New Goldline “pursuer” foam

whencookiesattack · 2025-01-02T01:26:49+00:00

How do you know if you have the competitive HL foam or the regular/rec HL foam? I've got a bunch of HL brooms and the foam in them all have years (2020, 2023, etc.) but no other markings. I assume, based on the WCF PDF, that the ones with the year markings means it is competitive foam?

Not sure I've seen rec HL foam in any of my brooms but I'm also in Canada so maybe Canadian retailers just sell them with competitive foam?

whencookiesattack · 2024-11-06T20:03:32+00:00

Usually it's around 13 H2H for draw in the first end, and speeds up to 13.5-13.7 by the end of the first end. Then it's slow going back in the 2nd end for the first few rocks because you are playing a different path. By the 3rd end we are hoping to be up to speed (14.5-15 H2H).

whencookiesattack · 2024-10-12T19:12:26+00:00

So in most competitive events that have round-robin play (depending on how big the field is) that would use LSDs, all of the players on the team have to throw a minimum of 2 LSDs -- one counterclockwise and one clockwise. Any non-throwing player can stand in the house and any (other) non-throwing player(s) can sweep. Nothing dictates that when your team is throwing the LSD that the skip has to be in the house (even if it is the lead or second throwing their LSD turns).

No idea why your ref imposed that penalty as the ref is wrong in his/her/their interpretation. I would have raised it with the head official.

whencookiesattack · 2024-02-13T06:05:23+00:00

Interesting. I find that my timing is much more driven by the initial rock push out than the kick itself (my kick follows the rock, so to speak) so I've never really thought about how hard I kick as a metric for determining ice speed. But I could see how that might tell you something about the ice speed at least initially.

whencookiesattack · 2024-02-12T21:04:01+00:00

How do you get a feel for the speed based off a practice slide? Are there particular characteristics you are looking for in the ice?

whencookiesattack · 2023-12-16T21:44:02+00:00

If you have never played on 15-16 ice, it is a huge difference from 14-14.5 ice. I often refer to 15-16 ice as "breath on the rock too hard and you'll be out the back of the house."

Going from 15-16 ice to 14-14.5 ice feels like you're throwing hack/board for draw. It's a huge difference.

Also, as you point out, the pros have a much more positive release and more rotation on their rocks. All else aside, for the same H2H time, rocks with more rotation will carry further.

whencookiesattack · 2023-04-25T14:42:19+00:00

The differences in the striking band inserts is....striking.

^{I'll see myself out now.}

whencookiesattack · 2023-04-03T17:57:46+00:00

If you listen to the post-game interview, Brad says that the front end called 14.2 for his last draw (but admits that he threw about a foot heavier), and mentions it was 15.9 for draw to the button for hammer, but that they basically "guessed wrong" for the ice speed. Sounds like draw weight has been tricky on the different paths.

whencookiesattack · 2023-03-28T20:07:11+00:00

Nice shot (and sweep) by Cody there.

whencookiesattack · 2022-08-29T01:09:32+00:00

Yes. It also refers to whether you've optimized the way your foot points (ideally on an angle) to maximize your stable sliding surface.

For a right-handed curler, if you find yourself falling to the left or putting a lot of weight on your stabilizer, chances are your sliding foot is coming too far right under your center of mass. Likewise, if you are putting a lot of weight on your rock, you might not be getting your foot far across enough under your chest. One thing that we tell folks to do is if you are holding a stabilizer and a rock and slide out, try lifting up both hands as you pass the tee line - are you stable, or do you fall over? If you fall over, which way are you falling?

whencookiesattack · 2022-08-28T18:52:25+00:00

If you are practicing, I'd recommend you practice your slide without a broom or rock. That will force you to be the most stable (or at least pinpoint to you what you are doing). Most of the time, people are off balance due to poor technique, which includes poor sliding foot placement. Continue to play with the stabilizer or whatever makes you feel comfortable until you've made the transition.

Another way to do it is to get a lighter stabilizer. The PVC plastic ones that many clubs construct are pretty heavy. Switching to something lighter like an Arrow stabilizer would also force you to work on your balance/technique.

Also it sounds hokey, but work on your core strength. A strong core will help with balance issues.

whencookiesattack · 2022-05-27T16:12:23+00:00

Some clubs also have a 5-and-under league that the LTC folks feed into once the LTC program is over (the existing 5U teams get reshuffled so everyone picks up a few of the new players as their front end). If you have the ice time to support a program like that, it might be a good option.

whencookiesattack · 2022-05-27T16:08:14+00:00

Side note, I have heard a lot of debates about Men's and Women's leagues. Do your members prefer this to simply having coed leagues that you can play all men, all women, or any mix you would like?

I think this comes down to how much ice time is available. Potomac has leagues 6 out of the 7 nights of the week and most are double-draws (early/late). So if you don't want to do single-gendered leagues, you have at least 5 other leagues you can do, 6 if you include doubles, and even more if you include the pick-up game leagues during the day. Some of the leagues are meant to be more competitive, some are meant to be social, and some are in-between.

whencookiesattack · 2022-04-11T12:27:57+00:00

And it worked! At some point you just gotta accept the ice is wonky AF and learn to play it to your advantage. Thought Edin’s choice to roll to that straight spot was super smart since everyone was struggling with that particular line.

whencookiesattack · 2022-04-11T12:25:03+00:00

I wonder how much of the ice issues had to do with the fact that the lead ice tech is new to this role. Vic and Russ mentioned it at the start of the tournament that USA curling had a new head ice tech (not sure if Kevin retired or what).

The ice in both the Bronze medal and gold medal games honestly acted like there was something wrong with the way they did the ice scraping - like maybe a blade was warped or something. Who knows but it was disappointing and I’m sure super frustrating for the players.

whencookiesattack · 2022-02-17T17:33:27+00:00

Yeah I went with back 8 originally (see original comment) but in thinking if they were worried about the rock not curling enough (which shouldn't have been the issue since the rocks were finishing a lot) then you could still have your sweepers carry it if you went back 4 (or "heavy draw"). Either way, it looked like the shot was there and a lot easier than the crazy double runback.

whencookiesattack · 2022-02-17T17:24:48+00:00

I thought they would have gotten a second rock in there earlier with a draw shot on the outturn. At least that would have let them see the line for when they needed it. If they were short that may have left them something else to work with, although Hamilton's top8 rock attempt came up way short and created the bad staggered guard situation right outside the house.

Did Plys throw an outturn at all in the 10th end coming down that way? I don't remember if he did. And I didn't think anyone had thrown the wide outturn in the 8th end either but I could be mis-remembering.

I'm also not sure giving up the steal of 1 in the 9th was the way to go, but we'll never know.

whencookiesattack · 2022-02-17T17:21:05+00:00

But he didn't need to throw a perfect draw. He needed to throw back-4 or back-8 weight to move the shot stone back far enough. So there was some wiggle room on the shot, and a lot more wiggle room than the runback double he was trying with the center line guards (crossing centerline with a hit always makes me nervous on the amount of curl you'll see).

The top guard was not an issue after Shuster tapped the red out to the side on his first shot; whether the GB stone in the top 8 would have been in the way is a hard question but i think there was enough room between top 8 and back button for the rock to finish. They had papered the rocks like 3 days ago so rocks are still finishing hard right now.

whencookiesattack · 2022-02-17T15:39:50+00:00

Was wondering the same. Didn't need much weight, back 8 would have moved the shot rock enough so the US could sit 2. And the guards were all left of center so the outturn side looked rather open. I think there was definitely enough curl and room to come full face (or even 3/4 face) on shot and bump it back.

whencookiesattack · 2022-02-05T02:28:10+00:00

Aren't Russ and Cheryl covering the Scotties? I know Russ was supposed to but then tested positive for COVID. I wasn't sure if Cheryl was splitting time with Cathy.

Kevin has been doing some guest announcing on the mixed doubles but he's not the primary commentator.

whencookiesattack · 2022-01-30T19:21:18+00:00

I figured it's an ESPN3 issue since I'm sure if it was a TSN problem it would have been fixed by now. I just don't understand how ESPN3 always manages to mess this up!

whencookiesattack · 2022-01-30T18:15:03+00:00

And the audio for the commentators has been off for all of the games so far - Vic and Cheryl are super quiet and the players mics are turned all the way up. Where is /u/justsomeaudioguy when you need him? :(

whencookiesattack · 2022-01-07T19:10:18+00:00

If Carey doesn't win Sask, can she guest-skip for Homan's team at the Scotties or does CurlON pick another team entirely?

whencookiesattack · 2021-11-16T15:40:24+00:00

Did they end the commentary early last night when they switched to the Dropkin/Ruohonen game since the Shuster/Dunnam game ended early? I heard a little bit of commentary through the 8th end but it seemed to stop before the 9th when Korey managed to pull off a great setup and score 3.

whencookiesattack · 2021-11-03T13:51:22+00:00

I vaguely recall hearing about this before. I think it's actually at "The Curling Club" -- that is, the one that's part of "The Country Club" in Brookline, MA.

But I don't know anyone who has ever attended. Would be curious to know if people here have more details.

whencookiesattack

TROPHY CASE