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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
 Got
Any Questions??
Want Some Answers??
Send your curling questions to
juniors@stvitalcurling.ca and we'll post your questions and give you the
answers.
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CAN AM YOUTH BONSPIEL
February 19-21, 2010
Grand Forks Curling Club
Grand Forks, North Dakota
3 Age Groups (under 18 Girls, under 18
Boys, under 14 Open)
Cash Prizes
Entry Fees: $90.00 per Team (Canadian $ at
Par)
Entry Forms can be mailed or faxed to:
Grand Forks Curling Club
c/o Dan Lindgren
1124 7th Avenue South
Grand Forks ND, 58201
Ph. (701) 330-0654 Fax - (701) 746-1121
Danell@hotmail.com
Registration
Form
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2009 School of Rock
Kyle, David, Ryan,
and Myles
With World Tour
Player Jon Mead
Myles Delivers in Team
Competition
Kyle Competes in
the Button Draw
Ryan Makin' Them Work..........HARD !!!!
David sets up in the Hack
David's Winning Shot in the Button Draw
Playoff
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2009-2010 Bonspiel news
2010 Annual Deer Lodge Bonspiel
Team Kyle Thiessen Captures the Crown
12 year old skip Kyle Thiessen and his team of Ryan
Lemoine, Justin Chamberland and David Enns defeated Team Kayla Curtis in the
final of the Deer Lodge Junior Bonspiel held on February 5-8th at the Deer
Lodge Curling Club. The boys overcame an opening game loss and ran 4
straight wins to capture $160.00 cash and the title. Team Thiessen had
lost the final of this same bonspiel last season. The boys had also
won the Draw to the Button contest the past 2 years at the Deer Lodge Spiel,
but came in second place this year by one point.
St. Vital Juniors were also represented by Teams Lisa
Reid, Danielle Lafleur, and Scott Park. As usual Murray Peterson put
on a great event. Make the Deer Lodge Junior Bonspiel a "gotta do" for
your 2010-2011 curling season.
Coach Rick, Kyle, Ryan, Justin, and David
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2009
CurlManitoba Christmas
Spiels
Junior league play shuts down for the Christmas-New Years
break, but several teams from St. Vital took to the ice in the annual
Christmas Youth and Junior Mens and Womens Bonspiels held this year at the
Ft. Garry and Rossmere curling clubs.
Congratulations to Team Kyle Thiessen and coach Rick
Lemoine for winning the Defiant B Group Event in the Youth Division.
That's 4 bonspiels, 4 finals and 3 wins for the boys!
Team Jacques Gauthier won the Valour Road C Group Event in
the Youth Division. Great job boys and coach Dan Mondor.
The St. Vital Juniors were also represented in the
bonspiels by teams Brendan Gobeil, Lisa Reid, and Jackie Hebert. Young
newcomer Megan Walter was also seen playing in the big spiel with some of
her former team mates from Elmwood.
GREAT JOB EVERYONE.
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2009 Balmoral Junior Open Bonspiel
The weekend of November 6th - 8th was the inaugural
Balmoral Open Junior Bonspiel at the Balmoral Curling Club. The event
attracted the "usual suspects" in junior curling bonspiel circuit. The
ice was great and the food and folks were fantastic. This spiel is
highly recommended for your 2010-2011 season planning!!
St. Vital Junior teams taking part included Team Kyle
Thiessen, Lisa Reid, and Brendon Gobeil. Team Thiessen reached the A
Final, with an 8-6 loss to Nick Good. Team Lisa Reid lost a hard
contest in the B Event Final.
Congratulations to both our teams for reaching the two
event finals in their opening bonspiels of the season.
2009 Wildewood Junior Cash Spiel
Congratulations to Team Kyle Thiessen for capturing their
third consecutive B Event title at the Wildewood Spiel. Kyle along
with Ryan Lemoine, Justin Chamberland, David Enns, and Jacques Gauthier
pocketed some pre-Christmas cash. The team is coached by Rick Lemoine.
St. Vital was also represented by Team Lisa Reid and
alumni Team Taylor Maida.
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SKILLZ AND DRILLZ
A Tool for Teaching Proper Grip and Release of the Rock
Here's a drill I always
used to do to make certain my rock grip and rotation to the release point
was as good as it can be. The weird thing is, I was reading a coaching
binder a few months ago and found this same drill in the binder some 15
years after I was doing it ! I called it the toilet paper roll drill,
but the coaching binder never gave it a name for obvious reasons!!!!!!
Take an empty toilet paper roll, or cut off a
golf club par tube to a similar size as a toilet paper roll. In the
hack, place the roll over the rock handle. If you are not starting
with the handle at 10 or 2 o'clock when you pull back, the rock will slide
out of the roll which you are now holding in your hand. That's how the
drill helps with rock handle set up.
As you are sliding out, if you start to put
rotation on the handle too early or while you are sliding out to the release
point, the rock will come out of your hand/toilet paper roll too early, and
you cant stop this because you aren't gripping the handle of the rock.
As you get to your release point, rotate the rock to 12 o'clock and the rock
handle is gently released to 12 o'clock. If you under rotate or over rotate the
handle, the rock gets "stuck in the toilet paper roll".
A gentle rotation of the handle is needed in order to have a clean release
of the rock from the toilet paper roll at the 12 o'clock position.
Give this a try.................even if people
are watching!!!!!!!!
GOOD LUCK, HAVE
FUN - AND
REMEMBER
DON'T JUST
THROW ROCKS......PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE
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Keeping Your Shoulders Square
When you are in the hack
and preparing to push out with your hack leg, it is very important to keep
your shoulders square to the target. If we don't keep our shoulders
square then as we are sliding with the rock, often what happens is our
shoulders turn and get out of line and we miss. So what do shoulders that are not square
look and feel like you ask?
Picture yourself turning the big steering wheel
on a bus and how one shoulder goes way out in front of the other as you turn
the steering wheel. This
can happen when your shoulder of the arm throwing the rock extends forward
and in front of the other shoulder. So what can you do in the hack to
remind yourself to keep your shoulders square during the delivery?
The best thing I find is to tell yourself to
"throw both shoulders" out to the target equally. One drill you can do is
think of sliding to a finish line like a 100 meter sprint runner using the
hog line as the finish line or "the tape" as they call it in track. In
practice deliver your rock and when you reach the hog line, both of your
shoulders should "tie for the win of the race" by reaching the line at the
same time. You can have your coach or instructor view this on the ice
or from above looking down from the second floor of the curling club.
For younger curling athletes, you can use a felt
marker line
drawn on the ice (check with the ice-maker first!!!!!) which is not as far
as the hog line, or a wool line pulled across the ice at shoulder height.
GOOD LUCK, HAVE
FUN - AND
REMEMBER
DON'T JUST
THROW ROCKS......PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Looking
for a drill to practice tap backs and raises?
In order to be a truly good curling team, you need
to be able to play raises and tap back shots, especially in the advanced
competitive ranks and on ice that just wont curl (making it tough to play
come-around draws).
Set up the rocks of one colour in a line across the
top of the house, about 2 feet away from the rings. You can use 8
rocks if you like but I prefer 6, as with 8 rocks, you're getting out to the
sides and into some tough ice. BUT HEY...that's what practice is for,
PRACTICE THE TOUGH ONES AND THEY'LL BECOME EASY ONES RIGHT???
Using the other colour rocks, throw tap back shots
to raise the line of rocks into the house. You can do this drill alone
or as a team using brushing. If shooter stones get in the way, leave
them there and try a double raise tap back shot!!!
Try to raise all the lined up rocks into the rings.
Once you get really good you can try to raise the
rocks into specific areas in the rings (such as tap them to the back 12
foot, back 4 foot, T-line, etc.).
If you're having a hard time with this drill, talk
to your coach or instructor.
GOOD LUCK, HAVE
FUN - AND
REMEMBER
DON'T JUST
THROW ROCKS......PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE
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Are you throwing the same
amount of weight for your draws, guards, and take-outs?
If you are, then you're very likely pushing out of the
hack the same way no matter what shot you are trying to play. This is
pretty common, especially if you are just beginning and your head is all
full of the other things your coach/instructor has asked you to do.
But, throwing the right amount of weight is just as important as hitting the
broom. It's all in the amount of leg-drive or push you give from your
foot and leg in the hack.
Obviously if you are throwing your rock as a guard,
then you want a little leg-drive. If you are throwing a draw into the rings,
then you need a little more leg-drive than you did for the guard. If
you are throwing to hit the other team's rock out of play, then you need
even more leg-drive than for both the guard and the draw.
Here's the best drill for getting the hang of
feeling different amounts of leg-drive.
-
Using a rock, set yourself up in the hack with your
target along the center line. If you have someone holding the
broom on the center line at the hog line, that's even better.
-
Following the 4 steps to deliver the rock, use
enough leg drive so that your body and the rock slide out to the hog
line. Hold onto the rock with the correct grip ("see the V") so
that your body and the rock stop exactly touching the hog line, with the
rock still in your hand. If you don't make it to the hog line,
then try again with more leg drive. If your body stops sliding
with the rock past the hog line, try again with less leg-drive.
Keep trying until you get it perfectly 3 times in a row.
-
Now, repeat this drill with just enough leg-drive
so that you stop with the toe of your trailing leg just touching the top
of the 12 foot circle (this one is hard to do!!!!). Do it
perfectly 3 times in a row.
-
Once you master these 2 drills, then place a rock
half way down the sheet sitting on the center line (or on the button of
a ghost ring). Set up correctly in the hack and use enough
leg-drive to slide out to the hog line (or past it) and release the rock
(before the hog line....remember?). Your rock should travel down
the center line and hit the target rock right on the nose. This is
how to practice your correct leg-drive for throwing hits or "take-outs".
Do this perfectly 3 times in a row.
If you do these 3 drills correctly, you will
begin to get the "feel" of your leg-drive while you are throwing the curling
rock, and you will be able to "feel" the guard, draw, and hit shots which
your skip or third is calling for you to do.
REMEMBER - Take-outs, draws, and guards are 3
different shots which need 3 different amounts of leg-drive.
GOOD LUCK, HAVE
FUN - AND
REMEMBER
DON'T JUST
THROW ROCKS......PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE
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"Make Sure Your Rock and Your body are on the same line !!"
Did you ever wonder just what the heck your coach or
instructor at curling is talking about when he/she says this to you?
OK...sure it sounds like a good idea but what does it mean?
Well it starts with your eyes. You want your
eyes to be looking and focussed at the broom/target while you are delivering
the rock. Your eyes are located in the middle of your body right?
So it makes sense that when you are sliding and delivering the rock, your
eyes, the rock, your throwing hand, your slider foot, the middle of your
body, and the toe of your trailing leg should all be travelling down a
straight line toward the broom/target.
Practice this when you do your warm up slides by
purposely sliding down the painted center line in the ice, when you are
sliding, check to see if your body is pretty much on top of the center line,
especially when you stop sliding. Check to see where you are...ideally
you want to be right on the line.
Now we need to get the rock in position in that same
straight line right? It's no good if your eyes and body travel down
one line and your rock is off the the side of your body and travelling down
some other line that isn't even going toward the broom/target.
NOW..... that's a lot of body parts to think about
and remember, so here's a simple thought to get your body and the rock dead
on the same target line for the rock to travel to the target.
Think of your rock as being the engine of a train,
with your throwing hand, your head, your slider foot, the middle of your
body, and the toe of your trailing leg all being the cars of a train
following the engine. When a train is travelling down a straight
track, all of the cars behind the engine are in a perfect straight line.
So when you are in position 3 (pull back) and just
before you begin to
push with your hack leg, your body needs to "fit in behind" the rock as you
push out from the hack. Do this slowly as it is much easier this way.
After a few tries you'll begin to see what it means to get your rock and
body on the same line. Make sure you put your slider foot in place
behind the rock before you start to push out with your hack leg.
If this is still hard to do or understand, make sure
you get your coach or instructor to help you with this drill.
GOOD LUCK, HAVE
FUN - AND
REMEMBER
DON'T JUST
THROW ROCKS......PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE
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Chicken Wings.................Great to Eat......Bad for Curling !!!!
Now let me say this right at the start......I love to eat
chicken wings (especially the sweet chili kind!). I'm not a big fan of the chicken wing when it
comes to throwing a curling rock however.
The "chicken wing" in curling is what happens when
the elbow of your throwing arm goes out to the side when you are sliding out
and about to release the curling rock. The chicken wing commonly
occurs when you get your head too low to the ice while sliding, which forces
your elbow out to the side. Then when you then attempt to extend your
hand and release the rock at the 12 o-çlock position, your hand tries to
naturally line up with your elbow position, which tends to throw the rock
out to the side instead of straight forward to the broom/target. THIS
IS BAD.... as the rock will miss the target way off to the side.
The cure for the common chicken wing is this (try
this in practice):
-
Place a glove under the armpit of your throwing
arm while in the hack and preparing to throw your rock.
-
Go through the 4 steps of delivering the curling
rock with the glove pressed in your armpit of your throwing arm.
-
As you go to release the rock at the 12 o-clock
position, the glove should fall out of your armpit just as you release
the rock.
-
IF THE GLOVE FALLS OUT ANY EARLIER .....YOUR
WING IS OUT, and you need to keep your throwing arm closer in to your
body when your are sliding out of the hack.
This also works
well for your golf swing and your tennis backhand. Give it a try in
the summer time.
Coaches,
Do what I do and use a rubber chicken instead of a
glove to do this drill as it "adds to the moment" when the rubber chicken
comes out and it gets the point across pretty clearly!!
GOOD LUCK, HAVE
FUN - AND
REMEMBER
DON'T JUST
THROW ROCKS......PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE
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