The Curling School

As mentioned in the Delivery section, the curling delivery has evolved over the years. Today's delivery requires finesse and minute calibrations due to the increased quality of the ice surface.

Curler's who learned to deliver with a back swing may want to convert to a no-lift delivery. CurlTech strongly believes the no-lift delivery, when done properly will allow each player to reach their capacity.

Benefits to Converting The no-lift has three clear benefits:

1. Fewer opportunities for mistakes with less moving parts

2. Better draw calibration on fast ice

3. Easy to eliminate the "C" curve

Less moving parts refers to the back swing itself. Prior to the no-lift, most delivery troubleshooting (other than balance) revolved around the direction of the back swing and the down swing. With fewer moving parts, no-lift the delivery is much smaller resulting in a "softer" draw delivery with good "feel".

Losing the "C" Curve The affect of the hack configuration and placement was rarely discussed as a delivery variable. Because of this, it was probably the most under diagnosed problem in the back swing delivery. The common problem of the "C" curve was created by the hack placement. The rules state that each hack must be three inches from the centerline. This means the hacks were roughly six inches apart. If you place your foot straight in the hack (this is what was taught), there is not enough room between the ankle and the centerline to draw the rock back straight (on the line of delivery). Most curlers who kept their foot straight in the hack had to draw the rock back (back swing) outside the line of delivery to clear the ankle. This resulted in the rock coming back down across the line and in front of the body. This is the "C" curve. The most proficient back swingers twisted their foot in the hack to avoid this. This was never taught in any curling clinic but was absolutely necessary to maintain the line of delivery. Since the rock is not swung in the no-lift, this is not a factor.

Even with the no-lift delivery, there are still opportunities to create the "C". Avoid pulling the rock in front of your body as you slide out of the hack. This happens much less with fewer moving parts.

The Conversion Converting to the no-lift from a swing delivery is very simple. It does however require some rethinking about how power is generated. With the swing delivery, power is generated from three key areas:

1. Back swing approx. 50%

2. Body drop approx. 30%

3. Leg drive approx. 20%

Most curlers who convert without instruction simply remove the back swing from their existing swing deliveries. By reviewing the above chart you can see that could be a huge mistake. Removing the back swing without replacing it with another power generator leaves you with a much weaker delivery. This leads to frustration on slower ice or when asked to throw takeouts. In this case, curlers compensate with leg drive power. This may work for larger people and on heavier hits but experience shows that the leg muscles cannot calibrate small enough to throw consistent soft shots. In some cases, small-framed people don't have the leg strength to throw heavier shots. This is the most common problem of the conversion.

Take a look at the no-lift power generators.

1. Weight Shift approx. 25%

2. Body Drop approx. 50%

3. Leg Drive approx. 20%

4. Extension approx. 5%

The no-lift requires that you replace lost power with power from shifting the hips up and back (and then down and forward in the body drop). A slight arm extension can also help with power and act as a fine-tuning technique.

The one benefit to the back swing was it provided good tempo to the delivery. With the rock swinging back into position, there was no chance to slow or break the rhythm of the delivery (since the rock weighs 42 pounds). This created a natural tempo in the swing delivery. If you remove the swing, tempo needs to be replaced. Read the Delivery section to create tempo with a no-lift delivery, It's as simple as adding a 1-2-3 rhythm.

Enjoy your new delivery. Your shot-making percentage will increase resulting in more fun.