a first year curler. But I still will experience a lot of "Firsts." Such as, first time back after summer break. Sooooo, it should be interesting on the 26th. I'll make sure the husband takes some pictures.

 I hope you are enjoying the rest of your summer. I'll post again, maybe, as we get closer to camp.