GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT // TRAINING TIPS FROM JON
Laser straight alignment and release
By Jon Mielke, Curling News Columnist
Sliding through cups is a terrific drill but it doesn’t detect small side-to-side movements dur- ing a delivery and it definitely does not identify faults in a player’s release. Remember, a million dollar slide and a two-cent release produces a two -cent shot. To take a closer look at a shooter’s slide, align-
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ment, and release, a curler needs two helpful as- sistants, some kind of video recorder, and a laser with a range of at least 50 feet. Te 50-foot range is necessary so the laser can be positioned about 20 feet outside the hog line and still project a sharp dot to the hack. It may be necessary to shop at a specialty tool store to get a strong enough la- ser. My home club has a laser that is available for all club members to use. With the necessary equipment in hand, start
by positioning a stone in front of the hack that will be delivered by the shooter (e.g. the leſt hack for a right-handed curler). Te stone should be directly on top of the invisible line that runs from the hack foot to the broom. In this drill, the “broom” will be the laser that is placed on the ice about 20 feet beyond the hog line. Te laser beam should be aimed at the stone
with its beam/dot in the center of the striking band in the middle of the stone. It may be nec- essary to place the laser device on a platform (a piece of wood, plastic, etc.) to keep the device from melting into the ice and/or to elevate the
previous article talked about us- ing plastic cups to refine a shooter’s alignment toward the skip’s broom.
beam in order to hit the middle of the striking band. With the beam in place, one of the shooter’s
assistants should stand directly behind the laser and video record the shooter’s delivery. Te fo- cus of the recording should be the laser point on the striking band. Te second assistant should be positioned to catch the stone just before it reach- es the laser. Te shooter should deliver the stone (slide and release) just as he/she would in a game. Te resulting video recording should be ana-
lyzed in two parts. Te first part of the analysis should focus on the delivery prior to the release of the stone. Te review will show if the laser dot stays in the middle of the stone or if it moves away from the middle. If the laser dot moves away from the center of the stone, the stone and probably the player are sliding either wide or nar- row. Te resulting shot will be correspondingly wide or narrow. In some instances the player may attempt a mid-course adjustment by “cross- firing” and throwing the stone sideways back at the broom. In either case, the desired shot will be missed. Te second part of the analysis should focus
on the laser dot aſter the stone is released. It is important to remember that a curling stone does not start to curl the instant that it is released. A draw may travel 12-15 feet before it starts to curl and a takeout travels even further before it starts to move laterally. With this being the case, the laser dot should stay in the middle of the stone even aſter it is released. If the release is faulty, the dot will almost immediately move across the face of the stone aſter it is released. With a pure re- lease, the dot will stay in the middle of the stone. If a faulty release is detected, the shooter
should look for fixes such as maintaining a prop- erly cocked handle (10 o’clock or 2 o’clock) until about the last 4 feet of the slide and then putting a positive rotation on the stone without over-ro- tating the handle beyond the 12 o’clock position. Tis drill should be run with the laser being
placed at various locations on the ice to simulate shots at the outside edges of the far 12 foot, down the middle, in-turns, out-turns, etc. Te laser and the camera will not lie and will help identify faults in a player’s slide/alignment and release. One thing that the laser and camera will not
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detect is a “lazy” handle. It is important to re- member that shots on typical club ice should have 2 ½ to 3 revolutions. While the laser and camera may suggest a sound slide, alignment, and release, a lazy handle will not curl like other shots – it may over-curl or even lose its turn. With the equipment out of the way, count the number of revolutions that the handle makes as the rock travels down the sheet. If the handle is under rotating, work on that and then go back to recording. Putting it all together will undoubted- ly result in more successful shots and more wins. Until next time – Good Curling! Q
(Mielke is a Level III instructor and a Level III
coach. He is a member of Bismarck’s Capital Curl- ing Club and a 2012 inductee into USA Curling’s Hall of Fame. His previous articles are available online at: USA Curling – Media – Curling News – Columnists – Jon Mielke).
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