What I Learned From The Masters of Curling

Hello. Well, this blog comes from the "do as I say, not as I do" point of view, since I blew a 4 point lead with 4 ends to go last night. However, here's what I learned from last week's MAsters of Curling in Waterloo:

1. Keep your shooter in play. The great teams always leave their shooter in the house on a takeout, especially when above the T-line. The give the opponents something to throw at and/or worry about. They make sure the opponent is scoring something when they have hammer, and usually it's one point. What I'm doing now is making sure my shooter rolls into the rings instead of out of the rings.
2. Make your decision ahead of time. Most shots the opponent will either make, or just slightly miss. Have a plan in advance for both. There are very few times when the house situation changes drastically after a shot. Once you see what your opponent is going to do, begin formulating your plan. I noticed the winning teams took much less thinking time than the losers on every type of shot.
3. Throw controlled takeout weight. It's obviously easier to do when you have fast arena ice, but the top players do not fire the rock. There main reason is 1. above. Also, the sweepers are able to get more involved in assisting the rock if it's slower.
4. Recover quickly mentally. The great teams can bounce back. The Bob Ursel team looked like it was gettting tortured out there.

Regards,

Steve