Thursday Night Roller Coaster

 Last nights match was wild. With a whole lot of factors leading to it, we lost. But it was still a fun game. It was fun because it was challenging. I had an awesome first end, personally, but after that I was just all over the place. C-O-N-S-I-S-T-E-N-C-Y is something I lack, clearly. We all struggled last night, and we all are in various stages of some nasty cold or Flu that has been going around. But even if I was 100% healthy, I still struggle to be consistent. I can't do two things at once when I deliver; I can't maintain proper weight AND line together. And it's extremely frustrating. What do I need to do? Go down to the club early on a Saturday morning and do drills that only focus on one thing first, and get good at that one thing?? Then move on to the next type of drill?? I'm leaning towards that, especially doing line drills. Nothing frustrates more than when I'm too narrow. Too often my narrow rocks will curl into a dumb spot and just make a mess and clog things up. They then become useless rocks. It's almost better if I didn't throw them at all!

 Like I said, last night was still fun to play. I got a hell of a workout (SWEEEEP HAAAARD was all I seemed to hear from my skip), and because we all struggled a bit; the challenges made things interesting. We weren't totally out of it, until the last two ends. And at one point we even had a good start on a 8-ender. But we foolishly talked about it, and sure enough the next rock didn't even make it into the house. First Rule of the 8-ender: Never talk about the 8-ender!

 The Thursday night team intends to play in the Highland Games at our club in December; my only hope for that day is that we all healthy. Playing sick is rough. If we are all healthy, it should be a good day. If you want to curl in Rochester, form a team and come on out. We'd love to meet you; Slàinte.

Son of a Biscuit!

 So...Thursday night curling started LAST Thursday, and I spent the last few days feeling sorry for myself and licking my wounds. It didn't go very well for us. We lost 6-3. As my husband put it shortly afterwards, we did play scrappy for the few points we got. But really we didn't capitalize on some good opportunities or on their mistakes. I didn't post anything before the game because I was a little nervous and I didn't want to get myself worked up. I didn't expect us to roll over them, but I also wasn't expecting it to be so rough either. Maybe I should have posted something beforehand, to get whatever I was carrying with me out of my system. The Husband and my Skip said I played all right - but I don't think so. I could have been better. People are quick to chalk it up to summer rust, but I don't know. The others teams Skip played pretty well. He had some wicked curl and seemed to have consistent weight. Where was his rust?

 So, this was a first for me. First time back after a long break. I just need to learn from it and move on, right? We'll see. As you can probably tell, I don't handle losing very well. I'm starting to figure out why I tended to shy away from serious competition when I was growing up. What are some of the cliches about learning more from a loss than from a win?

 I do know that I need to just relax and have more fun. This week we are playing a team of pretty new players. They were on the sheet next to us last Thursday, and it appeared like they were having a blast. So maybe this Thursday will be a good time. I just have to let it all go and try and have fun. And not use so many swear words directed at myself - hence the title of this post. I'm trying it out for a while. It's fun to say, actually.

Yum.

Shaking off the summer rust

 So, last night a few of us got out on the new ice. For me, this is the first time this season. I'll get the bad news out of the way first: I hogged my very first stone!

 In my defense, it was some VERY frosty/wonky/sticky ice. The last few days here in Rochester have been very warm, with high humidity. And it really shows on the ice. Our club put ice down a little early for the Senior Games this weekend. Unfortunately now we are experiencing a little bit of an Indian summer.

 Also, the ice was running extremely straight. I found myself begging out loud for even a little curl. But according to Team Canada (Alberta) who were practicing for the Senior Games on sheet D, 'green ice' (new, fresh ice) will typically run pretty straight. Sure enough, as the night went on, more and more of our stones were finally picking up a tiny bit of curl.

 After we threw a few practice rocks, we split into two teams (3 on 3) and had a little bit of game. It was a lot of fun, and it was exciting to see everyone play so well for early season. I had a few killer shots. Some very nice weight. I was fairly good about staying on line. And I managed to pull a few good hits out of the bag as well. I was just trying to be conscious of all my movements. Sometimes though, a little TOO conscious. I noticed on some of the screwier shots of mine, I was thinking too much. I was actually talking to myself, running through all the pointers I've picked up. I think then I was distracting myself! When delivering, there needs to be a break in everything: Talk yourself through it, talk yourself out of your bad habits, get lined up, THEN shut up/shut your mind up, and then just do it. Ah well, just one more thing to work on.

 Also what I need to work on: The toe shift!! I was doing it again last night. I would line myself up in the hack, get ready, and then at the last second my hack toe would click over to a 45 degree angle! Totally an involuntary move. I would catch it out of the corner of my eye, and sometimes when it was quiet on the ice I would actually hear it happen. Then I would have to make an effort to click it back and hold it straight. I hate this. I hate that I don't know why I'm doing it. I hate it when I don't catch it, and then leave the hack a little off line. Hopefully I can work this bad habit out of me! We'll see.

 The Senior Games this weekend are going to postpone anymore practice time we can get, but my Thursday night skip is trying to get us all out there as much as possible before the season starts. He is trying to line up a practice game for his Wednesday night men's team (the Husband is on that team) for next week, so I'll probably head over then and knock around on the next sheet.

 Feel free to leave a comment and let me know how your transition from Summer to Curling is going. I'm curious to hear how people get into the right mindset. Good Curling! (It's fun to say that again.)

We have houses!

 It's getting closer...can you feel it???

 A bunch of us met at the club last Thursday night and painted the ice. The houses are Purple and Green. Yes, you read that right. And yes, it's a little odd when you first look at it. Purple and Green are in our club logo, and it grows on you after a while. The green is a very pretty, true, Kelly green. And the purple goes well with it.

An homage to our club logo? or the Joker??

 This was my first time painting ice, and it was fun. 3 out of 4 of our Thursday team painted together, so it was a little team building exercise. Gotta work together and stay within the lines!

Our team did the green in these houses.

 There is chatter amongst my teammates to get together soon and have some practice time. I'll let you know how that goes. It seems like everyday I'm mentally going over all the tips I received at camp. I can't wait to practice them some more.

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.

Arena Curling

 First, let me apologize for not posting in a while. It's the off-season!! So posting may be pretty infrequent. In August it will probably pick up again, since the season will be starting for the husband and I with a trip to Curling Camp in Canada. (More on that later in the summer.)

 This post is about Arena Curling. The husband got a letter in the mail from the Evergreen Curling Club in Portland, Oregon. They are soliciting donations for their new curling club, so they can curl on dedicated curling ice. Right now, and for the past 9 years, they curl on Arena Ice. For those of you that have not seen this before, clubs can rent ice time at a local hockey arena and curl on the hockey ice. As you can imagine, this comes with a whole host of problems. Evergreens letter highlights some of these problems: rental rates are expensive and the scheduling is controlled by the arena, the ice is consistently poor quality, there is nowhere for people to meet before or after a game and socialize together, a ton of work has to go into setting everything up before a night of curling can even happen, plus many more issues.

 Evergreens letter mentions that they have decided to lease empty warehouse space and convert it to a curling club. They note that this is really the cheapest option, and through various fundraising options they hope to raise $300,000. If you want that warm and fuzzy feeling, send a donation! I'm sure they would really appreciate it.

 Receiving their letter in the mail made me think how lucky and fortunate we are in Rochester to have dedicated curling ice. I remember how excited the husband and I were when we started curling, and I remember how awesome we thought it was that we could curl almost any night of the week. If we had to curl on Arena ice - would we have that same level of excitement? It's hard to say. Would I have stuck it out and worked through some of my bad habits if I could only curl once a week and on wonky ice?? It would have been pretty hard to do it.

 So far, curling has become a big part of our lives. And it is taking us to places we have never been before. Along the way, we have met some REALLY great people. I always like to attribute this to our home ice and the opportunities it has given us to further our game.