Delusions of Adequacy (part deux)

Our club completed their first ever Bonspiel over the 4th of July weekend.  That was the topic of my previous post.

The following week was a regular league night.

I've been struggling with weight -- that's one of the reasons I'm playing lead, even though second is more fun.

Second is fun because you get more variety.  It isn't just setting guards or draws to the front of the house, it's draws, guards and takeouts.

I chose to play lead because the shot making is more consistent.  You need to consistently throw the same weight.

So, on July 2nd, I threw 46 or so rocks in a six hour period -- as much as three weeks of league play.

... and on the 9th, for the first time in I don't know how long, I threw 14 rocks and nearly all of them ended up where they belonged.

Nearly all, because that's arena ice.  We had warm temperatures outside -- near 90 degrees.  That made for warm, slippery ice.  Less-than-entirely predictable ice.

I suspect that the ice technicians turned up the refrigeration because the ice changed during our game, and at least once a stone that should have stopped slid slowly through the house.

The Curling Gods were messing with both teams, but they messed with us more than our opponents -- by a single point.

The "agony of defeat" is offset however by a really satisfying performance on the ice.

This coming Saturday is a General Meeting for the club, another smallish Learn to Curl, and we have the late draw.  It may be my last chance to teach for a little while because we have a Level 1 Instructor class the following weekend.  That means a bunch of folks looking to get in their teaching hours for certification.

One more comment: after you release the stone, no amount of talking to it or gesturing is going to make a difference.  You may gesture to the right, but it doesn't make the stone curl any more.  At least that's what I'm told.